The Germany Africa Business Forum (GABF) announced Thursday a multimillion-Euro funding commitment to investing in German energy startups that focus on Africa.
The GABF, based in Berlin and Johannesburg, South Africa, said the funds are the first of their kind for the advocacy group seeking to advance German partnerships with the continent.
“Our initial goal is to support the investment in German companies and to start with funding allocations by the end of this year,” said Sebastian Wagner, co-founder of the GABF.
The news was welcomed by Cameroonian business leader NJ Ayuk, the CEO of Centurion Law Group based in Equatorial Guinea. “The future of Africa’s energy industry will depend on technology and innovation. When German startups and Africans work together, we can build something unique for both our peoples,” Ayuk said. “I applaud the GABF for this well-thought-out initiative. I believe it is in line with the goals of the G20 Compact with Africa, driven by Germany.”
That compact, launched in 2017, is open to all African countries and has 12 nations participating to date. They include Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Guinea, along with Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia. The compact places renewable energy and rural employment as priorities for African investment.
The GABF also launched in 2017, with a parallel vision to facilitate German investment in Africa by connecting top African business and political leaders with their African counterparts.
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.
South Africa has over 2.5 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa but not many of them have access to funding. A business idea without funding is as good as nothing. Access to funding in South Africa has however been made easier because of a growing alternative lending sector that is focused on providing funding for this market.
Below is a list of the different types of alternative financing available to South African SMEs
Fundrr uses technological innovation and automated algorithms to provide quick and efficient loans to small businesses. By the use of a simple, free and paperless application process, they are able to take the hassle away and allow you to focus more on your business. Fundrr allows small businesses to get an answer the same day and access to capital in 24 hours.
They serve businesses with at least a 12-month track record, with a minimum of R1 million turnover or asset value.
Applying is free of charge and there is no commitment or obligations to take the funds.
They provide loans from R20 000 to R500 000 ranging in duration from 3 to 12 months and repayments are made either on a daily, weekly, bi-monthly or monthly basis, depending on your cash flow.
Retail businesses interested in loans can contact Merchant Capital for their offers. The loan merchant offers cash on flexible repayment terms.
Who may obtain their offer?
Retail business owners who have been in business for more than one year and who have an average of over R30,000 in credit and debit card sales may obtain their loan.
We understand that you are the one who built this business. So we respect the fact that no one understands its ‘ins and outs’ quite the way you do. With this in mind, we don’t prescribe what you use your funds for. That said, having funded millions of Rands to thousands of South African businesses, we know a thing or two. So we highly recommend that the cash injection be used for business growth opportunities, the company noted on its website
The maximum amount of loan:
Retail business owners may obtain as much as 100% of the business’ average monthly credit and debit card turnover.
It’s a good idea to have this amount handy to better understand what you can expect. Then, as soon as we have analyzed your statements, you will be contacted with a more accurate qualification amount, the company stated.
You can use iKhoka’s card machines for as many times as you desire. However, using it for more than three months will qualify you for a custom cash advance offer.
Who May Obtain Loan From iKhoka?
The iKhoka application works on a reward system.
The iKhokha Cash Advance definitely helps take your business to the next level. Here’s how you can qualify for a custom Cash Advance offer:
Be an active iKhokha merchant
Must have traded for the past 3 months consecutively
Must trade at least 3 times a month
Must complete a minimum of 10 card transactions a month
Must have completed a card transaction in the last 15 days
Your turnover should be at least R2 500 per month
Your average monthly turnover for the last 3 months must be higher than R3 125
Check your offer in the iKhokha app and decide how much of it you need. The more you process through iKhokha, the bigger the amount you qualify for!
Maximum Amount of Loan:
The amount you get from iKhoka depends on the turnover of your business over a period of three months.
Zande Africa can order favorite brands in bulk from manufacturers at a lower cost.
The goods are delivered to one of its warehouses around South Africa.
Spaza shops owners order their stock through its driver/ sales agents.
Delivery is made within 24 hours to a Spaza Shops’ doorstep.
With Zande Africa, you can access funds to finance your trade and spaza shops.
