Carmaker Ford (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=F.N">F.N</a>), technology giant IBM (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=IBM.N">IBM.N</a>), South Korean cathode maker LG Chem (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=051910.KS">051910.KS</a>) and China’s Huayou Cobalt (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=603799.SS">603799.SS</a>) have joined forces in the first blockchain project to monitor cobalt supplies from Democratic Republic of Congo. 



The pilot, overseen by responsible-sourcing group RCS Global, aims to help manufacturers ensure that cobalt used in lithium-ion batteries has not been mined by children or used to fuel conflict.



Companies are under pressure from consumers and investors to prove that minerals are sourced without human rights abuses, but tracking raw materials throughout their journey is challenging.



The project announced on Wednesday has been quietly under way since December. Starting with industrially mined cobalt in Congo, it is monitoring supplies all the way to lithium-ion batteries for Ford vehicles.



Supplies of cobalt, expected to be needed in huge quantities for electric vehicles and electronic devices, are concentrated in Congo, a sprawling, volatile nation that has been racked by civil war and political tension.



The outcome of elections in December, which had been intended to be Congo’s first democratic transfer of power in six decades, is contested. 



RCS says the IBM blockchain platform could be used to include other minerals and to allow artisanal miners, which analysts say are the biggest issue with regard to ethical sourcing, to join a blockchain-based network of validated participants.



Blockchain, famed as the technology behind cryptocurrency bitcoin, works by providing a shared record of data held by a network of individual computers rather than a single party.



For the pilot project, which should be completed around the middle of the year, cobalt from Huayou’s industrial mine will be placed in secure bags, entered into a blockchain and traced from the mine and smelter to LG Chem’s cathode and battery plant in South Korea and then on to a Ford plant in the United States.



Because minerals are often combined with metals from various sources when they are smelted, they are particularly difficult to track.



The RCS project seeks to enforce best practice by using guidelines drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.



IBM said it was exploring the potential of chemical analysis using artificial intelligence to pinpoint the origin of cobalt and ensure so-called clean cobalt was not smelted with minerals sourced less responsibly.



“There is no fool-proof method, but you have to keep the ball moving forward, to keep raising the level of accuracy,” Manish Chawla, general manager of IBM’s mining and industrial sector business, told Reuters.



VW and Ford team up



“Blockchain has been proven to be a very effective technology in raising the bar.”



IBM has already worked with retailers including Walmart (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=WMT.N">WMT.N</a>) and Carrefour (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=CARR.PA">CARR.PA</a>) to trace food through supply chains. 



In the mining sector, meanwhile, Anglo American’s (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AAL.L">AAL.L</a>) De Beers has begun using blockchain to track diamonds. -Reuters



&#8211; Barbara Lewis

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Ford and IBM among quartet in Congo cobalt blockchain project

A drastic 150 percent overnight rise in Zimbabwe’s fuel prices failed on Sunday to ease a nationwide petrol and diesel shortage caused by a lack of hard currency. 



Most service stations still had no fuel to sell to motorists who have been sleeping in their vehicles to queue. Some said they were awaiting an official notice from the regulatory authority (ZERA).



Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi tweeted that commodity price volatility “will be temporary before goods prices normalize”.



The acute shortage of U.S. dollars has made it hard for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to import not only fuel but also drugs and other goods.



Mnangagwa himself was on Sunday setting off on a five-nation tour that starts in Russia and ends at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.



Zimbabwe abandoned its own currency in 2009 after it was wrecked by hyperinflation, and adopted the greenback and other hard currencies such as sterling and the South African rand.



But now there is not enough hard currency to back up more than $10 billion in electronic funds trapped in local bank accounts, prompting demands from businesses and civil servants for cash that can be deposited and used to make payments.



Mnangagwa has said his government will not let businesses raise prices but they have been doing so anyway, arguing that they have no choice but to buy dollars at a premium on the black market.



Inflation is already at a 10-year high of 31 percent and, in the past two weeks, public transport firms have tripled fares citing a shortage of fuel, which some have been buying on the black market.



An assistant at a service station owned by Zuva Petroleum said: “We have not received any supplies since Thursday evening but we are hoping we will get a delivery before end of the day.”



A ZERA spokesman said all fuel companies had been notified of the new prices.



The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said it planned a national strike from Monday in protest at the “insensitive and provocative” fuel price increase, although such calls have in the past not been widely followed.



Teachers, who are not represented by ZCTU, are planning a nationwide strike from Jan. 22, and civil servants have threatened to join them. -Reuters



<ul><li>MacDonald Dzirutwe</li></ul>

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150 percent price rise fails to fill Zimbabwe’s fuel pumps

The growth of the global economy is expected to slow to 2.9 percent in 2019 compared with 3 percent in 2018, the World Bank said on Tuesday, citing elevated trade tensions and international trade moderation.



&#8220;At the beginning of 2018 the global economy was firing on all cylinders, but it lost speed during the year and the ride could get even bumpier in the year ahead,&#8221; World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva said in the semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report&nbsp;<a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/01/08/darkening-prospects-global-economy-to-slow-to-29-percent-in-2019-as-trade-investment-weaken">here</a>.



The World Bank outlook comes as the United States and China have been engaged in a bitter trade dispute, which has jolted financial markets across the world for months. The two economies have imposed tit-for-tat duties on each other’s goods, although there were signs of progress on Tuesday as the two countries prepared to enter a third day of talks in Beijing.



