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Egyptian Transport Startup Swvl targets Nigeria, Africa And Asia before the end of 2019

September 16, 2019

Barring any last minute changes, Egyptian transport technology startup Swvl will expand into two cities in Pakistan in the next two weeks and begin operations in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos before the end of the year, its chief executive.

co-founder and CEO Mostafa Kandil — Co-founder and CEO Mostafa Kandil.

“We will enter Lagos before the end of the year, and our eyes are on Dar es Salaam and Abidjan,” co-founder and CEO Mostafa Kandil told Reuters. ‘‘The firm is also planning to launch in other South East Asian markets, he added.’’

Here Is All You Need To Know

The firm, which operates buses along fixed routes and allows customers to reserve and pay for them using an app, will also expand into Manila in the first half of next year, Kandil added.
Kandil said the company is seeking to raise more than $100 million in a financing round in the first half of next year, and is targeting a $1 billion valuation in the next five years.
Since its launch in April 2017 Swvl has secured the biggest round of funding for a tech start-up in Egypt.

“We were a company worth about $2 million two years ago and our paid-up capital is now $80 million,” he said.

Kandil said he hoped Swvl would eventually go public, but did not say on which stock exchange. He said he would in the longer term also consider a buyout offer from the likes of ride-hailing giant Uber (N:UBER).

Kandil, 25, said the company has been losing money, but expects to turn a profit in two to three years.

“This year we have entered about seven new cities and next year we are targeting another 10 to 20 new big cities,” Kandil said.

The Cairo-based firm, which is due to move its headquarters to Dubai in November, launched in Nairobi about six months ago and began operations in Lahore in July.

“We aim to reach one million trips a day in Egypt over the next five years,” said Kandil.

He and two other young Egyptian co-founders, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah, own more than 30% of the company, he said.

The rest is held by 17 investment funds, including U.S.-based Autotech Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, the UAE’s BECO Capital and China’s MSA Capital.

The Swvl app, which has fixed bus routes, uses the passenger’s location and destination to determine the shortest possible trip time based on the nearest bus stop.

Uber and regional competitor Careem began operating their own bus services in Egypt in late 2018, competing directly with Swvl.

About Swvl

Founded in 2017, Swvl connects commuters with private buses, allowing them to reserve seats on these buses and pay the fare through company’s mobile app. The buses available on Swvl operate on fixed routes (or lines).
The report by Vostok New Ventures, notes,”Swvl offers a premium on-demand bus service with third party supply. The algorithm
plans the most efficient routes and the most efficient bus stops for peak hours, and more flexibility is possible during off peak hours. Network effects arise through the snowball of the more users that are attracted to the service, the more bus owners will want to offer their supply, the more bus supply the more routes etc., the more customers etc.”
It won’t be a fair comparison but to give you some context, Careem had raised its $60 million round (Series C) at a valuation less than $200 million in November 2015, over three and half years after the company was founded.
Swvl is now in the same territory both in terms of total investment they’ve raised so far and the valuation, in almost two years.
The VC landscape in MENA is entirely different today with a lot more options when it comes to raising Series A/+ rounds so the funding is relatively easier to come by (than it was when Careem raised money) but what Swvl has achieved is still a very big feat.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world

African Leadership Should Adopt Innovative Thinking in Job Creation

September 15, 2019

Intellectuals and experts in the field of human resource management from across Africa have urged African leadership to adopt a more innovative approach in efforts at tackling unemployment in the continent.

This becomes necessary as innovative thinking about Africa’s conventional employment issues is what takes centrestage at the African Development Bank’s new policy research document titled:Creating Decent Jobs: Strategies, Policies, and Instruments.

The report which elicited strong presentations and debate during the Report Launch in Abidjan Cote d’Ivoire attracted senior management of the Bank, diplomats, staff, and media representatives.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Charles Boamah Senior Vice President of the Bank pointed out that the issue of employment is “at the top of the agenda of every African leader”, and said that the report was “the first of its kind in challenging and unveiling some of the misconceptions that many experts have about the nature of under-employment and unemployment in Africa.

