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African Entrepreneurship
- Female-led and female-founded ventures attracted even less funding in 2022 than they had in 2021.
- Female-led start-ups in Africa have raised $188m (4%) in 2022, while male-led ventures raised $4.6bn (96%).
- The number of $100k+ deals announced by female-led start-ups has also seen a YoY decrease, (128 in 2022 vs. 141 in 2021) and relatively (13% vs. 16%).
Female-led and female-founded ventures attracted even less funding in 2022 than they had in 2021, latest data from Africa’s The Big Deal shows.
According to the report, female-led start-ups in Africa have raised $188m (4%) in 2022, while male-led ventures raised $4.6bn (96%). In other words, 25x times less funding has been invested in female-led start-ups in 2022, compared to their male-led counterparts.
“Year-on-year, the amount of funding raised by female CEOs has decreased between 2021 and 2022, both in absolute ($188m in 2022 vs. $290m in 2021) and relative numbers (3.9 …
The recent leaked Pandora papers have shown how African leaders have directed their investments towards other countries and kept the investments a secret to avoid taxation and hide their wealth.
Leaders exposed by the papers include Presidents Denis Sassou-Nguesso of DRC, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and Patrick Achi of Cote d’Ivoire, among 46 other politicians.
The papers showed that Sassou owned a company that controlled diamond mines. Seven members of the Kenyatta family were linked to at least seven offshore companies and foundations. Through Union Banque Privée (UBP), the Kenyatta’s set up three foundations to avoid inheritance tax and hide their extensive wealth.
The foundations were suspended after failing to pay annual taxes, law firm Algocal says.…
African Development Bank Group has approved two grants worth $83.6 million to boost cross-border trade in electricity between Ethiopia and Djibouti and to deepen integration in the Horn of Africa sub-region.
In a statement, the bank’s board said the funds comprise a $69.65 million grant to Ethiopia and a second grant of $13.93 million to Djibouti.
Both have been sourced from the African Development Fund, which is the African Development Bank’s concessional financing window.
The Ethiopia–Djibouti Second Power Interconnection project will entail the construction of nearly 300 km of interconnector line, 170 km of transmission lines, and new construction or renovation of substations in the two countries.
Commenting on the approval, Bank’s Director of Power Systems Development Batchi Baldeh said the first interconnection line is reaching its power transfer capacity limit due to several developments in both countries, such as the industrial development in the eastern part of Ethiopia, the …
The next edition of the United States-Africa Business Summit (U.S- Africa) will be held in June 2020 in Marrakech, Morocco, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) announced on Monday.
The CCA Board of Directors chose the Kingdom as the host of the 2020 Summit after a strategic process. According to the statement, Morocco having joined the African Union and signing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, demonstrated its commitment to promote economic development in Africa, making it an ideal destination for the 2020 Summit.
Princess Lalla Joumala, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States, urged businesses to take advantage of the unique opportunities that will be presented at the Summit. It will be the first time CCA will organize the summit in North Africa.
“As the gateway to Africa, Morocco is committed to increasing business and investment on the continent and is pleased to partner …
The forthcoming Global Business Forum Africa (GBF Africa) in Dubai will feature 40 prominent speakers and 26 interactive sessions.
Among the high-level participants headlining the event are the presidents of Liberia, Zimbabwe and Seychelles and Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director-General of Expo 2020 Dubai.
The President of Liberia H.E. George Weah will lead a session entitled “Unleashing Liberia’s Potential” where he will discuss his plans to unlock growth prospects for Liberia and opportunities for young entrepreneurs to become key contributors to the economy.
H.E. Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe, will join a discussion focusing on potential opportunities to revitalise Zimbabwe and the role that entrepreneurs and investors can play in addressing pressing challenges such as power shortages, water and fuel. He will also venture in the topics of food security, healthcare and job creation.
H.E. Danny Faure, President of Seychelles, will focus on …
Halan an Egyptian technology startup that uses tuk-tuk to transport passengers and goods will begin operating in Ethiopia.
The company targets under-served communities and is expanding in more cities in the Egyptian governorates of Sharqeya, Daqahleya, Damietta, Qena and Gharbeya before the end of this year, said
The company was founded in November 2017 and already operates in around 20 to 25 cities in Egypt and Sudan.
Halan’s app allows customers to request for the three-wheeled vehicles, motorbikes or order food or goods for delivery through motorbikes or cargo tricycles.
Nakhla said the app has around 10,000 active drivers per month.
He continued to add that Egypt has around 70,000 tuk-tuks in its streets and Uber has 90,000 monthly active drivers in Egypt.
The company’s founder said, “Halan completes a few million rides per month, almost half a million of which are in food deliveries.” He further said that adding …
Kountable, a global trade and technology platform, has formed strategic partnerships with customs agencies in both Rwanda and Kenya.
This provides Kountable with a dedicated group of customs experts to assist in the timely processing and payment for imported goods in the region in addition to providing last-mile logistics so that goods can remain insured in that final stretch of the trade.
“The more parties we have who validate and participate in a transaction,” said Kountable CEO Chris Hale, “the more trust and transparency we bring to the network. We have gone through an extensive process to select these partners based on their professionalism and strength of their experience.”
Selected by an in-depth interview process and the recommendations of the Rwanda Revenue Authority’s (RRA’s) Risk Management Office and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA’s) Commissioner, Customs and Excise Services Department, these custom agencies are certified, vetted and found to be …
The International Wines and Spirits Record (IWSR), notes that whisky consumption in Kenya grew by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.7% in the five years 2013 to 2018. This is expected to grow by another 18.8% in the next four years to 2023.
But whatever is registering a greater notice among the elite Kenyan communities is the growth of aged brands with some Kenyans even requesting for a 72-year-old whisky. This has been categorized as a small group of consumers in the region who have a special taste on premium beverages as well a disposable income allowing populations to have high-end brands during leisure.
Macallan, a premium brand brewed since 1824 has been identified as the global leader in terms of value for whisky in its category.
In October 2018, a bottle of Macallan 60-Year-Old scotch whisky set a record when it sold at auction for $1.1 million. …
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of Africa’s largest and most experienced infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, has announced the final close of its flagship pan-African infrastructure fund, AIIF3, which raised US$320mn from a diverse investor base across Africa, Europe and Asia.
Since inception, AIIM has raised cumulative commitments of US$2.2bn over 7 funds and executed more than 56 transactions in target pan-African markets.
With a focus on diversification and predictable cash flows, AIIF3 targets significant influence investments across the power, transport and midstream energy sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa – areas with the biggest disconnect between demand for critical infrastructure and supply of available capital.
The Fund focuses on mid-market opportunities in these sectors, a space which is less competitive and carries less execution risk than the larger marque deals; gaining exposure to opportunities in countries with high growth prospects but lacking the scale to support mega deals.
A key …