Growth in the United States is likely to slow to 2.5 percent this year from 2.9 percent in 2018, while China is expected to grow at 6.2 percent in the year compared with 6.5 percent in 2018, according to the World Bank.



Emerging market economies are expected to grow at 4.2 percent this year, with advanced economies expected to grow at 2 percent, the World Bank said in the report. -Reuters



<ul><li>Kanishka Singh </li></ul>

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World Bank Sees Global Growth Slowing In 2019

The world economy is set to enjoy a very good year. In that, it will be much like 2018 and 2017 and most probably like 2020 and 2021. Economic growth will be fairly strong in most of the countries where such expansion does the most good. While rich countries worry about objectively tiny setbacks, poor people are overall gaining more of the dignity that comes with adequate material comfort. 



Consider extreme poverty. The World Bank draws the line between the wretched of the earth and everyone else at daily consumption of goods and services worth $1.90. The Our World in Data website at Oxford University estimates that 72 percent of the world’s population lived below that line in 1950. The World Bank’s preliminary estimate for 2018 is 8.6 percent, down from 10 percent in 2015.



Fewer very poor people means more are enjoying better lives. The proportion of the global population without access to electricity is declining by about 0.3 percentage points a year. The number of children not enrolled in school is shrinking by about 5 million annually. Almost every indicator of basic prosperity shows the same trend.



The good news is pretty much global. Even Africa, long the lagging continent, is starting to catch up. The proportion of African children that die before they turn five has declined from 21 percent in 1975 to 8 percent in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available. Better health comes from &#8211; and with &#8211; greater wealth. Real per person income in sub-Saharan Africa has increased by 40 percent in the last decade.



Not all the news is good. Due to war and civil conflict, primarily in Africa, the proportion of the world’s population that is undernourished has risen by 0.2 percentage points in the last two years. Still, at 11.9 percent, it is 2.2 percentage points lower than a decade ago.



The prediction of more global gains in 2019 is pretty solid. There are also good reasons to believe that 2029 will be fine. Economic growth in very poor countries is becoming a virtuous circle. More education and better health creates better workers, who support stronger institutions, which make larger and more effective investments, which produce the money needed to pay for even better schooling and health.



That pattern has held in country after country for at least two decades. Bad governments do slow progress, but it takes war or total state failure, as in Venezuela, to reverse the progress.



The almost unstoppable global retreat of misery and ignorance is arguably the best news ever in economic history. For political history, however, the trends are far less clear. The old belief that greater wealth would naturally bring more open societies looks flawed. The populace of many countries, both richer and poorer, seem pretty happy with autocratic and extreme nationalist governments.



China is the prime example. The oppressive and fairly corrupt Communist Party has presided over rapid and widespread increases in prosperity. Its cross-border ambitions, both civil and military, have expanded as well.



That is worrying for many reasons. One of them is that war is probably the only force destructive enough to stop the upward march of global economic good news. The great question, for both 2019 and 2029, is whether progress will threaten prosperity by leading to the use of the world’s ever-larger supply of ever more deadly arms. -Reuters



-Edward Hadas

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World Will Improve Where It Matters Most In 2019

British prime minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote called by her own Conservative Party last week in the battle over Brexit. “We now need to get on with the job of delivering Brexit to the British people and building a better future for this country,” May told reporters after the vote.



As terms of the country’s exit from the European Union are mapped out, Britain’s future is murky. Yet the foundation of its business climate remains attractive, leading the U.K. to the top spot in&nbsp;Forbes’ 13th&nbsp;annual look at the Best Countries for Business, which measures countries that are most hospitable to capital investment. It is the second straight year with the U.K. in the lead.



“The U.K. has a globalized economy that is more open than most across the world in terms of trade, investments, capital flows and, until recently, immigration,” says Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi.



The U.K. is the only country to land among the top 30 (out of 161 countries ranked) on all 15 metrics&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;used to rate the countries. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5c12b6d54bbe6f0f2aa24c2a/2018-best-countries-for-b/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Gallery: The Best Countries for Business 201910 imagesView gallery&nbsp;</a>



The Heritage Foundation touts the benefits of Brexit for the U.K. in its annual “<a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/unitedkingdom" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Index of Economic Freedom</a>,” which is part of our scoring. “The process of exiting the European Union will afford the government opportunities to correct any remaining structural deficiencies that might be holding back an already high-performing economy,” per the report. “The U.K. has one of the world’s most efficient business and investment environments and will soon be open to expanded global trade relationships.”



Zandi is less optimistic. He thinks it could take multiple generations for the $2.6 billion economy to recover from Brexit. “Under the Theresa May proposal, which is most likely, the U.K.’s global orientation is diminished. It makes investment and trade more challenging,” says Zandi. “The British economic sun is definitely going to shine less bright.”



We gauged the Best Countries for&nbsp;Business&nbsp;by rating nations on 15 different factors, including property rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), red tape and investor protection. Other metrics included were workforce, infrastructure, market size, quality of life and risk. Each category was equally weighted.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Click here for the full list of The Best Countries For Business.</a>



The data is based on published reports from Freedom House, Heritage Foundation, Property Rights Alliance, United Nations, Transparency International, World Bank Group, Marsh &amp; McLennan and World Economic Forum (click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/12/19/best-countries-for-business-2019-behind-the-numbers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">here</a>&nbsp;for more details on the methodology and the best and worst country on each metric).



