How Africans are ‘leapfrogging’ through economic and social development.

Innovation and entrepreneurship, when supported by social impact investing, create a leapfrog effect on people, planet, prosperity and partnerships.

The importance of supporting women was one of the main leitmotivs of the Africa Impact Investing Leaders Forum, held in London on 27 Oct, 2016. Delegates asserted that this historically disempowered group plays a pivotal and well-documented role in augmenting positive social, economic and environmental outcomes – particularly when impact investments find their way into microfinance, agriculture, renewable energy and infrastructure sectors.

Women are integral to social impact investing

Speaking from the podium, Suzanne Biegel, founder of Women Effect, urged all investors to use a “gender lens” when considering impact ventures. And to ask some salient, due diligence questions, such as: “Where are the women in this investment? Are they on the product design team if the product concept is for women? Do they have a formal leadership or decision-making role where the project in question is targeting women”?

Caroline Mulwa, Kenya country manager of social impact investor, Oikocredit, agrees wholeheartedly with this view. Referencing the smallholder agriculture sector, she says: “88% of Africa’s female population live in rural areas; 70% of agricultural labour is provided by women; 90% of all food is produced by women, but women own less than 2% of the land. Yet women have a significant, measurable, positive impact on small business ventures, local communities and families. And they have been proven to reduce investment risks”.

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Disruptive innovation: The most viable strategy for economic development in Africa

Without question, Africa is the poorest region in the world. The chart below shows the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) per person – an imperfect but widely used measure – for Africa and the rest of the world. Not only is the rest of the world six times richer than Africa, GDP per person has grown at a faster rate. These numbers are significant because they do not simply represent the macro-economic realities that governments in African countries must manage; they also translate to the circumstances in which millions of people live their lives. The numbers translate to the additional 50 million people in Africa living in extreme poverty today than did in 1990. They translate to the millions of babies, children, and mothers that die annually because they cannot afford life-saving medication. They translate to skyrocketing unemployment which reduces the barriers to youth involvement in terroristic activities. The numbers are very significant.

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New Report: Independent Power Projects Essential to Electrify Sub-Saharan Africa.

A new World Bank report draws from experiences in five African countries to explain why independent power projects (IPPs) are crucial to help deliver electricity to the 600 million people without it in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report highlights the challenges policymakers face and factors that can lead to scaled-up and sustainable power sector investment.

Africa’s power sector needs far exceed most countries’ already stretched public finances, making it crucial for governments to attract greater levels of private investment to scale up generation capacity. To reach the scale required, governments must provide a sound investment climate and enabling environment, the report finds.

 “Independent Power Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa – Lessons from Five Key Countries” draws on case studies carried out in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda – countries that have the most experience with IPPs in the region.

“Independent power projects now constitute the primary vehicle for private investment in the African power sector,” said Makhtar Diop, the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa. “The objective of this report is to identify key lessons that can help African countries attract more and better private investment.”

Currently, there are 126 IPPs in 18 Sub-Saharan countries, accounting for an installed capacity of 11 GW and $25.6 billion in investments. But to benefit more countries the report recommends these IPPs should be much larger and spread across the region.

Enabling factors for attracting more and better IPPs include:

1. More competitive procurement efforts from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes encouraging long-term contracts through a competitive bidding process. This can help secure reduced prices and help avert other issues, such as the possibility of a problematic contract. If direct negotiations are conducted, they should be done transparently.
2. Clear and conducive energy sector policies, structures and regulatory environment.
3. Systematic and dynamic power sector planning, including the ability to accurately project future electricity demand, determine best supply or demand management options and anticipate how long it will take to procure, finance, and build the required electricity generation capacity.
4. Financial viability of the public utilities is vital as they remain the principal off-takers of power produced by IPPs. Given the high-risk environment of most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, it will be important to provide proper mitigation through financial guarantees and security measures to attract new investors.

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Nordea Bank launches crowdfunding platform in Finland

The Nordic financial services group offers a technology bringing together investors and startup businesses

The Finnish arm of Sweden’s Nordea Bank will be the first Nordic bank to offer businesses access to the crowdfunding market by launching a technology platform in the summer of 2016.

The technology will enable investors to provide capital for growing businesses through automated processes – a major change for a bank as it will not be providing the capital but enabling other organisations or individuals to do so.

Startup businesses are increasingly turning to crowds for financing – the European crowdfunding market topped €6bn in 2015.

“Digitisation is transforming the banking industry and we want to be part of that transformation,” Topi Manner, CEO of Nordea Bank Finland, told Computer Weekly. “We will offer startups and growth companies the chance to find funding through a digital platform and bring together investors and companies in need of financing.”

Nigeria: Lagos State commences implementation of National Policy on MSME

Lagos State Government today commenced implementation of the National Policy on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with the inauguration of the Lagos State Council on MSME.