Until recently, Ghana was considered a macroeconomic and political model in sub-Saharan Africa: in 2019, the World Bank described it as ‘a rising growth star’. However, in May 2023, the IMF signed a new bailout agreement worth $3bn over three years. It’s a program that’s widely seen as a band-aid for a host of long-term economic challenges facing the country - a net importer - including a balance of payments deficit. The nation’s public debt is nearly as large as its annual economic output, inflation has been running at over 40% in 2023 and Ghana’s currency, the Cedi, has fallen by more than 45% against the dollar since January 2022. The bailout will do little to address poverty, create new jobs, boost salaries or address the rising cost of living facing Ghanaians.
The African Private Capital Association (AVCA) and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) have announced the release of the Climate Financing in Africa: Strategies for the Future report, a new study outlining the current landscape of investment in building Africa’s climate resilience.
Nkiru Balonwu, Founder of the Africa Soft Power Group, outlines some of the critical challenges under discussion at the Africa Soft Power Summit this month.
Africa Global Funds speaks with a few of the most influential female professionals about the biggest issues facing women in financial services and their personal experiences.
Africa Global Funds’a Anna Lyudvig speaks with José Solange Francis (left), Founder-Managing Director, and Morlai Kargbo, FCCA (right), Associate-Investment Director at Hamilcar Capital, about special situations and the firm’s objectives.
The African landscape is experiencing a meaningful transformational shift as a result of the mushrooming of small and medium businesses across the continent, with more than 2,000 African start-ups – out of 3,000 – having secured investment from venture capitalists.
The South African investment community and pension funds, in particular, are sitting on the cusp of an infrastructure boom that provides an excellent opportunity for diversifying portfolios and supports the development of critical infrastructure for the country.
Husayn Sassa, Associate Director, Fund and Investor Services, and Jean Claude Permal, Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer at AXIS tell Africa Global Funds about the firm’s objectives, trends in the African PE industry and more.
In January, British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, has appointed Chris Chijiutomi as MD, Head of Africa. We caught up with Mr Chijiutomi to learn more.
In September, Standard Bank and the SA SME Fund have joined other credible investors in backing venture capital firm Knife Capital’s new African Series B expansion fund, Knife Fund III.
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003. The financial sector has made extensive advancements in achieving parity across multiple segments, but control and ownership remains largely uninterrupted. A report published by the FSCA in 2022 states that the South African financial sector is “concentrated and interconnected with the largest banks, insurers and fund managers controlling the majority of assets”. It is against this backdrop that the sector can expect a flurry of interventions designed to accelerate the adoption of B-BBEE and promote competition - some of which are explained below.
-crop-c0-4__0-43-273x206-70.jpg)