Sweden moves up two places to finish second this year. The business climate of the export-oriented economy received high marks for innovation, property rights, risk and low corruption. Stockholm is one of Europe’s leading tech startup hubs. The ratio of national debt to GDP in the Scandinavian country has dropped from 80% in 1995 to 41% last year.



Rounding out the top five countries overall are Hong Kong, Netherlands and New Zealand.



The U.S. fell five spots this year to 17th, a tick ahead of Spain. The world’s biggest economy at $19.5 trillion lost ground on personal, trade and monetary freedoms.



“Instead of embracing the world, we are pushing it away, and that is bad for business,” says Zandi, who highlights the immigration policy as a major deterrent to the U.S. business climate. The problem of getting visas for highly skilled workers is forcing companies to move overseas. The best and brightest are often taking jobs outside the U.S. It is a double whammy if these people are starting new companies. “It puts a stake in the heart of what makes the American economy tick,” says Zandi.



Watchdog organization Freedom House annually rates countries on the “real-world rights and freedoms enjoyed by individuals.” Thirty-three countries get their highest rating. As of this year, the U.S. is not one of them. The U.S. political freedom score took a hit, with the&nbsp;<a href="https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FH_FITW_Report_2018_Final_SinglePage.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report citi</a>ng&nbsp;“Growing evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, violations of basic ethical standards by the new administration, and a reduction in government transparency.”



African nations populate the worst countries for business with seven of the bottom 10&nbsp;(Haiti is the weakest among non-African countries). These countries typically fare poorly on innovation, trade freedom and investor protection. The Central African Republic ranks last. The conflict-prone nation has a GDP per capita of only $400.

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The Best Countries For Business 2019: UK On Top, US Down

George Gordon is on a quest to revolutionize the financial system. The director of Africa Master Blockchain Company talks digital currencies, blind risks and board games.



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What is this new African cryptocurrency you are offering? 



Where the majority of current digital currencies are based on speculative models, AfriUnion Coin (AUC) and the AfriNational Tokens (ANT)are designed for a transactional purpose allowing international payments, remittances, foreign direct investment as well as day-to-day transactions at local retail stores and other outlets. While the option for speculative trade is available with AUC, the focus is not around that. 



Each African country will have a specially-designed ANT which will allow users to pay for goods and services and bills easily through completely digital means without requiring any bank account. AUC and ANT will be fully interchangeable to one another and there will be no fees for the user.



It’s the natural next step for digital finance from mobile banking which most Africans are accustomed to. The ability to freely have the power to send and receive money locally and internationally will allow the freedom of choice and spending power many Africans don’t have currently. 



What is your own investment philosophy? 



I am a gambler! I believe in taking risks and putting things on the line. That being said, blind risk or whimsical guesses don’t get you very far. Always acquire enough information to understand to a reasonable level what the thing you are planning on investing is or how it works and then trust your instinct and gut feel.



What advice would you give entrepreneurs wanting to invest in blockchain?



First, do some research in terms of what the blockchain technology is being applied for or created in terms of its application to an industry or project. Thereafter, check the white paper for the design of the platform as well as its functionality and applicability to what it is trying to achieve. If it aligns with your personal investment rules, then go for it,however, remember that blockchain is continuously evolving and thus you need to explore outside the usual and standard. 



First cash-less, now card-less. What is the future of online banking? 



If we are looking into what is currently science fiction, I would say the future is digital contact lenses that will be able to connect you to all your social media accounts, internet, news as well as make payments by just looking at QR codes or specialized barcodes to approve and accept payments. 



Now, realistically we are not far off from such innovation and technology, but for the time being, I think the next step is scanning of QR codes at retailers and having the transaction automated from your wallet to the retailers digitally.



What is your most prized investment and why? 



My mind. I believe that the work I have put into developing my mind, and continue to do so every day, is the number one investment that I have ever done. It allows me to look at things in a unique perspective as well as provides me with the tools to push boundaries and create new opportunities.



Money, success, fame? Which is most important to you? 



I would have to say success… because it is most likely going to bring the other two as well, right? But success in the form of starting something and letting it grow and succeed and knowing that something new exists because of your efforts.



What do you spend your money on mostly? 



Board games. I love board games and believe it’s a fantastic way to expand your mind as well as have fun with friends.

George

Cryptocurrency for Africans

Small, resilient agricultural solutions that will save the environment and feed generations to come.&nbsp;



The effective use of land remains one of the foremost solutions to poverty, and the methods used to fully benefit from farming are easily accessible and implementable.&nbsp; 



Thankfully,&nbsp; there are proven ecologically-sound farming methods that contribute to household food security even in harsh landscapes, and even through droughts, as this group of women in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province have shown 



Strong El Niño events worldwide perpetually cause severe crop failures across the agricultural spectrum. Yet, in Igwavuma inKwaZulu-Natal, while her neighbor’s fields lay barren, Rhoda Mvubu was still harvesting cowpeas, sorghum, sesame, peanuts and a variety of beans at the end of the 2016 summer; and sweet potatoes and pumpkins in the winter. 