Who May Obtain The Fund:
The target of the fund includes those who are looking to procure goods and stock for their spaza shops. In simple terms, Spaza credit supports businesses that are looking to procure inventory for their shops. Businesses desiring to go through this means can start by applying.
Maximum Amount:
Zande Africa provides finance depending on the turnover of the spaza.
Bright On Capital is an online peer-to-peer enterprise-lending platform, that serves as an online market place and allows SMEs to simply and quickly raise working capital funding from a wide range of traditional and non-traditional lenders.
These lenders include developmental funding institutions (“DFIs”), pension funds, corporate enterprise development funds, and other institutional investors.
Who May Obtain Funding From It?
Bright on Capital targets small businesses that have been trading for at least 12 months. These businesses must be supplying one or more corporates or credit-worthy public entities. They must also be expected to generate at least R1 million in annual revenues.
Complete the simple and easy application form, and submit the following documents on the website or via email or fax:
Your business’ registration documents.
Your business’ 6-month bank statement.
Your business’ tax clearance certificate.
Your business’ BEE certificate (For a business with a turnover of less than R10 million that doesn’t currently have a BEE certificate, you can complete an Affidavit and have it stamped signed by a Commissioner of Oaths. Once the Affidavit has been stamped and signed by a Commissioner of Oaths, it serves as a BEE certificate. Please click here to download the Affidavit.)
Your business’ latest audited financial statements and its most recent management accounts (optional for businesses generating less than R5 million revenue per annum).
Your business’ proof of business address.
ID copies for each director, member or partner; and
Proof of residential address for each director, member or partner.
ProfitShare Partners provides disruptive short-term capital solutions and transactional support to SMEs with valid contracts or purchase orders from reputable large organizations.
Who May Obtain Funding From It?
The fund targets SMEs with no track record, financial history or security with low performance, short-term contracts (up to 365 days) or purchasers with reputable large organizations.
Maximum Amount:
Small businesses may obtain loan from ProfitShare Partners from a minimum of R250,000 up to R5 million per transaction.
What Fincheck basically does is that it partners with South African banks, lenders and insurers to offer a live and independent means of comparing and applying for finance across 30 lenders.
Who May Obtain Loan Under It?
Generally, all business owners seeking finance in South Africa may apply for funding from the credit firm.
Fincheck Business compares business finance options for you. As the business owner — you simply need to complete the application form, which includes what you are looking for. From there, we have an algorithm that will work through your answers and match it to partner criteria* Based on these results, our engine will present you with business finance and partners that could best suit your needs. This whole process only takes a couple of minutes.
*Please note these results are not suggestions or advice from Fincheck Business or the FINCHECK group but are results based on your needs and partner criteria.
Lulelend has a strong history of lending to small businesses. The firm delivers business funding using proprietary scoring technology, which offers an instant funding decision on applications.
Who May Obtain From Luleland?
All South African businesses, no matter the industry or sector involved in trading for more than one year with annual revenue of R500,000+ can obtain funding from Luleland.
Amount: N/A
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.
No option but to give the glory to them. 700 drivers. R2.3 in personal funding, former South African prison warden and former South African former security guard warden have teamed up to launch Taxi Live Africa — South Africa’s latest in a long string of e-hailing apps — and claim to have invested R2.3-million of their own money in the startup so far. The Durban and Cape Town-based company is South Africa’s latest in a number of the ride-hailing company, following the launch earlier this year of “Sushi King” Kenny Kunene’s Yookoo Ride and Ridver, launched by Opynio Media and Technology, a black woman-owned company (see this story and this one).
Here Are The Details
Former prison warden Luvuyo Ntshayi and Soyiso Qotyiwe, a former security guard turned taxi driver, last month launched the app to residents in Durban.
Ntshayi said the company — which he says he’s spent two years researching and developing — has signed up over 700 drivers in Durban and more than 100 in Cape Town, where the company aims to expand to next (see also this story by our sister site Memeburn).