“The report signals the start of some fresh thinking about the nature of employment creation on the continent and clarifies which development strategies and policy interventions are needed for low-income countries in Africa”, Boamah said. He went on to predict that the report would “serve as a reference document on employment in Africa for some years to come”.

Introducing the report, Celestin Monga, the Bank’s Chief Economist, remarked that part of its appeal was in applying innovative thinking to conventional employment issues. For example, one problem identified was that domestic economic progress was often assessed by the allocation of public funding to priority sectors or by analyzing the number of reforms carried out to improve the business environment. In this context, he observed that several of the world’s top-performing countries had low rankings for the ease of doing business.

He also remarked that the official unemployment figures of many African countries were so unrealistically low that policymakers found it difficult to explain how demand for labor in markets was so buoyant.

Africa was also the world region with the highest proportion of its workforce in vulnerable employment, which served to hide rather than clarify the essential issue of employment in Africa. A new model for measuring employment that related to actual conditions in Africa was needed, he said. The report should also be seen as a manifesto for African jobs.

Finally, he praised the painstaking work of his co-editors, and particularly recommended a focus paper written by Andinet Woldemichael, principal research economist, entitled “The Missing Women in African Labor Markets” in the report.

In the face of rapidly growing populations and heightened risks of social unrest or discontent, jobless growth was the most serious concern for African policymakers, said Abebe Shimeles, manager in the Chief Economist’s complex, who spoke on the highlights of the report. “One problem”, he added, “was already well known – that employment and unemployment needed to be more closely defined in their relative context, a task that had already caused difficulties in other development finance institutions.

Traditional labour market economists were not capable of accurately defining the particular African employment phenomenon”. In addition, he pointed out that the status of the ministries of work or labour in many African countries was often not important enough to be considered as a critical policy sector, reflecting the low priority given to making a serious difference to the continental employment challenge facing all the African countries.

Reacting to the issue of unemployment in Africa, the Minister of Youth Promotion and Employment of Cote d’Ivoire, Mr. Mamadou Toure highlighted on the interconnections that existed around the jobs issue pointing out that “this cannot be resolved on its own, and certainly not without considering carefully other related aspects, such as skills, education, training, enterprise and social services”.

Professor Tchetche N’Guessan, of the University of Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Cocody, Cote d’Ivoire; and Mr Freddy Tchala, CEO of MTN in Cote d’Ivoire. Also spoke, discussing different aspects of employment, education, training, skills and government measures for the promotion of youth entrepreneurs.

This Report,its promoters say would be of immense assistance to government and the private sector alike in understanding the dynamics of Africa’s job market and also help in fashioning out modalities towards finding solutions to it.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Mauritius Joins Africa Finance Corporation

September 12, 2019

The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has admitted Mauritius as its 23rd member nation. This comes few weeks after Madagascar joined the Corporation, becoming the Corporation’s 22nd member. The AFC, an investment grade multilateral finance institution with an equity capital base of US$1 billion, to be the catalyst for private sector-led infrastructure investment across Africa has been experiencing surging growth with a current balance sheet of approximately US$4.5 billion, making it the second highest investment grade rated multilateral financial institution in Africa.

Mauritius membership is coming at a time the southern African island nation is registering impressive economic progress across the board, including a near fivefold increase in its GDP per capita in the last 30 years. Moreso, Mauritius has consistently maintained one of the highest-ranking countries in Africa in the UN’s Human Development Index striving to move from a middle income country to a high income country. The government also said that this development is in line with the current economic strategy, titled “Achieving the Second Economic Miracle” which places high emphasis on infrastructure investment which informs the country’s identification with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) focus on power, transport & logistics.