In the dry, rocky hills of Tshaneni, Doris Myeni was still harvesting vegetables and greens from her home garden late into a drought,&nbsp;enabling her to provide adequately for her extended family of 15 throughout the summer holidays. And Corinne Mngomezulu still had a good stock of seed saved from her own crops, stored well to protect them from insects and decay, ensuring that she would be able to plant again when the rains came. 



All three women are part of a network of smallholder farmers in the north-eastern province of South Africa who are supported by a non-profit organization, Biowatch South Africa, to develop and implement agroecology practices on their plots. Along with about 250 other farmers, mainly women,they have improved the nutrition levels in their homes and produced enough for sale to neighbors and at markets, while increasing and maintaining the productivity and ecological sustainability of their farms. 



“Biowatch is looking at an agriculture that is resilient,and which doesn’t require expensive inputs or a lot of irrigation,” explains Biowatch director, Rose Williams. 



“The methods we use of working with the soil and retaining water has meant that there can be produce during the drought – whereas if you were in a situation where you were planting a monocrop which needed irrigation, you would have nothing.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="926" height="619" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-38262" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land3.png 926w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land3-300x201.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land3-600x401.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land3-768x513.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" /><figcaption>Mavis Nhleko, a smallholder&nbsp; agroecology farmer, at Emagengeni in Pongola. Picture: Biowatch South Africa</figcaption></figure>



With a large proportion of Africa’s food produced by smallholder farmers who operate with marginal resources, crop failure can be devastating. As climate stresses increase, it becomes especially astute to invest in knowledge and methods that ensure smallholder farms continue to be viable. 



The 2018 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reveals that undernourishment and severe food insecurity are on the rise in nearly all regions of the world. About one in nine people in the world is considered to be undernourished, with a fifth (21%) of Africa’s population affected. 



Although a number of complex factors influence food security, the report shows a correlation between the rise in the prevalence of undernourishment in the last three years and the rise in climate shocks such as droughts, floods, cyclones, and heat waves. It points to the 2015-2016 El Niño event as a key factor. 



Countries with high exposure to climate shocks have more than double the number of undernourished people than those without high exposure. Drought is an especially significant factor in increased undernourishment, with stunting shown to have higher prevalence in areas where declining food availability is linked to warmer and drier conditions. 



Other factors than climate are also at play. For example,middle-income countries experience less food insecurity than low-income countries that experience the same climate shocks. 



Countries that experience both climate shocks and conflict fare considerably worse than those without conflict. However, it’s worth pointing out that most countries experiencing climate-related food insecurity are not experiencing conflict. Predictably, the part of the world where climate shocks and stressors have the biggest impact on food security and malnutrition is Africa. 



“With climate change in this sub-region, droughts are more intense and they are longer, flash floods are more common, and one is seeing impacts that are really devastating,” says Williams, “And we are in a province which has very high rates of malnutrition – with elevated levels of stunting and high rates of diabetes.”



Stats SA reports that in 2016, about 22% of South African households had “inadequate or severely inadequate” access to food, and about 12% of households experienced hunger. 



Williams says, “In many ways, synthetic fertilisers and irrigation and hybrid crops can seem like a silver bullet – and you may get returns that are high for a few years – but it’s not resilient and it’s not sustainable. Fertilizers impact on soil fertility, and hybrid crops need a lot of water –and water is scarce in this region which means it has to be diverted from somewhere else. So if you’re looking at an earth that needs to be sustainable, this is not an option for the long-term.” 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="461" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land5.png" alt="" class="wp-image-38263" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land5.png 461w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land5-300x400.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/land5-225x300.png 225w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /><figcaption> Biowatch director, Rose Williams. Picture: Biowatch South Africa</figcaption></figure></div>



“Within agroecology, there is a strong support for natural systems, and the ecology, water system, and soils are maintained,” she explains, “It’s something that is supportive of biodiversity, and it also has a low carbon footprint if you tie it with local markets.” 



As described in Biowatch’s recent report, Agroecology is best practice, agroecology is about applying a set of principles rather than specific farming methods. Biowatch partner farmers are required to compost,mulch, dig fertility beds, use grey water, and save traditional seed. There can be no use of commercial hybrids or synthetic fertilizers, pesticides,insecticides or herbicides. 



Farming methods vary based on terrain and depending on the individual objectives of different farmers. For example, what made Myeni’s farm successful in a moisture-deprived area was a combination of hip-deep trench gardens filled with material such as tin, bones, grass and compost that improved the fertility and water-retention of the soils, along with water-harvesting practices and solicitous use of grey water. 



For Mvubu in a higher-rainfall area, it was planting in shallow basins and intense inter-cropping that gave her good yields.In a single field, she interplants maize, beans, cowpeas, peanuts, mung beans, jugo beans, sesame, and sorghum – and in fact, she has three different varieties of traditional sorghum. 



Williams emphasizes crop diversity as an important aspect of agroecology&nbsp; – both for protecting the soil and for proper nutrition. “There’s a difference between having sufficient food and having sufficient nutritious food. You can have enough food to fill your stomach but it’s not going to be enough for the human body. One needs a diversity in diet. Part of our work in agroecology is in providing proper food.”



Partner farmers strengthen agroecology practices with their own tried and tested traditional practices. “There is a strong innovation element to agroecology,” explains Williams, “and that’s where we can really support farmers because we are part of initiatives where we are learning from other countries in southern Africa and what we learn from our partner farmer scan also be shared with others.” 