Luvuyo Ntshayi, former prison warden and Soyiso Qotyiwe, a former security guard, claim they have invested R2.3m in Taxi Live Africa
The ride-hailing startup has initially focused on meter taxi drivers — to help them to compete against e-hailing sector, which was why the company kicked off operations in Durban, where Ntshayi says he received strong demand from local meter taxi drivers for the offering.
But he says this doesn’t mean the app is only for meter taxi drivers. Private drivers from the e-hailing sector are also welcome to use the app.
The company charges drivers a commission of 13%, a rate which Ntshayi says is both fair to drivers and sustainable for his business.
Ntshayi estimates that he and Qotyiwe have together invested R2.3-million in developing the company and the app. He says the amount includes the cost of traveling to Asia where he claims he visited several companies to research the idea of an e-hailing app further. He declined to name the countries and companies he visited.
The company, he says, presently has 14 employees — eight in a Durban office and six in Cape Town. It also has an outside developer team of four.
Ntshayi says in 2008 he joined the correctional services department as a prison warden. In 2012 he completed an HR Diploma before a year’s stint in 2014 as an HR officer at South Africa ‘s Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.
He left his life as a public servant after he secured a R50 000 grant in 2015 from the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to set up a detergent manufacturing business in Blue Downs, Cape Town.
However, he says despite help from a mentor, the business never got off the ground. He puts this down to his lack of experience in manufacturing.
Ntshayi — who says he’s had calls from those in neighbouring countries to offer his app’s service there — says however that he’s not focusing on competing with the likes of Uber and Bolt which together dominate the ride-hailing sector.
But he points out that his business’s focus on customer care, including the use of a call centre and a live online chat facility, will help it to gain acceptance in the market.
“We’re not really wanting to be better than anyone from the word goes — we just want to learn,” Ntshayi says.
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.
For African startups looking for funding, this is a huge opportunity that does not come often. Hseven, Africa’s largest accelerator is launching Hseven Disrupt Africa, an ambitious startup acceleration program designed for entrepreneurs of the Moroccan and African diaspora.
The 6-month program will provide a seed investment of €150,000 plus an eventual investment of €500,000 to €1.5 million.
A Look At The Funding
Hseven Disrupt Africa is designed to support exceptional entrepreneurs building high-impact startups and targets seed and early-stage startups with 2 to 5 founders that are eager to impact Africa through innovative services, products, and business models.
The program will start with a global call for applications, followed by an international selection roadshow in New York, Montréal, San Francisco, Shanghai, Dubaï, Londres, Amsterdam, Paris, Casablanca.
Let’s build your startup together! Join the largest accelerator in Africa for a 3+3 months program and access to a 150.000€ investment, +350 world-class mentors, 50 VCs and a solid network of renowned partners!
The selected startups will benefit from a seed investment of €150,000 at the beginning of the program for 5 to 7% equity, then an eventual investment of €500,000 to €1.5 million at the end of the program.
These investments will be granted through a partnership with the venture capital firm Azur Partners. The program will also benefit from the funding of the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) and the Innov-Invest program of the Caisse Centrale de Garantie (CCG) with the support of the World Bank.
The startups will be given strategic advice and expertise, access to key networks and capital through our partners Azur Partners, Fabernovel, Strategy&, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), l’École Centrale, Amazon Web Services and the top 50 Venture Capital firms interested by Africa. They will also benefit from tailored mentoring with +350 Moroccan and international mentors.
The selected startups will be located at HSEVEN’s 12,000 ft² campus in the heart of the Marina of Casablanca.
The call for applications is now open and 10 startups will be selected to take part in the program.
“We will bring the best Moroccan, African, and African-at-heart entrepreneurs from all over the world to build impactful world-class African startups,” said Amine Al-Hazzaz, Founder & CEO of HSEVEN.
Click here for more details and application closes on 31st August 2019.
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.
Good news for startups and small businesses across South Africa. A new R130 million (over $9.3m) fund is at stake, targeting only 10 startups, each of which must have a black founder. The new fund is from Cape Town-based venture capital firm, 4Di Capital and the SA SME Fund.