With this development, the AFC is now free to start series of engagements with Mauritius and its private sector on the best ways it can contribute towards developing the country’s infrastructure, leveraging AFC’s award-winning approach to deliver high quality, sustainable infrastructure projects. Equally noteworthy is the fact that the Mauritius Africa Fund (MAF), SBM Group and AFC are in discussions currently with regards to the establishment of an Africa-focused infrastructure and industrialization fund (the Fund). The Fund, a Mauritius initiative, will seek to collaborate and mobilize funds from key institutional investors for investment in crucial infrastructure projects and facilitate the setting up of special economic zones across the African continent. It would be similar to the Nigerian Trust Fund (NTF) domiciled at the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Speaking on the development, the President & CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Mr. Samaila Zubairu, expressed the Corporation’s pleasure in welcoming Mauritius as a Member State of AFC. Noting that through its commitment to promoting private sector-led solutions for its development challenges, Mauritius presents an excellent partnership opportunity for AFC’s mandate to develop and finance infrastructure, natural resource and industrial assets for enhanced the productivity and economic growth of African states. He added that the Corporation looks forward to significantly contributing to Mauritius’s growth story.

It could be recalled that the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has an A3/P2 (Stable outlook) rating from Moody’s Investors Service and that it successfully raised US$650 million in 2019, US$500 million in 2017 and US$750 million in 2015 through Eurobonds all of which were oversubscribed and attracted investors from Asia, Europe and the USA. Combining specialist industry expertise with a focus on financial and technical advisory, project structuring, project development and risk capital to address Africa’s infrastructure development needs and drive sustainable economic growth, the AFC has invested in high-quality infrastructure assets that provide essential services in the core infrastructure sectors of power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport, and telecommunications in projects within 29 countries across Africa.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

African Green Revolution Forum Raises $500 Million for Africa’s Young ‘Agripreneurs’

September 10, 2019

The best time to do agriculture in Africa is probably now. African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), has secured $500 million for young ‘Agripreneurs’ across the continent to develop agriculture opportunities on the continent.

Here Is All You Need To Know

AGRF is the first ever forum for African agriculture, pulling together stakeholders across the agricultural landscape to discuss and commit to programs, investments and policies to achieve an inclusive and sustainable agricultural transformation across the continent.
The funding was raised from firms such as Dangote Farms, Press Agriculture, Pearl Dairies Ltd, and Fresh Ltd. In addition, a Unilever-IDH partnership committed $28.6 millions towards investments in small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) working in variety of food-related endeavors.
Some 17 country delegations presented investment opportunities worth in excess of $2 billion.
The proposed investments, coupled with support from various stakeholders, is anticipated to impact more than 15,000 smallholder farmers and create seven million jobs.
Mastercard Foundation announced plans to invest $500 million to launch a new Young Africa Works program. The initiative will provide a major infusion of capital to support the efforts of a new generation of young “agripreneurs” who are investing their talent in farming and other agriculture-oriented ventures.
The forum also set up a “Deal Room” that delivered some $200 million in new investments to support digital infrastructure crucial for powering innovative farmer services, significant actions on climate change adaptation, and the launch of a major food trade coalition.
The Agribusiness Deal Room at the AGRF was made possible with the support of core design partners, including the African Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), AGRA, the African Development Bank (AfDB), CrossBoundary, GAIN, GrowAfrica, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The Deal Room also received advisory support from the World Economic Forum (WEF).

“The potential benefits of the AGRF to the African continent are beyond contention,” said Ghana President H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. “We must galvanize our collective resources and energy to fully exploit the opportunities it presents.”

The Agribusiness Deal Room saw private and public sector stakeholders commit over $200 million to develop and strengthen several value chains in Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Eswatini.

Embracing the Potential of Digital Innovations for African Agriculture

The theme of this year’s AGRF was “Grow Digital: Leveraging Digital Transformation to Drive Sustainable Food Systems in Africa.” AGRF 2019 featured a rigorous and informative series of technical assessments, policy analyses, and political discussions that produced a new level of consensus that could dramatically accelerate efforts to use digital innovations to make farming in Africa more productive, profitable, sustainable and inclusive.