Saving traditional seed varieties for replanting is one of the most important aspects of maintaining agricultural diversity, resilience in crops, and good levels of household nutrition. 



Says Williams, “In agroecology, the farmers have control over their seeds. They grow sufficient crops for food and also for planting the next season.” With hybrid seed, the next generation often lacks vigour, and some seeds are patented, which means farmers have to buy new seed for each crop. Williams explains, “This is very different to traditional farmer varieties of seed where the vigour is maintained and the diversity is maintained and it’s a self-sustaining system.” 



Some farmers, like Mngomezulu, plant fields that are only for seed saving. As quoted in the recent Biowatch report, Mngomezulu says,“These seeds are very precious to me. I need this field to save them so that they don’t get lost. I inherited these seeds from older generations and I want people to see them and use them – they are for my grandchildren, for coming generations,and for other farmers.” 



As governments the world over strive to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, it might be worth taking a page from these smallholder farmers in remote rural areas who are able to feed their families nutritious food throughout the year.&nbsp;

land1

Putting land To Good Use: Food Security In Our Backyards

Africa’s most populous country is the biggest startup market most likely to give birth to unicorns. But capital and infrastructure to help these startups scale remain elusive.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



The year 2018 was momentous for Staffbus.ng, a two-year-old startup helping solve the problem of congestion in Nigeria’s capital city. 



Its solution? Encouraging residents to leave their cars at home and book its luxury buses for their daily commute to work. 



Founded by Olusegun Oludayo, the startup was recently the winner of the N5 million ($13,700) Seyi Tinubu Empowerment Project (STEP) initiative, a pitching competition held annually in Lagos to identify leading tech entrepreneurs. 



This program, along with many other venture capital (VC)initiatives, has sprung up in Africa’s largest economy in the last decade to help boost the startup ecosystem in Nigeria.



According to a 2017 report by Global Startup Ecosystem Report and Ranking 2017, produced by Startup Genome in collaboration with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), the Lagos startup ecosystem is estimated to be worth $2 billion. It has one of the highest rates of founders who have an undergraduate degree (59%) and those that have a technical background (93%). 



However, when it comes to global penetration of these startups, there seem to be some significant challenges with only 11% of startups planning to take their business beyond the shores of Nigeria.



“We have a proliferation of similar ideas all trying to get funding from dwindling sources and those with funding just go around that circle of pitching, pitching, pitching. They don’t scale, so you find they remain startups for many years,” says Emilia Asim-Ita, CEO, AML Practice, a content, talent and resource advisory firm.



According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria’s internet users this year reached a whopping 98 million. This, combined with the enthusiastic entrepreneurial energy of Lagos, has led to over 700 active startups in the country. As the business models of these startups become more innovative, there has also been an increase in the number of companies receiving big checks from top Silicon Valley VC’s in recent years. 



For example, the significant funding rounds of Andela ($40million), Terragon Group ($5 million), Cars45 ($5 million), Rensource ($3.5million), Flutterwave ($10 million), Paystack ($1.3 million) has demonstrated that there is definitely a lot of potential in the Nigerian ecosystem but these are just a few success stories and are atypical to the entire ecosystem.



“The startup ecosystem in Nigeria is stagnating. It is difficult to give you empirical evidence but you will find that an industry or sector that is not growing and has not disrupted any new industries in a while and you haven’t seen significance in the growth and sustainability of even some of its biggest ideas cannot be growing, that is why I would say that it is stagnant,” says Asim-Ita.



This stagnation is as a result of the challenges facing the Nigerian startup ecosystem. Firstly, there is inadequate infrastructure.



“We are seeing the tech ecosystem go through some significant changes. The first big tech companies like iROKOtv, Jobberman and Paga were able to move from startups to become really serious companies and they have showed us that Nigeria has what it takes to build sustainable and profitable companies. We just need the right infrastructure to support our startups,” says Seyi Tinubu, founder and CEO of Loatsad Promomedia, a digital advertising company in Lagos. 



Tinubu is also an investor and founder of STEP, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative designed to empower tech entrepreneurs in Lagos with seed funding and mentorship.



“When you go outside the main cities, you will find there is a lack of access to internet and fluctuating power supply which has a long-term impact on the growth of tech companies leading to companies outsourcing development solutions to countries like India,” says Tinubu.



This invariably results in the inefficient use of financial resources and the eroding of a robust funnel of talent that the ecosystem needs, a problem organizations like Andela and the Tony Elumelu Foundation are trying to address.



“Startups need capital to operate. In Nigeria, many tech startups are known to solve local niche problems and try to create a long-term business out it but most of these businesses are often un-validated concepts which makes them difficult to secure investment in,” says Wande Adams, a business development executive at Enov8 Solutions, a tech company with a focus on all sectors. 



The company aims to provide topnotch innovative solutions to identified gaps across various sectors. It recently secured a $250,000 funding from SPHINX Capital. Among the company’s many innovative solutions is a crowd-funding platform called SeekFunds designed to fund/raise money towards business, projects, charities, medical and educational assistance. 



But the main challenge for most startups is still how to secure larger capital raising rounds to gain significant market share. 



“Nigeria has attracted about a third of all startup funds available on the continent and we are still far away from having our own unicorns,” says Uzoma Dozie, CEO of Diamond Bank.



A unicorn is a term for a tech company valued at $1 billion or more. For this, the firm requires massive capital injections to achieve its potential, usually in tens of millions. 



