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Sub-Sahara Region Most Favored Frontier Market By HSBC Global Asset Management

Sub-Sahara Region Most Favored Frontier Market By HSBC Global Asset Management

Dot Africa Domain A Boost For Business Websites ending in dot Africa could soon be popping up across the continent as the drive to bring the ‘African domain ‘into existence gain momentum. ICANN, the global provider of I.P. management, has already received 500 applications from various Registry Operators within Africa. A decision is not likely to be made until early 2013 regarding the domain because of ICA NN’s rigorous application procedure and lengthy support checks, however early signs are promising for a positive decision. Alice Munyua of the Kenyan Internet Governance Steering Committee said that the domain has the potential to “identify the region as a whole under one internet category.” She believes that the strong application was “sending out the right message” to ICANN. Kenya is going to be one of the main beneficiaries of the new domain, having experienced a rapid increase in online presence over recent years.

Now is Africa’s time The pessimism and scepticism which has surrounded African investment in previous decades is coming to an end as the realisation is dawning among investors that Africa is indeed a land of opportunity. Delegates at the second annual African Investment summit were left in no doubt that Africa’s future is paved with rich promise. The two-day event held in London attracted attendees from around the world to discuss the prospects for the continent’s continued growth and expansion as a prime emerging market for investors. Among the keynote speakers were Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and British MP Mark Simonds as well as a host of investment analysts and finance experts. From why Africa, to how Africa The delegates agreed that Africa is halfway through a transformative process and at this stage many of the barriers to investment have disappeared in large parts of the continent. UK MP Mark Simonds said: “The conversation has definitely moved from why Africa, to how Africa.”

Fraud in Africa drops marginally for first half of 2012 - RISKAFRICA KPMG’s latest Africa Fraud Barometer shows a marginal drop in the number of fraud cases in Africa, from 503 in the second half of this year compared with 520 last year. Government still accounts for the lion’s share of fraud and corruption in Africa. The global professional services company released its Africa Fraud Barometer findings on Wednesday, 21 November, to provide a bigger picture of fraud prevalence on the African continent. The initiative was launched in April 2012 to expose the risk of fraud for companies in their day-to-day operations. According to Petrus Marais, KPMG’s global leader of forensics and developer of the barometer, “This is only the second barometer we are publishing, but we have noticed a decline both in terms of reported fraud cases and their monetary value. According to the tool, reported cases of fraud decreased from 520 in 2011 to 503 in the first half of 2012. “We are asking ourselves about the extent of prosecution of fraudulent government officials.

70% of African Diasporan MBA students at top Western Business Schools will return to work in Africa post-graduation African Diasporan MBA students from leading Western business schools have affirmed their conviction in Africa’s potential for fostering small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs). 70 percent will work in Africa after graduation, according to a new survey by Jacana Partners, the pan-African private equity firm that invests in SMEs to deliver social and financial returns. Of that 70 percent, half plan to become entrepreneurs and start their own company, as opposed to working for an existing business. 89 percent of all African respondents selected the growing consumer story as presenting the greatest opportunity in Africa, above both natural resources and advancing technologies. As a result, more than a third selected consumer goods and financial services as sectors that offer the most attractive opportunity for starting a new business. African respondents to the survey originated from 19 different African countries, spanning the North, Sub-Saharan regions and South Africa. — CP-Africa.com

Consumer goods in Africa: A continent goes shopping AFRICAN consumers are underserved and overcharged, reckons Frank Braeken, Unilever’s boss in Africa. Until recently, South Africans who craved shampoo made specially for African hair, or cosmetics for black skin, had little choice besides costly American imports. Unilever spotted an opportunity: its Motions range of shampoos and conditioners is now a hit. The Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods giant is making a big effort to tailor products for African customers: affordable food, water-thrifty washing powders and grooming products to fit local tastes. It is also helping other businesses. Africa already has a $1.8 trillion economy and is forecast to have a population of 1.3 billion by 2020. Unilever is not the only consumer-goods giant moving in. Africa’s attractions stem from its new middle class, loosely defined by the African Development Bank as anyone who spends between $2 and $20 a day in purchasing-power parity terms. Designing products that appeal to locals is only part of the challenge.