The discussions were anchored by the presentation of the Digitalisation of African Agriculture report from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Dalberg Advisors. Its key findings include the fact that some 71 percent of users of digital agriculture or D4Ag services across the continent are under 35. The CTA report found more than 90 percent of the market for digital services that support African smallholders remains untapped and could be worth more than $2.26 billion. The study also found nearly 400 different digital agriculture solutions are currently in play, serving 33 million registered farmers across sub-Saharan Africa.

The report estimates the number of registered farmers and the number of digital solutions are growing so rapidly that they are likely to reach the majority of the region’s farmers by 2030.

“Digitalisation can be a game-changer in modernising and transforming Africa’s agriculture, attracting young people to farming and allowing farmers to optimise production while also making them more resilient to climate change”, said Michael Hailu, Director of CTA.

There was much discussion at AGRF 2019 about the need for investments in the basic infrastructure and data systems that will provide the critical foundation for D4Ag services. To that end, there was news at AGRF that the World Bank plans to invest US $50 billion in Transforming Africa’s Digital Economy.

The Bank is committed to ensuring every African, including every African business and government, is digitally enabled by 2030. The investments include support for broadband infrastructure; digital skill development; digital platforms; digital financial services; and digital entrepreneurship. One key goal is to double access to broadband services across the continent by 2021.

The Forum Also Saw A New Alliance on Food Trade

The AGRF 2019 featured the launch of the new Africa Regional Food Trade Coalition. The Coalition was developed by a large and diverse coalition of leaders from the public and private sector. They are building on the foundation established by the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and market opportunities evidenced in the region’s $35 billion annual food import bill. The goal is to increase regional food trade via more predictable policies and mechanisms that encourage new agribusiness investments that capitalize on the rich diversity of farming ecologies across the continent.

A Regional Food Trade symposium showcased a number of data innovations that could help advance food trade in the region.

SMEs are Big Business in Africa Ag: The “Hidden Middle” Takes Center Stage

AGRF 2019 featured the launch of a provocative new report that busts a major myth of Africa agriculture: that there is a “missing middle” of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) available to power the region’s food systems. AGRA’s 2019 Africa Agricultural Status Report (AASR) presented new evidence that the “missing middle” is actually a “hidden middle” of SME-powered agri-food supply chains that recently has experienced a “quiet revolution.”

The report found that today, millions of SMEs are sourcing directly from millions more smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 64 percent of the volume of food consumed in the region. The report noted that the rise of SME’s has been largely unrecognized by policymakers, even as it has bridged gaps that previously separated most small-scale farmers from commercial markets.

“SMEs are the biggest investors in building markets for farmers in Africa today, and will likely remain so for the next 10-to-20 years,” said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA. “They were not missing, just hidden.”

For more information visit African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF)’s website

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Business People Call on Governments to Tackle High Business Risks in Africa

September 9, 2019

Business people across the continent have called on the governments and regional development institutions to join hands in fashioning out ways to help reduce the high business risk in the continent. This call was made against the backdrop of recent findings by global consultancy firm PwC Group which identifies among other things the growing socio-political and economic uncertainties are undermining efforts by African businesses to grow, and by extension contribute to the growth of the continent. Worst hit by this development are small to medium scale businesses and the conglomerates and multinationals have the financial muscle and political connection to push through without much hassles.

An executive of a Lagos based microfinance bank that funds small and medium scale businesses that service the sub region explained that some of the present policies put small businesses that rely on regional markets at a disadvantage whereas big multinationals survive because they have established outposts across the countries which help them to mitigate some of these challenges. He cited example with a very popular household manufacturing conglomerate Unilever Group which he said manufactures some of its products in either Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire of Nigeria— depending on which country provides comparative advantage in manufacturing a particular product–and distribute across the region using its well oiled logistics network. But smaller holdings that do not have such huge capacity are left out in the cold, he said.