A Look At The Fund
Cape Town-based venture capital (VC) fund with the launch of the R130-million fund aims to invest in at least 10 tech startups. Half of the R130-million will be targeted at startups with at least one black founder.
The over R1.4-billion SA SME Fund is capitalized presently by 54 JSE-listed firms and R500-million from the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). The fund was launched under the CEO Initiative. 4Di Capital is one of eight funds that the SA SME Fund has invested in (see this story).
4Di Capital partner Justin Stanford noted that R125-million of 4Di Capital Fund III’s first close of R130-million was from SA SME Fund, the rest has been committed by the VC.
“We will be looking at options in terms of raising additional capital for the fund but for now there are no fixed plans yet — in principle though the fund is still open to new investment,” said Stanford.
4Di Capital’s new R130m fund is backed by R125m from the SA SME Fund
Who Can Access The Funds?
Stanford said the fund will follow the VC’s usual modus operandi, which is to target tech startups in the early and growth stages.
The fund is vertical agnostic but the VC will look at deals for example in:
Insurtech
Fintech
Edtech
Agritech, adding that the VC will look at a spread of both early and growth stage.
“It is designed to work together with our Exponential Fund as well, so will also co-invest in certain deals that match the mandates on both sides,” he added.
He added that the fund will invest in at least 10 companies and pointed out that the first few deals are already under consideration.
A portion of the SA SME Fund capital has been earmarked for companies that have founder teams which include black founders.
When asked how much exactly would go to startups with black founders, Stanford said while it is “difficult to predict” the exact amount that will be invested in the end, the VC fund will aim to invest “roughly half” of the R130-million in such firms.
4Di Capital is an independent and specialist seed, early and growth-stage technology venture capital fund manager based in Cape Town, South Africa with an office in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., focusing principally on scalable South African and African technology opportunities.
Among others, the fund has already invested in the enterprise web platform, cloud scaling infrastructure, bio-mathematical health technology, and financial technology ventures.
The SA SME Fund, on the other hand, was established by members of the CEO Initiative — a collaboration between government, labour, and business to address some of the most pressing challenges to the country’s economic growth — as an avenue of support for the SME sector.
It allocates investment capital to accredited fund managers — venture capital or growth-oriented equity funds — that invest directly in scalable small and medium enterprises with the best potential for growth and sustainable employment creation in the South African economy.
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.
In order to strengthen cooperation amongst African companies, encourage the development of strong African content and promote joint-venture opportunities, Malabo will be hosting the Oil & Gas Meeting Day on October 1-2, 2019. The summit is part of Equatorial Guinea’s Year of Energy and will focus on exploring opportunities and deals amongst services companies, which are central to the development of strong African capabilities across the oil & gas value chain.
The African Energy Chamber (EnergyChamber.org) strongly supports the National Alliance of Hydrocarbons Service Companies (NAHSCO) in the organization of this upcoming Oil & Gas Meeting Day. We invite all our partners, especially national oil companies and public and private services companies, to come to Malabo in October. This will be a key platform for dialogue and deals with international, technology and services companies.
“The development of a strong African oil services industry is crucial if we want to get value out of our natural resources and create jobs. The way to build African capacities is to work together and create jobs, and we are happy Malabo is bringing everyone together.”
The Oil & Gas Meeting Day will offer opportunities for African services companies to make deals with regional and international partners and drive global transformations within the oil services industry.
More importantly, it will provide a platform to share experiences on local content and advocate for regionalization of local content development within African oil markets. “With this meeting, African services companies and national oil companies have the chance to not only be part of the game but change it to their benefits,” added Nj Ayuk.
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.
This could be a major victory of 2019 for Nigerian startups. For the second time in two years, Interswitch is signaling it is now ready to open its share portfolio up for public subscription. The unicorn startup is riding on the wings of the recent relatively successful listing by MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa. This is seventeen years down the line for the digital payment solution.
Here Is What You Need To Know And How To Get Ready For Interswitch’s Shares
This could be a reality this time. Interswitch has already hired JPMorgan, Citigroup, Standard Bank for the share sale.
