Browsing: African businesses

• Most countries in North Africa are struggling with searing poverty and economic vulnerabilities.
• Work opportunities in the region are limited especially for the women and youth. Most workers are engaged in low-productivity informal jobs. 
• The World Bank’s Built to Include: Reimagining Social Protection Systems in the Middle East and North Africa report argues that social protection policies could help.

One of the root causes of poverty and vulnerability in North Africa is the decades-old system driving youth and women exclusion in the labour market, a new World Bank report reveals. 

According to the World Bank, most countries in North Africa have been struggling with poverty and vulnerability for decades. Increasingly, work opportunities in the region are getting limited, particularly for women and youth. Across the economies, most workers are engaged in low-productivity informal jobs. 

Safety nets to mitigate youth and women exclusion

The report, Built to Include: Reimagining Social Protection …

• Deal Source Africa connects African businesses online with investors, transaction advisors and Impact Funds.
• Experienced transaction advisors will link with businesses to provide professional support along their fundraising journey.
• During the pilot phase, the program enabled 94 businesses to connect with 18 investors in deal rooms. 

A new programme seeking to connect African businesses online with investors, transaction advisors and Impact Funds has been unveiled in Ghana at the West Africa Deal summit. The programme, Deal Source Africa, comprises a digital platform that connects investors with businesses, in-person and virtual deal rooms where businesses can meet investors.

Deal Source Africa seeks to bridge the $331 billion funding gap for African SMEs. Top on target will be SMEs with high growth potential and offering solutions that help meet their business needs.

It also includes Impact Fund showcases where investors can meet African venture funds and other local capital providers.

Deal Source

It remains uncertain how long this economic downturn lasts or which businesses and investors will remain standing when it ends. Nevertheless, many tech startup players believe that the African digital ecosystem will remain relatively unscathed.

This moment provides a chance for Africa-focused funds to flourish. The African tech startup industry offers the funds tremendous possibilities to invest at a low cost. The best businesses find footing at times like these.…

A new report has revealed that biases in the estimation of solar production in Africa can lead to up to a 20 percent reduction in savings for African businesses.

This is according the Measuring Solar Irradiation in Africa: A case for change by CrossBoundary Energy which adds that such biases also cause between 1 and 2 percent reduction in the internal rate of return for solar developers and investors.

The report also indicates current methods that the solar industry uses for estimating solar production across the continent are unreliable.

Commenting on the report, Lenny Matei, co-author and Senior Project Engineer at CrossBoundary Energy, says that for most commercial and industrial (C&I) clients, a major factor in awarding projects is the electricity tariff and resulting savings offered.

Unilever and CrossBoundary Energy unveils 619 kWp solar plant in Kenya

He added that an often-overlooked factor is the estimated solar irradiation on site …

Small and Medium Enterprises in the region recognize the potential of working with public-private partnerships, and 63 percent of them think private sector initiatives and partnerships will benefit businesses and the markets in which they operate.

This has been revealed in a study conducted by Mastercard dubbed MEA SME Confidence Index.

The study also reveals that one in three SMEs or 32 percent think that collaborating with governments and businesses outside their markets could impact their growth. In Southern Africa this was especially pronounced, with over half at 56 percent agreeing.

The research also highlights the important role of government support in helping small and medium enterprises across the region to recover, position for growth, and contribute to economic prosperity.

As such, government support and implementation of effective policies has been highlighted as important by 88 percent of the region’s SMEs, 50 percent of which rated this point as a …

Forty-three leading global investors from Africa, Europe, the US, and the Middle East have signed up to participate virtually in the 8^th Angel Fair Africa on 5^th November 2020.

The investors are from Angel Africa List (AAL), Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (AVCA), America Capital Association (ACA), Women-In-Capital (WIC), Viktoria Business Angel Network, Brightmore Capital, amongst others. Anime Partners and MSM Property Fund are supporting the investor participation.

The ten selected ventures to pitch to these investors have gone through our one-month Africa Virtual Accelerator (AVA) @ https://www.africavirtualaccelerator.com/in.php. They are, ShopMeAway led by Racine Carr; Kalpay led by Ibrahima Kane; AgroInnova led by Amos Narh; Adi&Bolga led by Abimbola Oladeji; Kladika led by Muthoni Mwangi; Gift Pesa led by Pamela Muriuki; Ejoobi led by Simangele Mphahlele; Kweza led by Ropafadzo Musvaire, Afrijob Network led by Harriet Kariuki and Curacel led by Henry Mascot. Their participation …

African businesses are shifting towards new technologies in response to the ongoing pandemic, according to a new report published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

The UNECA and the International Economics Consulting Ltd jointly published the report which is the second comprehensive survey on the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact across Africa, according to UNECA.

The online survey was conducted from June 16 to July 20 to provide insights into the effects of the pandemic on economic activity for businesses across the region. The survey mainly identified challenges encountered by African businesses as well as their responses to mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic.

According to the report from the survey among the top three challenges faced by African countries during the pandemic are reduced opportunities to meet new customers drop in demand for products and services, as well as lack of cash flow.

“Companies …