The Report captures some of the stumbling blocks businesses face in the face of bureaucratic redtapes across the continent. For example, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol mandates free movement of goods and services across the 15 member countries, but this exists only on paper as businesses are made to go through untold hardships at various border posts incurring high demurrage and in some instances, loss due to border thefts and other hazards. Another challenge being faced by businesses is exchange rate volatility between the three major currencies in the region—naira, CFA Franc, and cedi— this has remained a detriment to regional business transactions in the region.

For example a Nigerian businessman who spoke with this Correspondent pointed out that it has become extremely difficult to make estimates of cost of logistics and successfully build it into a business plan because of policy changes along the West African coast. He said that sometimes, between the time it takes to load his goods in Lagos, and offload in Accra Ghana, he may be shocked with three to four different policy changes affecting excise and duties on the goods. He lamented that it is becoming increasingly difficult to operate in the region, doubting the rhetoric of economic integration being parroted by African leaders on a daily basis.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Africa Check in conjunction with Facebook, expands its local language coverage as part of its Third-Party Fact-Checking Programme

August 15, 2019

Africa Check in conjunction with Facebook, expands its local language coverage as part of its Third-Party Fact-Checking Programme.

Facebook’s reality checking project depends on input from the Facebook people group, as one of numerous sign Facebook uses to raise possibly false stories to certainty checkers for survey

Facebook), today with Africa Check reported that it has included new neighborhood language support for a few African dialects as a major aspect of its Third-Party Fact-Checking program – which surveys the exactness of news on Facebook and expects to decrease the spread of deception.

Propelled in 2018 crosswise over five nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon, Facebook has banded together with Africa Check, Africa’s first free certainty checking association, to grow its neighborhood language inclusion over:

Nigeria, in Yoruba and Igbo, adding to Hausa which was at that point bolstered

Swahili in Kenya

Wolof in Senegal

Afrikaans, Zulu, Setswana, Sotho, Northern Sotho and Southern Ndebele in South Africa

As indicated by Kojo Boakye, Facebook Head of Public Policy, Africa, stated: “We keep on trying huge interests in our endeavors to battle the spread of false news on our stage, while building strong, sheltered, educated and comprehensive networks. Our outsider reality checking system is only one of numerous ways we are doing this, and with the extension of neighborhood language inclusion, this will help in further improving the nature of data individuals see on Facebook. We know there is still more to do, and we’re focused on this.”

Remarking, Noko Makgato, official chief of Africa Check, said “We’re excited to grow the munitions stockpile of the dialects we spread in our work on Facebook’s outsider truth checking program. In nations as semantically different as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Senegal, certainty checking in neighborhood dialects is imperative. In addition to the fact that it lets us actuality check increasingly content on Facebook, it likewise implies we’ll be contacting more individuals crosswise over Africa with confirmed, believable data.”

Facebook’s reality checking project depends on criticism from the Facebook people group, as one of numerous sign Facebook uses to raise possibly false stories to certainty checkers for survey. Neighborhood articles will be reality checked close by the confirmation of photographs and recordings. In the event that one of Facebook’s reality checking accomplices distinguishes a story as false, Facebook will demonstrate it lower in News Feed, essentially lessening its dispersion.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

TALKING TALENT: HR Experts in Nigeria discuss how to future-proof their business and discover the one thing they desperately need

August 9, 2019

The cost of a bad hire or exit is on average three times the annual salary of that position, once all bottom-line costs are included in calculations. This is an outrageous cost and one of the reasons HR leaders have to ensure that their companies must hire the right fit and effectively plan for succession, at all levels. One pioneering HR consulting company is trailblazing the course to help Nigerian companies achieve this.

On Tuesday, July 30th, 2019, over 50 HR Experts and Top Business professionals gathered at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Lagos Nigeria to discuss human resource management strategies that help organizations plan for the right hire, identify, develop and retain top-performing talent and position teams for seamless succession.

