The South African political environment has just experienced a generational shift. The coalition government between the African National Congress (ANC) and its largest critic, the Democratic Alliance (DA), could reset the investment environment. The DA now controls several key cabinet appointments, including agriculture and home affairs. Despite the political complexity, many in the South African investment community feel optimistic about the change.
In recent years, several Western banks and financial institutions have implemented policies aimed at reducing support for fossil fuel projects, especially in Africa. This has led to a sharp decline in investment in the continent’s oil and gas industry, a sector that is crucial for its economic future and energy needs. The African Energy Chamber (AEC) argues that these institutions are practicing “financial apartheid,” arguing that while similar projects receive support in Europe, Africa’s high-cost energy projects are being neglected.
RMB has released the highly anticipated 2024 edition of its Where to Invest in Africa report, a comprehensive analysis of the top investment destinations on the continent. The report, which has been developed in collaboration with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), leverages a robust methodology that has been updated to reflect new data sources, taking into account a variety of factors that have been proven to determine a country’s progress and therefore its investment potential.
Africa Eats uses a unique for-profit business model. The companies under Africa Eats now have a combined $36m in revenues in 2023, growing at more than 50% year-over-year. Africa Global Funds's Anna Lyudvig caught up with Luni Libes, Founder & CEO of Africa Eats, to learn more
Olivier Granet (left), Managing Partner, Chief Executive Officer, and David Damiba (right), Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer at Kasada Capital Management, tell Africa Global Funds about the firm’s investment strategy and trends that are driving the hospitality industry in Africa.
The total market capitalisation of the entire South African Exchange Traded Product (ETP) industry increased from R165.4bn at the end of 2023, to 178.2bn at the end of the first quarter of 2024, a rise of 7.7%.
Albert Alsina, Founder and Chief Executive officer at Mediterrania Capital Partners, tells Africa Global Funds about the firm’s investment philosophy, how they are making impact in Africa, challenges with Private Equity investing and future plans
Paulo Martelli, VP and Chief Investment Officer at FinDev Canada, speaks with Africa Global Funds about their approach to investing in Africa, investment opportunities and challenges. Martelli has been with FinDev since 2018. He is responsible for setting the organization’s investment strategy and managing a growing portfolio of debt and equity investments across sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
Samar Abuwarda, a retired banking and investment professional, looks into the Sovereign Fund of Egypt’s performance since 2020 and how it could take advantage of the current events occurring in the Egyptian economy.
Even though several negative factors impacted the investment environment in 2023, South African markets followed global peers higher in the final quarter with the FTSE/JSE All Share Index ending the year at 9.3%, which was marginally behind bonds at 9.7% but ahead of cash, at 7.8%. The standout performance for 2023 came from global equities, with the All Country World Index (ACWI) returning 31.3% (in rand).
The seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”) which have been adopted by all members of the United Nations back in 2015 are considered as a set of rules which guide Private Equity Fund Managers to address social and environmental challenges in countries where they make investments. Generally, Fund Managers have played a vital role in helping emerging markets when it comes to achieving SDGs. For over a decade, several Fund structures along with their related entities which have been domiciled in Mauritius, have been actively involved and participate in the management of their respective portfolio companies. They work towards the implementation of strategies which ultimately bring value addition, growth and acceptable financial performance to those businesses.
Guillaume De Meyer, Global Service Director (left) and Emmanuel Maire, Head of Technology (right) from Temenos Multifonds discuss the issues impacting asset management firms in South Africa, and how the latest technology can help do address them
