Tag Archives: 2014

2014 Oxford Africa Conference 23-24 May 2014

 

Tessa Wilson

The Spring bank holiday weekend meant a trip to Oxford to staff the 2014 Oxford Africa Conference. The 2-day event titled African Transformations was organised by Oxford’s two leading student-run Africa organisations: the Oxford Africa Society and the Oxford Business Network for Africa.

There was lots of interesting, direct and honest content and working with Gong’s financial services clients meant my ears pricked up for the ‘Investments in Actions: Private Equity Cases’ session with a discussion between members of CDC and The Abraaj Group, moderated by Private Equity Africa, Managing Editor, Gail Mwamba

There was a strong focus on the progress of African PE over the last decade, with discussion bouncing between the mass of opportunity and the overestimated risks. Yet the panel members were clear that one of the key constraints within African PE is finding superior talent, with David Easton, CDC, citing an important decision-making factor in his firm’s latest investment in the DRC as being its “good management”.

Talent, both at GP and portfolio company level, can be a major limiting factor for PE in Africa. Often not all the skills needed –  financial acumen, management experience, African background and operational track record – can be found in one individual.

With such a positive view on other, more ‘obvious’ risks, both political and economic, it is the difficulty in pinning down elusive talent which is often underestimated.

 

Happy New Year

 

Isabelle Alenus-Crosby

The good news is that Africa’s economic outlook for 2014 remains promising with an overall projected growth of 5.3%. Should the global economy recover faster than predicted, then sub-Saharan Africa’s economy might expand by as much as 6.0% according to the IMF. This is consistent with the average long-term trend growth rate of approximately 5.5% between 2000 and 2010.

According to the World Bank, an economic rebound would also scale up investments in much-needed infrastructure (physical and economic) which will lead to policy reforms that will improve the overall business environment. In addition, African market performances in 2013 have proven that investments into Africa can continue to offer a sound return. Investment levels are expected to remain buoyant (again according to the World Bank), with private investments expected to double in areas such as consumption and infrastructure.

Happy New Year indeed!