Invest Africa Insights

West Africa will be striving for economic growth against the backdrop of a major pair of twin shocks: the lingering COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. While GDP is set to decline by 1.2% in Burkina Faso, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, and Senegal, Niger’s GDP is forecast to increase (AfDB,2022). As most West African countries are import dependent, the soaring inflation rates both within the...

The theme across the African continent for national economies in 2023 is uncertainty. North Africa’s regional growth is forecast to slow down in terms of real GDP growth, from an average of 4.2% in 2022 to 3.8% in 2023. The course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict remains highly unpredictable, resulting in unstable inflation rates consequently pushing up food and fuel prices for large sections of soc...

Southern Africa was the hardest-hit sub-region during the COVID-19 pandemic causing regional GDP growth to contract significantly. Thus, these diverse economies are entering 2023 at various stages of economic recovery and development. A central theme for this year will be how countries in the sub-region can become less reliant on fossil fuels and investment opportunities in the renewable energy se...

As 2022 draws to a close, Invest Africa's CEO, Karen Taylor, speaks with Amir Hussain, Senior Underwriter - Political Risk and Trade Credit of Africa Speciality Risks , and Robert Besseling, Founder and CEO of PANGEA-RISK , to discuss what lies ahead for the countries on the African continent in 2023. Despite the uncertainty surrounding upcoming elections, the growing opportunities to implement su...

On this episode of Invest Africa Insights we speak with Daniel Yu, CEO and Co-Founder of Wasoko, transforming informal retail across Africa. The sector accounts for up to 80% of employment and 50% of GDP on the continent and Daniel explains how Wasoko is empowering traders across Africa.

External headwinds influencing Africa's cost of living crisis is transforming the geopolitical landscape across the continent. Genevieve Ahinful, Head of Political Risk Insurance and Amir Hussain, Senior Underwriter, at Africa Specialty Risks, outline how businesses are navigating these uncertainties, amidst three major upcoming elections. For more information on Africa Special...

Africa's importance as a strategic partner of the UK, premised on geopolitical realignments and advancing the sustainable development agenda, is growing. Oliver Phillips, Director, Sustainable Finance at Standard Chartered Bank explains where the natural synergies between the two jurisdictions lie and how to regenerate the relationship based on strategic investments of mutual benefit. Access Inves...

This week on Invest Africa Insights we spoke to Bhairav Trivedi, CEO of Crown Agents Bank, about how fintech is disrupting banking in Africa and the role of digital currencies in enabling cross-border payments as the continent looks to boost regional trade. More information about Crown Agents Bank: https://www.crownagentsbank.com/ More information about Invest Africa: www.investafrica.com

This week on Invest Africa Insights we speak to Fred Steiner, Managing Director, BCCM Advisors about why we have only seen the start of tech's potential in Africa, Egypt's rapid rise as a tech hub and his approach to investing in high-growth businesses.  For more information about BCCM Advisors: https://bccmadvisors.com/ For more information about Invest Africa: www.investafrica.com

This time on Invest Africa Insights, we looked back on COP26 and how Africa fared at the talks with Dr. Rufaro Mucheka, Business Development Consultant - Africa, Jersey Finance. With environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards moving up the agenda for global investors and businesses, we ask how Africa better access sustainable finance and what more needs to be done to ensure that stakehol...

On Invest Africa Insights today, we spoke with Thabo Makoko, Managing Director, Transactional Banking African Regional Operations at Absa Group on the changing trends in Africa's transaction banking landscape. With the flood of digital banking solutions across the continent, we discuss how banks can partner with local and regional fintech players to become the enablers to the unbanked and how cent...

On Invest Africa Insights we spoke to Marco Serena, Head of Sustainable Development Impact at the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) about investing in climate resilient infrastructure in Africa. The Continent faces the triple challenge of meeting its socio-economic development goals, building climate resilience and responding to the challenge of Covid-19. Infrastructure sits at the h...