“When a startup has proven a concept and is seen as a viable business, it must protect itself from copycats and scale to other markets very quickly and this is a very a pricey process,” adds Gordon Adomdza, a Professor with Ashesi University in Ghana.



Most VCs get a buzz when they can find a handful of companies with the potential to be unicorns and they invest in all of them with probably most of them failing except one whose success returns all the capital invested.



In February 2018, Zinox acquired leading Nigerian e-commerce player Konga in a move that is widely believed to have been a significant down round. 



Unicorns, down rounds and utter company failures are an inherent part of the world of venture capital. Nigeria, with its 190 million population, remains the biggest market and the one most likely to give birth to unicorns. For this to happen, it requires huge capital investment to help these startups scale, something that seems unlikely to happen in this current climate.

Startup

With 190 million people, Nigeria most likely to give birth to unicorns

Clothing retailers have felt a pre-Christmas chill slicing through their margins as they try to lure shoppers to spend rather than hold off in anticipation of ever-bigger price cuts.



This has left investors worried whether recent profit warnings, which have spread to online players such as British online store ASOS (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ASOS.L" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="This has left investors worried whether recent profit warnings, which have spread to online players such as British online store ASOS (ASOS.L) from bricks-and-mortar retailers, may be a taste of the future. (opens in a new tab)">ASOS.L</a>) from bricks-and-mortar retailers, may be a taste of the future.



Monday’s warning from ASOS, a high-fashion, online-only player seen as better placed than most to weather shopper fatigue, raised concerns about weakening consumer strength globally and even hit shares in internet retail giant Amazon (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AMZN.O" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Monday’s warning from ASOS, a high-fashion, online-only player seen as better placed than most to weather shopper fatigue, raised concerns about weakening consumer strength globally and even hit shares in internet retail giant Amazon (AMZN.O). (opens in a new tab)">AMZN.O</a>).



“We have seen in fashion an unprecedented amount of discounting, certainly not something I’ve seen before, and that’s been across the board,” ASOS Chief Executive Nick Beighton told analysts.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Whether this is a high street or an online issue isn’t relevant right now; what is, is the underlying fragility of the customer,” Beighton added.</blockquote>



While online retailing has made shoppers more savvy, comparing prices and trawling more widely for discounts, factors ranging from street demonstrations in Paris to unseasonable weather have been blamed for a reluctance to buy new clothes.



Fashion chains including Primark (<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Fashion chains including Primark (ABF.L), Superdry (SDRY.L) and Italy’s low-cost OVS (OVS.MI) have all warned of weak sales in the crucial run-up to Christmas. And while Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC) resisted discounting, it reported disappointing sales. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ABF.L" target="_blank">ABF.L</a>), Superdry (<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Fashion chains including Primark (ABF.L), Superdry (SDRY.L) and Italy’s low-cost OVS (OVS.MI) have all warned of weak sales in the crucial run-up to Christmas. And while Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC) resisted discounting, it reported disappointing sales. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SDRY.L" target="_blank">SDRY.L</a>) and Italy’s low-cost OVS (<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Fashion chains including Primark (ABF.L), Superdry (SDRY.L) and Italy’s low-cost OVS (OVS.MI) have all warned of weak sales in the crucial run-up to Christmas. And while Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC) resisted discounting, it reported disappointing sales. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=OVS.MI" target="_blank">OVS.MI</a>) have all warned of weak sales in the crucial run-up to Christmas. And while Zara owner Inditex (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ITX.MC" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Fashion chains including Primark (ABF.L), Superdry (SDRY.L) and Italy’s low-cost OVS (OVS.MI) have all warned of weak sales in the crucial run-up to Christmas. And while Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC) resisted discounting, it reported disappointing sales. (opens in a new tab)">ITX.MC</a>) resisted discounting, it reported disappointing sales.



“Customer behavior is becoming more and more difficult to predict,” Stefano Beraldo, chief executive officer at OVS, said last week after an 11 percent drop in same-store sales.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">SHOPPING AROUND</h5>



Most retailers have responded by expanding their traditional summer and new year sales to year-round promotions, even in the crucial Christmas period when they have previously counted on shifting stock at full price.



“Discounting has been building for a number of years and has gone hand-in-hand with the rise of online,” said Samantha Dover, senior retail analyst at market research firm Mintel, said.



A walk down a British high street shows Gap children’s jumpers at half price, women’s leather boots reduced by 40 percent at Hobbs and a half-price Laura Ashley wool-mix coat.



“I saw the ‘sale’ sign and I came in,” said 54-year-old investment banker Kez, rifling through a bargain rail at affordable fashion chain Top Shop in London’s Canary Wharf financial district.



She said she was always attracted to a bargain and would “definitely” compare prices online before buying, although if she needed an item she would buy it at full price.



Deloitte says consumers in Britain are enjoying record pre-Christmas price cuts, with discounts at an average of 43.6 percent and likely to hit a new record by Christmas Eve.



The consultancy expects the number of sale days at British retailers to be as many as 38 this year, six more than 2012. Research by Mintel shows almost half of British consumers have delayed buying clothing to see if it goes on promotion.