This listing could value Helios’s Interswitch at up to $1.5 billion
The listing would happen on the Nigerian Stock Exchange at the same time it is happening on the London Stock Exchange.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., and Standard Bank Group Ltd. are among the firms working on an initial public offering, which may value the financial technology company at $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion, according to reliable sources.
Interswitch had earlier shelved its plans to list in 2016 after the price of crude oil fell dramatically, causing a contraction in Nigeria’s economy.
This Listing Is Drawing An Unclear Path For Africa’s Digital Startups
Just recall Fawry, the Egyptian startup poking at IPO. The startup was acquired by Helios Investment Partners halfway into its journey. Interswitch, originally founded by Mitchell Elegbe also sealed the same fate in 2011 when Helios Investment Partners, a private equity firm dedicated to making growth investments across Africa bit two-third hard into the startup and subsequently acquired a majority stake in the payment startup. Since then, Helios Investment has become Interswitch’s largest shareholder.
This would, of course, leave a big question on the longevity of African-led startups, and whether the popular exit strategy most startups in Africa are resorting is not acquisition. Helios is among several private funds that specialize in investing in African assets as the economic recovery taking place across the continent bolsters investor sentiment and infrastructure plans.
A Look At Interswitch
Interswitch facilitates the exchange of value between service providers by providing a secure shared payment infrastructure and integrated message broker solutions for financial transactions, eCommerce, telecommunications value-added services, eBilling, payment collections, and disbursements. The company developed and administers Verve, the leading card scheme in Nigeria.
The displayed data on popular payment methods in stores, restaurants and other points of sale shows results of the Statista Global Consumer Survey conducted in Nigeria in 2017.
The Verve card, which is currently issued by banks in Nigeria, is the first and only chip and PIN card accepted across multiple payment channels including ATMs, Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, online, mobile and at banks, and enjoys the largest range of value-added services.
The company has been at the forefront of the development and growth of the e-payment sector in Nigeria, which is evidenced by its unique position of being the only switching and processing company connected to all banks in the country as well as to over 10,000 ATMs and 11,000 PoS terminals.
Aside from this, the company is the leading processor for MasterCard and the market leader in merchant acquiring/PoS, a segment that is still emerging and has the potential for tremendous growth in Nigeria.
The completion of the switchover from magnetic strip cards to chip and PIN cards in 2010, is expected to further accelerate growth and usage of e-payments across the country. Nigeria is the first country in Africa to have completed this migration and is one of the few countries in the world to have completed the migration under a year.
Interswitch’s dual listing in the U.K. and Nigeria is merely repeating what Airtel Africa Plc, the wireless carrier and a subsidiary of Indian parent Bharti Airtel Ltd did recently by simultaneously listing on the London and Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Recall that Jumia Technologies AG, dubbed the Amazon of Africa, listed in New York earlier this year, while Dubai-based payments firm Network International Holdings Plc went public in London. All of these recent events may not be unconnected with the recent invitation by the London Stock Exchange to investors around the world, particularly in Africa to come to invest in the Exchange.
Officials from the London Stock Exchange recently completed a roadshow in a bid to boost the LSE’s 115 African listings. The exchange is banking on partnerships with African exchanges, including those in Nigeria and Kenya, for dual listings, according to Director of Emerging Markets and International Markets Ibukun Adebayo.
“If a company has an international strategic growth plan, then the LSE is a perfect vehicle for the company to come and list,” Adebayo said Tuesday in an interview in Nairobi. “If the company is purely domestic and it needs to raise money in the domestic market and increase the number of investors available to it, then the LSE can help work with local partners.”
Firms already included in the LSE’s listing of Companies to Inspire Africa, which the exchange describes as the continent’s “most inspirational and dynamic private, high-growth companies are:
South Africa: Ad Dynamo International, Coega Dairy, Compuscan
Nigeria: Afriland Properties, Alpha Mead Group, ARM Life
Ivory Coast: Azalai Hotel Abidjan, Cipharm SA, Clinique Procréa, Agriex Côte d’Ivoire
Angola: Aldeia Nova, Angola Energy Greentech, Kora Angola, WEZA
Egypt: Cairo Three A, Carbon Holdings, Eagle Chemical Group, Sambo Metals
Morocco: 10 Rajeb, Bricoma, Damandis Maroc, Ama Detergent, Medafrica Systems
There are 360 companies from 32 different countries across the continent, boasting an impressive average compound annual growth rate of 46 percent, up from 16 percent last year, according to Global Finance.
