Insights
Africa’s people are one of the continent’s greatest strengths, but without sufficient investment in skills, jobs and financial inclusion the continent’s rapidly growing population could undermine the region’s development. With a current median age of 19.7, Africa is the youngest continent globally and expected to be home to over 2 billion people by 2050, representing 1/3 of the global workforce.
Africa contributes less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions and yet is suffering some of the most severe impacts of climate change. The continent’s rivers are drying up, rain patterns are changing and crop yields diminishing – all of which threaten lives and livelihoods in the region.
In times of high volatility, as the global economy is currently experiencing, capital tends to retreat to markets closer to home. Africa’s funding gap is such that private capital, both domestic and international, will have to fill the bulk of the region’s development needs.
With the Russia-Ukraine war compounding international supply chain issues and driving up inflation, the global economy has emerged from the pandemic into what is beginning to feel like an endemic crisis. We sat down with Nick Allan, CEO of Control Risks, after the Africa Debate to discuss his assessment of how Africa will be impacted by these global trends.
Rt. Hon. Mark Simmonds, Chairman of the Invest Africa Advisory Board wrote a letter to the Financial Times in response to an article on Russia embarking charm offensive with governments across Africa. In it, he argues that Russia and Sergei Lavrov having found “signs of friendship” in Africa in recent months is a worrying sign of a dilution of European influence in Africa. In response, the west need to engage more meaningfully, across multiple areas, to assist Africa’s development.
Knight Frank’s ultimate guide to real estate market performance and opportunities in the world’s most exciting continent is out now.
The 2022/23 Africa Report boasts coverage of property markets in 22 countries, including three market insight articles examining some of the most pressing issues facing real estate markets around the continent.
Africa has substantial economic potential and the opportunities for foreign investment and strategic partnerships are on the rise. There is consensus that investment opportunities in Africa are abound, five structural trends - the continent’s youthful population, increasing levels of urbanisation, abundance of resources, depth of financial services and technological infrastructure put Africa in a unique position for robust and resilient long-term international investment opportunities for countries like the United Kingdom.
This Invest Africa and Standard Chartered Bank paper clearly identifies a pipeline of opportunities across the continent. The ambitious AfCFTA, which has promised to set the continent on a stronger and more inclusive growth path is particularly within the interest of British businesses. Support from the region’s key trade partners, including the UK, will be critical to the success of the agreement.
As Head of Global Engagement at Cambridge Partnership for Education, a unit within the University of Cambridge, Annie Michailideou specialises in identifying opportunities to improve education equity and quality by raising standards and giving learners the knowledge, understanding and practical skills to succeed in the modern world. Invest Africa sits down with Annie to find out more about the work Cambridge University Press is doing across Africa and how the unit is driving education reform across the Continent.
As Head of Global Engagement at Cambridge Partnership for Education, a unit within the University of Cambridge, Annie Michailideou specialises in identifying opportunities to improve education equity and quality by raising standards and giving learners the knowledge, understanding and practical skills to succeed in the modern world. Invest Africa sits down with Annie to find out more about the work Cambridge University Press is doing across Africa and how the unit is driving education reform across the Continent.
Africa’s insurance market is poised for rapid expansion with the second fastest growth in the world after Latin America. It is growing nearly twice as fast as North America and over three times faster than Europe. With 7% year-on-year growth, the region even outpaces Asia. However, this recent growth has taken place against an extremely low baseline and Africa continues to be severely underinsured. It was against this backdrop that Africa Specialty Risks (ASR) was founded in 2020 with support from Helios Fund IV. We spoke to Mikir Shah, CEO of ASR about how (re)insurance can unlock investment in Africa and why he is optimistic about the growth of the Continent’s (re)insurance sector.
The Mauritius International Financial Centre (MIFC) has an established reputation as a safe, trusted, and competitive international financial centre, reaffirming its position as the preferred jurisdiction for FDI flows towards Africa.
