By Michael Denenga & Ziyanda Ntshona, Partners at Webber Wentzel
The AVCA conference in Senegal highlighted a number of themes, such as the effects of Covid, intentional investing and inclusivity
It was a wonderful experience connecting in person with members of Africa’s private equity (PE) industry again at the African Venture Capital Association…
To our South African audience, Maps Maponyane needs little introduction. He's a regular face on our TV screens, magazine covers and online platforms, and has developed a distinct reputation for being a stylish, intelligent gentleman with a heart to match. In short, Maps has mastered the art of personal branding to a T. This makes…
Access to finance is consistently listed as the biggest obstacle for start-ups Africa.
Wikimedia Commons/The Wot-If? Trust
AUTHOR: Aubrey Hruby, Georgetown University
Entrepreneurs have a pivotal role to play in Africa’s unemployment crisis. Today over a third of the continent’s young workforce (those aged 15-35) are unemployed . Another third are in vulnerable employment. By 2035,…
When the business of the company you’re leading is life and death, your approach tends to be different to that of other business leaders.
Chairman and CEO Prakash Devchand, the man leading the Lenmed community-based private hospital group, is living evidence of this. The Lenmed group started as a community group, founded by the residents…
Irrigating Africa: can small-scale farmers lead the way?
Farmer-led irrigation comes in many different shapes and forms.
Remi Nono-Womdim/Flickr
Ian Scoones, University of Sussex
We often hear that irrigation in Africa is too limited, and that the key to a “green revolution” on the continent is to expand to levels seen in Asia.
But…
While the South African economy continues to struggle, there is another data point suggesting a marginal improvement in the underlying economy: Tourism statistics.
We touched on an improvement in the South African manufacturing sector in 2018 and the tourism statistics released by StatsSA suggest December 2018 was an improvement over the corresponding period in 2017.
What…
There is a lot of interest in taking businesses into Africa and understanding the opportunity that the African continent offers to entrepreneurs out of South Africa. While the interest is high, many South African businesses have been burnt.
Recently Acha Leke, co-author of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Africa's Business Revolution and Mutsa Chironga, co-author and executive…
One of the key themes that came out of our recent Intra-Africa Trade Event was that there were plenty of good news stories coming out of Africa... and in fact South Africa was being left behind in certain instances. Recent research released by RMB supports the notion that Africa continues to offer opportunities for…
Author: Matthew Kofi Ocran, University of the Western Cape
Since South Africa adopted an inflation targeting policy regime in 2000, there have been growing concerns that its Reserve Bank is being rigid with its sole focus on price stability –- inflation control. The chorus of disapproval of the policy regime becomes loudest when the benchmark interest…
While recent events in Gabon and Zimbabwe have once again painted the African continent in a negative light, there is plenty of good news on the continent … and South Africa is getting left behind by its compatriots.
This was the overarching message from the first Intra-Africa trade workshop hosted by the SME Movement at Workshop…
The race is on to see who will replace outgoing World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
World Bank Photo Collection/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND
Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria
The World Bank will launch the process for selecting the new World Bank President on 7 February. There’s been a great deal of talk about the importance of an open…
Author: Gebisa Ejeta, Purdue University
After rapid economic growth averaging 10% every year between 2004 and 2014, Ethiopia has emerged as an engine of development in Africa.
And there are no signs that ambitions for further growth are fading. This is clear from the government’s blueprint to achieve middle-income status – or gross national income of at…