It says on average, each firm employs over 350 people, with an average compound annual employee growth rate of 25 percent.
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.
Expect much of startup funding to still come from Egypt before this year ends. This goes to say that the startup ecosystem in the country is very much alive and that a lot of young startup owners are now more determined than ever. New to the list are two startups, XPay, and Colnn which have just raised an aggregate of $350, 000.
XPay
Egypt’s fintech startup XPay secured $250,000 in pre-seed funding from two angel investors. XPay is part of the cohort currently participating in Startupbootcamp Fintech Cairo.
XPay was founded in 2018 by Dr. Mohamed AbdelMottaleb, to empower communities to go cashless. The startup enables universities, schools, gyms, social and sports clubs, residential compounds and different other communities to set up their offerings and collect payment online. XPay’s mobile app allows members in these communities to pay in less than a minute using debit/credit cards, mobile wallet, and a cash collection service.
“XPay was established to become the platform of choice for all members of the family — eliminating the stress of juggling numerous transactions, subscription and bill payments, payment methods and due dates. One platform to ease the unavoidable inconvenience of modern living,” Dr. Mohamed AbdelMottaleb, founder and CEO of XPay said in an interview.
The startup plans to use the use of this funding to grow the company and also expand its team.
The Cairo-based ed-tech startup Colnn has also raised $100,000 from EdVentures, the VC arm of Egypt’s leading publisher Nahder Misr, the startup announced earlier this week. EdVentures also runs an accelerator program for education startups in Egypt.
Founded in 2015 by Tamer Samir, Colnn, per the statement, is a cloud-based school management system that comes with a mobile app, enabling schools to manage their operations, processes, activities, and communication between parents, teachers, and students. The mobile app by Colnn connects teachers and parents allowing parents to keep an eye on their children’s performance and daily activities.
According to Colnn’s website, the students also get an online account that enables them to access announcements, attendance, homework, online quizzes, and their time table.
It’s not clear if Colnn has a per-student subscription model for schools (which is what’s used by a large number of similar SaaS startups) or it charges the school a monthly subscription fee regardless of the number of students they have.
The startup, according to the statement, works with each school to customize its solutions and software according to their requirements (as long customization requirements meet their strategy).
”We’re not sure about the extent of customization but it would be safe to assume that it includes minor tweaks as anything major normally requires a lot of resources and the cost of those changes and upgrades normally outweigh the benefits unless its a very big client,” the startup noted.
Tamer Samir, founder, and CEO of Colnn commenting on the investment said, “Becoming a part of EdVentures will definitely support our expansion plans. Nahdet Misr’s over 80 years of experience in the education sector and its local and international network will help us enter new markets.”
Dalia Ibrahim, the Founder of EdVentures and the CEO of Nahdet Misr Publishing House, added,
“We were keen to add Colnn to our portfolio of companies as it perfectly aligns with our objective of developing and offering new and innovative educational solutions that further strengthen the educational sector in our country.”
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.
If you think that it is harder for small and medium-sized businesses to get loans from banks in Namibia, this is a chance to think again. A new report is saying Namibia is the best place in Africa for small scale businesses to get credit facilities from banks.
The report presents what it calls an “SME Competitiveness Grid” which allocates scores to the various sizes of enterprises in Namibia— small, medium and large — for various aspects of business services available to them using key indicators such as a country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) per capita, current account surplus, deficit and share of GDP, Tariff preference margin and many others.