This event, ‘Talking Talent’, is the maiden edition of a series of HR workshops planned to take place across different countries in Africa and is the brainchild of The African Talent Company (TATC), a Pan-African recruitment firm offering ‘Fit-For-Purpose’ HR solutions across Talent Acquisition, HR Technology, Data Analysis, and Consultancy.

Senior HR professionals from a wide range of top companies and industries, such as Nigerian Breweries, Mondelez, Rand Merchant Bank, Rossetti Pivot, were in attendance as speakers, panelists, and workshop participants.

There were presentations and panel discussions, however, the key activity that struck a chord with the participants was the break-away sessions to deep dive on three key HR pain points: ‘Hiring Right’, ‘Managing Talent’ and ‘Succession Planning’. These one-on-one sessions were respectively led by three talent Gurus: Heather O’Shea – Managing Partner, TATC; Martin Sutherland – Global Director, PeopleTree Group and Brett Mulder – COO, PeopleTree Group.

One insight that stood out, was the fact that succession planning was not commonly practiced at Nigerian companies and that implies that teams do not have the required bench strength and had to be reset whenever top performers leave.

It was quite a revelation as HR leaders at the workshop said they faced challenges which varied from the lack of support from team members who refused to mentor designated successors, to HR teams who did not know how to design and implement a succession plan.

Brett Mulder, who led the breakout group on Succession planning, said, “Succession planning is a risk management strategy to ensure leadership continuity, preserve institutional knowledge and, in most cases, develop talent from within the organisation.

Gaining commitment from the executive and creating a structured roadmap to guide your investment in time, is critical in implementing a plan that ensures successors actually succeed.

Identify key roles for succession, adopt an evidence-based approach to assessing readiness, identify pools of talent that could potentially fill these roles and finally develop employees to be ready for advancement into key roles.”

Heather O’Shea, who focused on hiring right, also said, “Top companies all struggle with getting their workforce planning correct, not knowing when to ‘Buy, Borrow, Build or Bind’ the skill. This can be very costly, from a time, money and emotional perspective and we want to make it easy for HR leaders to understand how to choose the right strategy”. To facilitate this learning, participants were given a free workforce planning template and a demonstration on how to use this template at their respective companies.

During the panel discussion, chaired by Jobberman CEO, Hilda Kragha, she mentioned, “When you find good people, as an organization, you need to make your value proposition interesting for them at every stage of their journey with you, so they are motivated to deliver more, for longer”.

The panel was discussing ‘How to identify top performers and how to retain them’ and had Martin Sutherland on the panel, who also said, “Personalising employee engagement is important, anonymous surveys don’t help you tailor custom retention actions for high-value individuals.”

In engagements with TATC clients in 2019, they asked: “How do I future-proof my business to ensure I have the right skills to continue to grow well past 2020?”.

This was the key pain point, and to address this, TATC decided to not hold “‘another conference”‘ but rather to have a workshop, where TATC could share insights and offer their talent specialists who could bring their expertise to share with clients.

Delegates were offered the opportunity to have one-on-one sessions to speak about their challenges because TATC wanted to offer the expertise to clients in an open, yet intimate forum.

The results were intriguing, as key insights around the challenges HR leaders face in succession planning and workforce planning were discovered and discussed. This is a high-impact workshop series that will occur regularly across the different markets that TATC operate.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

GE Healthcare and the Association of Medical Engineering of Kenya host more than 100 biomedical engineers for Biomedical Excellence Day

More than 100 biomedical engineers from the public and private sectors across the country participated with best practices on maintenance emphasized during the training; the training aligns with Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the Big Four agenda pillar on capacity building for Universal Health Coverage

GE Healthcare today hosted the first “Biomedical Excellence Day” in Kenya during which more than 100 biomedical engineers were trained by local and international experts. The engineers were drawn from both government and private health centers from across Kenya’s 47 counties. The training was organized in partnership with the Association of Medical Engineering of Kenya (AMEK) and held in Nairobi.