Fortune Favours the Informed: The African Paradox December 2012 Africa is unquestionably a continent of opportunity – its sheer size, rapid economic growth, expanding middle class and steadily improving governance indicators provide reason for optimismMany investors however have yet to subscribe to this ‘golden age’ notion. One plausible explanation for such a disconnect lies in the perception gap influencing investment in AfricaTMT (telecommunications, media and technology) lies at the very core of the African opportunity. Overview There is an old fable concerning a shoe salesman who visits Africa but decides there can’t be a market because no one wears shoes. The story effectively summarises Africa’s paradox: a continent of plentiful opportunities yet plagued by perceptions rooted in the past, the fragility of the present and fickle sentiment towards the future. Observing the investment landscape in Africa, it is clear that many investors have yet to subscribe to the “golden age” notion.

Where You Can Find 11 of the World's Fastest Growing Economies It's so cliché to say that Africa is a wild continent. But the fact is that it's true. It's also true that 11 of the world's 20 fastest growing economies are in Africa. That fact alone should get you digging a little deeper into Africa's investment potential. For many, the first question they need to overcome is this: Is investing in Africa worth the risks despite the growth potential? You should know by now that the answer for me is yes, absolutely … with the caveat that one must know the risks. For the most part, these risks span the entire spectrum common in frontier markets, which are often incredibly poor on a per capita basis but incredibly rich in natural resources on a national level. We tend to hear more about the negatives than the positives, since this is what captures the media's - and our own - attention. It's far more fascinating, albeit disturbing, to read about armed conflict in Rwanda than the fact that Kenya's Nairobi Securities Exchange is up 29% thus far in 2012.

Nigeria May Join Global Economic Powers in 2030 - U.S. Nigeria could join a handful of countries including China that would be pivotal in shaping the world's economy by the year 2030 according to a report by the super secret United States National Intelligence Council, NIC. The NIC report just released, projects an idea of what the world would look like in the future. The report which is an articulation of expertise opinion from the US intelligence community released last December, however, admits that it may not be exact. It is a fact many Nigerian experts would appreciate given earlier expertise opinion from the United States army that Nigeria may implode by the year 2015. The report could come handy to Nigerian administration officials working towards the goal of putting Nigeria among the top 20 economies by the year 2020. China according to the report would just overtake the US before 2030 as the world's biggest economy. Other powers including Nigeria according to the report, would also jump to the top in global economic ranking.

Transformations, top African trends of 2012, and what 2013 holds : Special Reports-africareview.com Since March, 80 of the estimated 130 mobile money transactions globally have been in Africa, with their total worth already in the tens of billons of dollars, and astonishingly, still growing. These and other discernible trends in 2012 pointing to a continent relentlessly pushing the economic growth frontiers — and as a destination for new investment and the simply outlandish returns on risk — suggest that Africa really is the happening region that has been portrayed in such glowing terms in the media, a sort of Africa 2.0 if you like. As we show in this report, in addition to the economy, there are other areas where extraordinary changes are taking place, from governance to the arts, health, and renewable resources. Africa watchers would do well to look out for these areas going into 2013: Your feedback is valued, tweet us on @africareview or @shrewdafrican

Africa the China of 20 years ago – analyst Several Chinese analysts would relate the current economic situation of Africa to that of China 30 years ago, when foreign capital started to target a market with significant potential, says advisory firm Frontier Advisory China analyst Jinghao Lu . Today, Africa offers tremendous opportuni- ties to Chinese companies that are generally new to the global market, owing to its rich natural resources, uncultivated arable land, underdeveloped manufacturing sector and growing middle class, as well as loose regu- latory environment, he explains. “Africa is becoming an attractive place for Chinese investment, as it shows tremendous opportunities for growth, despite having a relatively high-risk investment environment,” he notes. The first wave of Chinese investment into Africa was led by State-owned construction, mining and oil corporations. A thriving middle-class community in Africa has largely contributed to a booming manufacturing industry on the continent. Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu

Most African countries could reach middle income status by 2025 Hardly a week goes by without an African investors’ conference or growth summit. Portuguese professionals are looking for opportunities in Angola. Silicon Valley companies are coming to Kenya to learn about its homegrown ICT revolution. One way to track Africa’s progress is by charting the number of countries that have achieved “middle income status”. How many MICs are there among sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 economies? If sub-Saharan Africa were one country it would already be a MIC with an average per-capita income of around US$ 1,500. Africa’s more advanced economies can be grouped into four, not mutually exclusive, categories, of between six to eight countries: First are mature MICs which include Botswana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, and Swaziland, with some 60 million people. Second are commodity MICs. Third are new MICs which include Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Lesotho, Mauritania, Sao Tome & Principe, and Senegal. Forth are Africa’s next MICs.

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