Small Businesses
In Namibia, small businesses are scored at 76.6 percent with regards to investment financed by banks which is well above the threshold score of 22.4 percent below which the availability of a business service is assessed as weak. This is the highest in Africa, closely followed by Kenya at 65.2 percent. Botswana is third at 62.5 percent. Following Botswana is Mali which is fourth at 61.9 percent. Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria was scored 15.8%. At this rate, it is hardest for small businesses to get a loan in Congo DR at 4.1% or in Sierra Leone at 4.7%
This figure means that small enterprises have far more access to bank financing in Namibia compared to other African countries and also compared to Namibian medium and large-sized counterparts. The survey regards any score over 67.3 percent as strong and in Namibia, only large-sized firms are assessed to have strong access to finance, although medium-sized enterprises come close.
Central and South American countries scored the highest in this regard with Chile scoring 85.6 percent, Dominican Republic 86.0 percent, Nicaragua 68.7 percent, and Guatemala 61.7 percent as prime examples.
Conversely, sub-Saharan African countries fared poorly. Surprisingly, Liberia scored a relatively high 46.6 percent but neighboring Nigeria recorded a low 15.8 percent.
It is easiest for medium scale businesses in Kenya at 70.6% to get bank loans compared to their counterparts in Africa. In this regard, Namibia scored 56.3 percent. It is also easiest for large scale companies in Burundi at 83.5% to get loans compared to their counterparts across Africa.
This indicates that activities in Namibia’s banking sector gravitate heavily towards the financing of small scale businesses making it increasingly possible for small, medium and larger businesses to attract the needed investments from various banks.
It is deemed that SMEs contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the jobs and wages they provide to their respective employees; their business practices; the sector in which they operate as well as their contribution to the national economy.
Financial institutions in most cases do not extend substantial credit facility to SMEs, most especially in the developing countries to either expand their business or make direct investment owing to the lack of information on SME creditworthiness which in turn leads to high perceived risks.
This recent outlook is, therefore, making a strong case on the need to encourage continuous investments in the country’s small business sector in order to realize the SDGs.
It is in this regard that the ITC is advocating that local financial institutions namely banks, insurance providers and microcredit agencies playing an effective role by providing information on SMEs such as credit history, that is necessary to accurately assess performance risk.
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.
OFID’s highest policy-making body, the Ministerial Council, held its 40th Annual Session in Vienna, Austria, and approved the general principles of OFID’s new Strategic Framework. The new strategy affirms OFID’s commitment to providing support to developing countries – especially low-income countries – in an increasingly complex and challenging development landscape.
At the Ministerial Council meeting, OFID Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: “OFID’s vision is to be a relevant, agile and efficient development finance institution that can deliver maximum development impact to its partner countries while becoming self-sustainable in financing its operations.”
Over the coming months, OFID will embark on a journey to diversify its financial resources and to implement a coherent and consistent set of actions aimed at creating greater efficiency throughout the institution and equipping it with more innovative and responsive operational and financial instruments.
As part of its new strategy, OFID will renew its focus on partnerships. OFID works closely with organizations such as the World Bank, regional development banks and the bilateral and multilateral agencies of OFID member countries, as well as specialized agencies of the United Nations. In addition to strengthening existing partnerships, OFID aims to form new relationships to revitalize the global partnership in support of sustainable development.
In keeping with previous years, a highlight of the Ministerial Council’s public session was the presentation of the OFID Annual Award for Development. The 2019 Award was bestowed on Vida Duti – Country Director of the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre in Ghana – in recognition of her remarkable work and engagement in ensuring sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for the population of Ghana (see press release PR14).
The Ministerial Council also considered and approved OFID’s financial statements and 2018 Annual Report, which shows cumulative commitments to global development exceeding US$23.4 billion.
OFID aims to continue to support the global efforts to overcome development challenges, as it has done since 1976, by extending concessionary financial assistance; participating in the financing of private sector activities in developing countries; contributing to the resources of other development institutions.
Since it was established, the organization has improved its capabilities and operational reach to support South-South development and socioeconomic growth in partner countries around the world. Public Sector lending, including to low-income countries, will continue to represent the largest portion of OFID’s loan portfolio, going forward.
The Ministerial Council comprises the finance ministers and other high-level representatives of OFID Member Countries. It meets once a year.
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.