The US market remains an untapped source of capital for Africa while Africa is an untapped opportunity for American investors. This week on Invest Africa Insights we spoke to Karl Littlejohn, Acting Chief of Party of the USAID West Africa Trade & Investment Hub, about how the the Hub plans to support up to $400 million of new private investment in the West Africa region. For more information a...

All businesses, regardless of size or market, have been profoundly impacted by the pandemic. The business world is changing rapidly with the uptake of new technologies creating both disruptions and opportunities. This episode on Invest Africa Insights, we spoke to Alan Barr, Partner, KPMG, about how businesses in Africa can navigate this challenging landscape and capitalise on new opportunities. A...

Despite Covid-19 cases rising in North Africa, Radisson Hotel Group has continued to expand in leaps and bounds across the region over the last 18 months, most recently with the announcement of seven new Hotels in Morocco. On today's episode of Invest Africa Insights, we sit down with Alban Mabille, Director, Development - North Africa for Radisson Hotel Group as we discuss the importance of the t...

This week on Invest Africa Insights, we spoke to Abhimanyu Yadav, Head of Fixed Income and Currencies, MCB Capital Markets, about investing in the African bond market. Developing local capital markets offers a clear avenue to leverage global capital for underserved African markets. MCB Capital Market's African Domestic Bond Fund presents a means for investors to tap into the growth in Africa's cap...

MSMEs form the backbone of Africa’s economies and are essential to the Continent’s ambition to drive job creation for its young people. MSMEs account for 38% of Africa’s GDP and account for 70% of the region’s employment. Whilst MSMEs face numerous barriers to growth including low private capital and equity availability, limited small-scale financial products, market access and technical capacity,...

This week on Meet the Entrepreneur, we spoke to Michael Moreland, Co-Founder & CEO of Field Intelligence, a health-tech start-up looking to radically simplify Africa's pharma supply chains. We discussed the need to consolidate Africa's supply chains, the role of the private sector in healthcare and how to maintain momentum towards investment and reform beyond the pandemic. For more information...

Economic growth in Asia-Pacific has gone hand in hand with an explosion in the region's business schools. Africa, meanwhile, has lagged behind other developing regions with only a handful of globally recognised business schools. We spoke to Katy Montgomery, Associate Dean of INSEAD about why global business schools are looking to Africa and what priorities are shaping the business leaders of tomor...

This week on Meet the Entrepreneur we spoke to Nwabisa Mayema, Strategic Partnerships Director at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship , about her advice to entrepreneurs, supporting impactful businesses and the importance of patient capital in emerging markets. For more information about the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship: https://www.bransoncentre.co.za/ For more information about Invest...

At the IMF Spring Meetings this month Kristalina Georgieva warned of the dangers of a 'multi-speed recovery' and called on the international community to ensure that developing countries have a fair shot at recovery. Amidst mounting concern over African debt we spoke to Simon Quijano-Evans, Chief Economist at Gemcorp, about why he continues to look favourably on African markets and advises investo...

From climate threats to cybersecurity and Covid-19 to insurgencies, navigating the African risk landscape is more complex than ever. This week on Invest Africa Insights we spoke to Oliver Westmacott, President and COO of GardaWorld, the world's largest privately-owned security company, about securing vaccine supply chains in Africa and tackling existing and emerging threats across the Continent.&n...

This week on Meet the Entrepreneur, we met Derrick Ashong, Founder of AMP Global. Having worked with Oprah and Steven Spielberg, Derrick has received Emmy nominations for his work on the interactive competition, Take Back the Mic. We spoke about empowering African creatives, the future of media consumption, and his plans to build big data solutions for big media in Africa. To register to hear Derr...

This week on Meet the Entrepreneur, we spoke to Mohamed Abdou, founder of Pravica, the first blockchain email service provider in the MENA region. We discussed the disruptive potential of the technology to solve some of Africa's most pressing challenges including trust in institutions, financial inclusion and underreported data.  To hear Mohamed's pitch to Invest Africa and Untapped Global's...

This week on Invest Africa Insights we spoke to special guest Jacques Nel, Head of Macro-Economics at NKC African Economics, about the future of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, navigating the challenges of implementation and the potential boom for Africa's service sector.