AMEK is a professional association registered under CAP 108 of the laws of Kenya and boasts of approximately 2000 members currently.

The objective of the Biomedical Excellence Day was to provide biomedical engineers with the latest information and knowledge on the use of advanced medical equipment. The full-day event also provided a platform for knowledge sharing to foster best practices in the maintenance of healthcare systems.

Topics covered included Medical Equipment Lifecycle management and upgrades, Navigation through CT Technology, Code of Conduct for Medical Engineers, among other topics.

“As a leader in the healthcare sector, we believe that in order to provide sustainability of healthcare solutions, training programs for healthcare professionals need up-dating to remain relevant to their practice and to reflect advances in healthcare innovations,” said Andrew Waititu, Managing Director of GE Healthcare East Africa. “The Biomedical Excellence Day reinforces our commitment to support continuous training for healthcare professionals and support the Universal Health Coverage agenda.”

In June 2016, GE Healthcare launched a US $13 million Healthcare Skills and Training Institute in Kenya in collaboration with the government to promote the training of biomedical engineers and other healthcare workers as part of the Managed Equipment Services (MES) project.

This is driving capacity and capability building as a priority for sustainable development of the healthcare sector in Kenya. To date, over 1600 professionals have been trained.

“Training in the latest medical technologies is critical for Biomedical Engineering professionals to efficiently provide quality Healthcare technology management to Kenyans through treatment, consultation, diagnosis, monitoring, administration, equipment preventive maintenance, surgery among other services.

We appreciate GE Healthcare for organizing the Biomedical Excellence Day which aligns with our motto of “Strengthening healthcare technology through appropriate technology” as it bridges the skills gaps within our fraternity.” Eng. Millicent Alooh, Secretary-General, AMEK

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Addis Ababa leads Africa in hotel room rates

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, posted Africa’s highest average daily rate (ADR), according to the most recent 12-month data from STR . The market will play host to the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) on 23-25 September at the Sheraton Addis.

From July 2018 through June 2019, Addis Ababa registered an absolute ADR of US$163.79 when measured in constant currency, which removes the effects of inflation. That figure was a 1.1% increase year over year. The next closest STR-defined markets in Africa were Accra Area, Ghana (US$160.34) and Lagos Area, Nigeria (US$132.51).

“Addis Ababa continues to maintain high ADR levels when compared internationally,” said Thomas Emanuel, a director for STR. “The city has multiple demand drivers, such as a growing economy, successful airline and its status as the diplomatic capital for Africa.

Air connections and ease of access compared with other cities also factor in the equation for strong demand, which provides hoteliers with the confidence to maintain rate levels.

“With healthy performance comes to interest in investment. The market’s pipeline is strong with 22 hotels and 4,820 rooms in active development. We will continue to monitor these new openings to see how the market reacts once these additional rooms open.”

Emanuel will present the latest hotel performance and development insights on the Tuesday (24 September) of AHIF.

“Hosting high-profile international meetings like AHIF is one factor that has helped Addis to maintain its position as the city with the most expensive hotel accommodation in Africa,” said Matthew Weihs, Managing Director, Bench Events (AHIF organizer). “Our delegates will be looking carefully to see if the addition of a lot more high-quality accommodation and meeting space will depress room rates or help Addis become even more attractive as a destination.”

Addis Ababa’s occupancy over the same 12-month time period was 58.4%, up 6.5% year over year. Cairo & Giza was the continent’s occupancy leader at 74.5%. Cape Town Centre, South Africa (65.0%), ranked second in the metric followed by Accra Area (59.7%).

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Billions poised for Africa’s real estate sector

August 8, 2019

As Central and Eastern Europe become increasingly popular for South Africa’s property sector due to subdued growth potential and earnings locally, should these funds not be investing closer to home?

This is the view of Kfir Rusin, the host of the most significant annual gathering of capital investors in African real estate, the 10th annual Africa Property Investment (API) Summit taking place on October 2 & 3 in Johannesburg, whose stakeholders have been more active in the first half 2019 than in the previous 24 months.