At upmarket fashion chain Reiss, banker Daniel Radford, 45, said he wouldn’t shop just anywhere for a bargain but “depending on the brand, it can be important”.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Sales are happening all the time now,” he said, adding that in the case of a big-ticket item he would wait for it to be discounted.</blockquote>



Growth fears, Xi speech, grip world stocks ahead of Fed meeting



Promotional activities like Black Friday have meant shoppers expect discounts earlier in the season, while they can also shop around more easily and compare prices.



“People are going to buy where the discounts are and then that hits margins across the board,” said Maureen Hinton, global retail research director at GlobalData.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">SURVIVAL OF THE QUICKEST</h5>



Some clothing retailers have adapted better than others to changing shopping habits &#8211; Inditex has set the pace with its tight control of inventory, meaning it is able to leverage its network of stores and online apps to sell items at full price.



H&amp;M, however, has had to mark down prices as it failed to react quickly to demand swings, some of which have resulted from changing weather patterns or increasingly fickle tastes driven by a growing army of online influencers setting trends.



Another factor in the mix this autumn has been country-specific troubles such as political unrest in France and fears about Britain leaving the European Union which have kept shoppers at home, leaving piles of unsold clothing.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">The French retail federation has estimated stores have lost at least 1 billion euros as a result of four weeks of ‘yellow vest’ protests in France.</blockquote>



And German retailers have been disappointed by Christmas sales so far, the German Retail Association said, capping off a weak 2018.



“We had a year of soft trading in Germany,” George Garfield Weston, CEO of Primark owner AB Foods (<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="“We had a year of soft trading in Germany,” George Garfield Weston, CEO of Primark owner AB Foods (ABF.L), said last month. German retailers including Zalando (ZALG.DE) and Metro (B4B.DE), like others in northern Europe, have blamed unseasonable weather for weak demand. - Reuters (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ABF.L" target="_blank">ABF.L</a>), said last month. German retailers including Zalando (<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="“We had a year of soft trading in Germany,” George Garfield Weston, CEO of Primark owner AB Foods (ABF.L), said last month. German retailers including Zalando (ZALG.DE) and Metro (B4B.DE), like others in northern Europe, have blamed unseasonable weather for weak demand. - Reuters (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ZALG.DE" target="_blank">ZALG.DE</a>) and Metro (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=B4B.DE" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="“We had a year of soft trading in Germany,” George Garfield Weston, CEO of Primark owner AB Foods (ABF.L), said last month. German retailers including Zalando (ZALG.DE) and Metro (B4B.DE), like others in northern Europe, have blamed unseasonable weather for weak demand. - Reuters (opens in a new tab)">B4B.DE</a>), like others in northern Europe, have blamed unseasonable weather for weak demand. &#8211; Reuters



<ul><li>Francesa Landini, Anna Ringstrom, Dominique Vidalon, Emma Thomasson and Georgina Prodhan</li></ul>

gettyimages-78717634-170667a

No Christmas cheer for fashion firms in never-ending sales

South African Airways (SAA) said on Tuesday that it had signed a deal with Emirates to expand an existing codeshare agreement, in a rare bright spot for the cash-strapped airline.



The state-owned carrier, which has not made a profit since 2011 and survives on government handouts, said the agreement would see the two airlines leverage each other’s route networks, cargo services and flight schedules to boost passenger flows.



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been at pains to stabilize ailing firms like SAA, but the extent of their financial difficulties has meant slow progress.



SAA, which hopes to turn a profit by 2021 by cutting jobs and routes, expects to make another large loss this financial year, despite a recent government cash injection of 5 billion rand ($350 million).



“The expansion of our commercial relationship will further strengthen key focus areas of the implementation of our turnaround plan,” SAA Chief Executive Vuyani Jarana said. -Reuters



&#8211; Alexander Winning

gettyimages-474785506-594×594

Cash-strapped South African Airways Expands Emirates Code Sharing

Report shows positive growth in the mining and manufacturing industry as both sectors&nbsp; show slight figures of recovery in third quarter



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



South Africa’s mining and manufacturing industry shows slight growth in production and sales, but could decline in the near future. 



The October 2018, StatsSA report shows both sectors have had figures of recovery from the start of the first quarter. 



The mining production overturned a three-month decline with a 0,5% year-on-year growth in the third quarter, with gold being the lowest contributor. 



Senior economist, Elize Kruger from NKC African economics, says despite&nbsp; growth in the mining sector there is nothing to be excited about.



Protest action that started on gold mines in mid-November added to the pressure that the sector has been under over the past months. 



A protected wage strike at Sibanye-Stillwater&#8217;s gold operations started when The Association of Mineworkers &amp; Construction Union (AMCU) made a demand of &nbsp;R1,000 annual increases in wages for mine workers. 



The National Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity and United Association of SouthAfrica on&nbsp; the other hand accepted R700 in the first two years and R825 in the third for most of their members. 



The Johanessburg based mine urged striking workers to return to work by December 15, 2018.&nbsp; 



“Novemember and December could be impacted by the strike action that we see in the gold mining industry. The fourth quarter data is likely to remain depressed despite the October numbers,” she says. 



Gold is the largest negative contributor at -15,1% thus contributing -2,3%percentage points to the overall figures. 



Furthermore, increases in electricity prices that will take effect early 2019, will tighten the pressure on the industry adding to headwins faced on a global scale. 



“Alluminum sector is impacted by the US import tarrifs increases and the threat of electricity price increases in the order of 15% ,” says Kruger. 



