Wilson Center Africa Program’s Post

Reflecting on the recently concluded 2024 Africa Private Capital Association annual conference, I am still struck by the prevailing sense of optimism in the industry in the face of the myriad challenges posed by the macroeconomic environment including geopolitical uncertainties and cautious global capital allocation. Africa's private capital industry clearly remains resilient and its potential for growth strong. I’m honoured to call some of the most significant participants in this sector my clients and thankful that Control Risks was recognized at this prestigious event as a finalist for the Shapeshifter Award which recognised professional services firms that have embraced innovation and implemented client-centric approaches for the benefit of the private capital industry. Onwards and upwards. #duediligence #strategicintelligence #Africa

In our continued efforts to create and strengthen partnerships across Africa and the world Enhance friendly collaboration with global investment institutions For a main objective, present Africa as a credible destination for investment

💡 Africa Practice Director, Natalie Maule is moderating a timely discussion at AVCA - The African Private Capital Association’s Sustainable Investing in Africa Summit this afternoon exploring how GPs define, create, measure and report on impact. Panellists will share perspectives on the complexities and tradeoffs required to balance risk, return and impact and offer their insights into what’s required to mobilise private capital to advance sustainable development in Africa. #AfricaInvestment #ImpactInvesting #InclusiveInvestment #AfricaInnovation #SDGs #PrivateCapital Cc: Albert Alsina, Eric Kump,  Luc Rigouzzo, Ashley Lewis, Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, CA, MBA 

How can development finance institutions best collaborate with donor-funded programs? This great report from British International Investment and Gatsby Africa explores how partnerships between the two sides can be improved to achieve shared goals. It identifies the three broad models of alignment between donor-funded private sector development programs and DFIs, factors that influence their success and recommendations for improving collaboration. The three themes of the report's recommendations are covered in the graphic below ⬇ You can read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ey6PpR2A Thanks to authors of the study: Justin van Rhyn Irene Hu Matt Ripley #impactinvesting #frontiermarkets #ARIAinvests

Great to see this study that Justin van Rhyn and I wrote highlighted by the Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA)! There are so many opportunities for development finance institutions, investors, and donor-funded private sector development programs to collaborate in supporting growth and innovation in emerging markets. #dfi #developmentfinance #emergingmarkets #impactinvestment

Africa is at an inflection point – recent technological developments are fundamentally altering the African investing equation, with technology and innovating meeting an attractive demographic profile, powering a new wave of investment opportunity on the continent.   In a keynote interview with PEI, Private Equity International, part of PEI’s special report on Africa 2023, Tope Lawani discussed his views on the Africa’s investment environment, where Helios is seeing value-creation opportunities, the firm’s success in executing exit strategies and as a corporate strategic partner, and more.   Find out more in the article.   #africa #privateequity #valuecreation

We're honored that the Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA) has won the prestigious Ecosystem Enabler Award at the Annual AVCA - The African Private Capital Association Conference Awards this week. Established together with British International Investment, ARIA is a #marketcreation initiative that aims to bring together investors to unlock investments and build investment ecosystems in frontier African markets, focusing on Sierra Leone, Liberia, DRC, Ethiopia, and Benin. A prime example of this in action is our recent investment in Dashen Bank with BII, where we each jointly committed USD 20 mln to support Ethiopia's agricultural sector and provide much-needed access to foreign exchange. But what do we mean by market creation? Introduced in our updated 2030 Strategy: Pioneer, Develop, Scale, market creation is a new flywheel in our investment process. By addressing barriers that limit the growth of impactful business opportunities and projects, we can make these projects 'bankable', creating more investment opportunities for #impactinvestors to contribute to #privatesector development. Curious to learn more about our pioneering approach? Over the next several days, we'll be sharing more insights on all things market creation, so stay tuned.

#ICYMI: African Investment Forum 2023: Regional Corridors: Quest to Integrate Africa #AIF2023 Regional Corridors are critical to much-needed coordinated infrastructure development initiatives, and for establishing industrial clusters, attracting much-needed investment and spearheading socio-economic development and progress. The purpose of this session is to fast-track the implementation of these transformational regional corridor projects by sharing experience and innovative ideas among development partners, and public and private sector investors. https://lnkd.in/gSrjRJY8

Strate was proud to sponsor The Economist Intelligence Corporate Network (EICN) engagement on “SA Inc: The investment decision”.   Andre Nortje, Strate CEO, was among the line-up of expert speakers who looked at innovative ways to drive investment and reinvestment in South Africa.   Panellists agreed that there are great opportunities in South Africa, but we need to work together to create an environment that people believe in before they will invest. As an example, some R15 trillion of assets are used as collateral in South Africa. If we could take a portion of that and put it to productive use, it could have a positive effect on economic growth. It is up to business to drive these opportunities while engaging with government. “Attracting investments to South Africa is vitally important to Strate as our business cannot grow if the South African capital market doesn’t grow. The EICN discussions provided valuable insights for our consideration,” said André. #Servingthefinancialmarkets #StrateCSD

Rebuilding and strengthening investor confidence in Africa We are confident in the ability of African leaders to establish a positive environment to attract investment We advocate collaboration between the private and public sectors