“In the first two quarters of 2019, we’ve tracked ten significant transactions in excess of more than a half a billion dollars across multiple jurisdictions and sectors by API Summit stakeholders,” says Rusin.

The growth and opportunity displayed by a diverse spread of International funds, DFIs, Banks, PE firms, institutional investors and others is evidence that despite apparent indifference to African opportunities in SA boardrooms, the continent’s real estate sector has evolved, and become increasingly more liquid and provides value in key nodes and sectors.

Some of the most high-profile deals include well known listed funds and global investors including Growthpoint Investec African Properties Investment Fund (GIAPF); Grit Real Estate Income Group; WeWork, Centum Real Estate, Nedbank; Standard Bank, the IFC and the UK’s CDC.

For investors and developers looking for data and partners experienced in African development or looking to sell prime assets, these are the men and women responsible for structuring and executing these mega deals who will be at this year’s conference, confirmed Rusin. These include GIAPF’s Managing Director Thomas Reilly; Grit’s CEO Bronwyn Corbett; multiple senior investment officers from the IFC; Standard Bank’s Head of Africa real estate, Niyi Adeleye, the CDC’s Illaria Benucci, Centum’s RE MD Samuel Kariuki and many more in attendance.

“The market has moved forward in the past six months, and we’re thrilled that so many major dealmakers will be at the API Summit to transact and share their experiences with our delegates,” he says.

These high-value transactions, while not a repudiation of the South African listed sector’s muted view of the African opportunity, do provide a compelling narrative that the continent’s property markets are investable, but require nuance and insights. It’s not simply a copy and pastes what’s worked here (SA) will work elsewhere says, Rusin.

According to noted real estate analyst Craig Smith of Anchor Stockbrokers, Africa’s top markets are “definitely a more attractive entry point than 18-24 months ago” but cautions that investors still need to exercise a “higher level of diligence” when investing.

And while deal many South African funds continue to look at Central and Eastern Europe for scale (sizeable transactions) and positive funding spreads, says Smith, the transaction spread by API Summit’s investors point to a market that is expanding, which is in line with his view that the “the opportunity set over the long term is immense.”

An analysis which may explain, the increased diversity and complexity in these deals, says Rusin. “We’re witnessing sophisticated deal structuring in Affordable Housing; Hospitality; Logistics; Office spaces and Mixed-use, across countries and regions.”

TOP TEN AFRICAN REAL ESTATE DEALS IN 2019

Growthpoint Investec African Property Fund to acquire malls in Ghana & Zambia
Deal Size: Undisclosed

Centum RE & Nedbank ±$75M Debt Deal for their Two Rivers development project
Deal Size: $75M

IFC invests in Hilton in Lusaka Protea Hotel (Zambia)
Deal Size: $9M

African Logistics Properties (ALP) Signs Debt restructuring deal with Standard Bank
Deal Size: $26.5M

Shelter Afrique in Affordable Housing Deal with Habitat International
Deal Size: $100M

Grit buys Senegal Club Med
Deal Size: $12.5M with development plans of $28.8M

CDC commits to mezzanine debt investment in Teyliom Hospitality
Deal Size: $30.7M

WeWork opens its first of many African Office locations in Johannesburg
Deal Size: Undisclosed

Actis & Shapoorji launch affordable housing Joint Venture in Kenya
Deal Size: $120M

Westpark & Siemens to build sustainable industrial Park
Deal Size: Undisclosed

Regarded among local and international decision-makers as Africa’s Property gathering, the API Summit is recognized as a platform for investing but is also vital in developing deeper layers of transparency for investors looking to meet and understand the continent’s divergent and complex markets to avoid previous mistakes committed by SA developers.

As Smith comments, “Africa’s markets are still relatively opaque, and it is vital that these markets continue with their efforts to improve transparency.” Adding that, “The experience of GIAPF is crucial in my view as this will provide evidence of performance to the SA market.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.