Notwithstanding the network of DTA treaties that are currently in place with several African jurisdictions, Mauritius possesses the right attributes to position itself robustly as the preferred investment gateway to and from Africa.
Algy Cluff has been in the extractives game for a long time, founding Cluff Oil in 1972. Now, 40 years after he first entered the African market, the landscape looks very different as he launches his new venture, Cluff Energy Africa. Established in 2019, the company has already provisionally been awarded license covering 16,000km2 in Sierra Leone with plans to expand across East and West Africa.
With rising protectionism and escalating trade wars across Western markets, Africa offers a different story to investors. In their fourth edition of the Risk-Reward Index for Africa, Control Risks moves beyond the headlines to draw out the underlying patterns of change and structural risk factors.
With rising protectionism and escalating trade wars across Western markets, Africa offers a different story to investors. In their fourth edition of the Risk-Reward Index for Africa, Control Risks moves beyond the headlines to draw out the underlying patterns of change and structural risk factors.
K2 Intelligence Financial Integrity Network (FIN) is an industry-leading investigative, compliance, and cyber defence services firm founded in 2009 by Jeremy M. Kroll and Jules B. Kroll, who is credited with originating the modern corporate investigations industry. Their clients frequently include financial institutions, law firms, hedge funds and private equity firms, and private and sovereign clients seeking to recover assets as well as public entities and private companies in a variety of sectors including energy, mining, real estate and construction, education, and technology.
Our flagship, the Rogers Group, was one of the first conglomerates to start a management company in the early 1990s to serve foreign investors wanting to use Mauritius as an investment platform. Since its inception, Rogers Capital has adopted an avant-garde approach to combine world-class financial expertise with cutting edge technology to provide its clients with sophisticated solutions for their businesses. Rogers Capital has a robust proven track record that spans over two decades. Our most recent expansion is in Côte D’Ivoire where we have opened a rep office.
Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing consumer markets and is projected to boast 1.7 billion consumers by 2030. A growing African middle class has often been signalled as a significant source of future global consumer spending growth. However, the commodity price shock of 2014 and subsequent economic slowdown tempered the African consumer growth narrative.
The African Development Bank has estimated that the financing gap for African infrastructure falls between $130 and $170 billion a year. Investment in infrastructure lies at the heart of many of the challenges facing Africa’s development and growth agenda. New road and rail links will help increase trade flows within the continent.
With rising protectionism and escalating trade wars across Western markets, Africa offers a different story to investors. In their fourth edition of the Risk-Reward Index for Africa, Control Risks moves beyond the headlines to draw out the underlying patterns of change and structural risk factors.
On a continent where 76% of the workforce is engaged in informal labour, the question of how to inject capital into businesses overlooked by traditional banking services has weighed on the minds of developers and financiers alike for decades. If opportunities are to be created for Africa’s booming population, a financial ecosystem that works for micro, small and medium sized enterprises needs to be developed.
On his recent visit to Africa, Jeremy Hunt called for ‘the world to see African nations as partners for investment and trade’. British investment and trade with Africa has been growing steadily over the last decade. Foreign direct investment doubled between 2005 and 2014 from £20.8 billion to £42.5 billion and trade between Britain and Africa rose by 7% in 2018 to hit £33 billion.
Over 600 million Africans do not have access to electricity. This energy deficit will need to be urgently addressed if the continent is to fully reap the benefits of industrialisation and technological innovation. However, Africa also has huge energy potential.
The UN General Assembly has declared 2016-2025 the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa. Yet, Africa’s manufacturing value added accounted for only 1.6% of the global total in 2014. The continent continues to lag behind other regions and adds value to only 14% of its exports, compared to 27% for emerging Asian economies and 31% for developed economies.
Richard Arloves, Partner at Ocorian is interviewed on Business Today on Kenya Television News on the key areas to invest in Kenya in 2019.