The 15% increase is a strategy put in place by the electricity public utility,&nbsp;Eskom, to settle financial constraints. 



The request made to the National Energy Regulator of South&nbsp; Africa will be effective for three years if approved. 



The manufacturing industry grew by 3,0% with eight out of 10 sectors showing positive growth rates over the last three months. 



According to Kruger, the strong levels of the rand exchange rate put in a helping hand in the manufacturing production and sales sector.

899525318

South Africa’s mining and manufacturing sectors show slight growth

Andre Kruger’s stand at Africa’s first ever cannabis exposition displayed an indoor growing tent, complete with state-of-the-art lighting imported from the United States and fittings for a high-tech hydroponic irrigation system.



What it didn’t have, however, was a cannabis plant.



The four-day expo, which opened in South Africa’s capital Pretoria on Thursday, was a stark illustration of the legal grey area the nascent industry occupies in the continent’s most developed economy.



In September, the Constitutional Court decriminalized the use and cultivation of cannabis in private space. But the decision did not legalize its trade or distribution. Even displaying cannabis in public remains legally dubious.



So exhibitors at the expo got creative. Kruger, whose company Sombrero Hydroponics has seen a spike in customer inquiries since September, used two artificial poinsettias as stand-ins.







<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> “People just feel more comfortable now, because they don’t have this added thought in the back of their mind thinking, ‘What if the cops stop at my house?” he said.</blockquote>



 “They’re coming out of the closet, in this case the tent.”



Hundreds of expo-goers bought tickets and were already queuing before the event opened, but not everyone agreed with the ground rules.



Cannabis activist Steven Thapelo Khundu handed out cannabis buds from a plastic bag at the expo entrance, encouraging attendees to bring them inside.



“Free Ganga Free! Free Ganga Free!” he shouted as security forcibly removed him.



Under the court decision, lawmakers have two years to amend the country’s cannabis laws, but the industry isn’t waiting.



South Africa recently established a legal framework for licensing growers. The local unit of Canada’s Canopy Growth, which in August received a $4 billion investment pledge from Corona beer maker Constellation Brands, is among the early applicants.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“I don’t think most people realize just how big the cannabis industry is in Africa already, in South Africa already,” said the Cannabis Expo’s co-founder Silas Howarth.</blockquote>



International companies are, for now at least, seeking licenses to produce cannabis for export. But Gerhard Naude, the founder of healthcare company Go Life International, believes a fully legal domestic industry is now only a matter of time.



“I think there will be a few licenses awarded, and very closely regulated. I think in two years we’ll definitely have a license, for the use of medicinal cannabis in any case,” he said.



Itumeleng Tau, who said he’s been growing marijuana for around 20 years, is among a wave of underground cannabis entrepreneurs who are hoping the pending legal changes will allow them to bring their businesses out of the shadows.



The expo was an important first step, he said. But the absence of any actual cannabis was strange.



“It’s something very, very wrong &#8230; It’s like we came to a party but there’s no music.” &#8211; Reuters



<ul><li>Joe Bavier</li></ul>



READ MORE  | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/uncategorized/2018/11/20/beyond-the-plumes-of-smoke-the-weed-economy-on-a-high/﻿">Beyond the plumes of smoke the weed economy on a high</a>

gettyimages-1014954850-170667a

In an African First, a Cannabis Expo…without Cannabis

De Beers and Vast Resources will be allowed to explore for diamonds in Zimbabwe, which would make them the first listed companies to mine there in that sector for two years, Mining Minister Winston Chitando said.



A spokesman for De Beers, an Anglo American unit, said in an email it was not mining in Zimbabwe and did not intend to. Vast Resources said it could not comment.



Zimbabwe has been working to rebuild investor confidence since long-term leader Robert Mugabe was ousted in late 2017.



This month its mining ministry said it would let in two new companies but did not name them.



On Wednesday, Chitando told Reuters De Beers and Vast Resources would be allowed to mine, but could not comment on any changes to ownership rules. “Those are the details that have to be thrashed out,” he said.



Vast Resources signed a memorandum of understanding with Botswana Diamonds in May to form a special purpose vehicle majority-owned by Vast to develop resources in Zimbabwe.



In November, Chitando said Zimbabwe did not plan to change radically its ownership laws for platinum and diamonds.



Few miners doubt the potential of Zimbabwe’s mineral resources and it is among the world’s leading diamond-producing countries. But some investors are concerned about how much money companies can take out because of dollar shortages.



Mugabe accused De Beers of looting the largest diamond fields in Marange in eastern Zimbabwe, where production is dominated by state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company. De Beers denied the charge.



Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company is one of two firms currently allowed to mine diamonds there. The other, Murowa Diamonds, majority-owned by Rio Tinto until June 2015, is the only private company mining diamonds in south central Zimbabwe.



In early 2016, Mugabe’s government evicted all diamond miners from Marange, saying their licenses had expired after they declined to merge under the state-owned mining firm.



As part of its quest to attract foreign investment, Zimbabwe’s new government has liberalized indigenisation laws for many minerals but still limits foreign ownership of platinum and diamond projects to a minority, with the state holding 51 percent. -Reuters



<ul><li>MacDonald Dzirutwe and Barbara Lewis</li></ul>

mine

Zimbabwe Mining Minister Invites De Beers, Vast Resources to Return

The South African Reserve Bank will not raise interest rates again until May, according to a Reuters poll, taken after the central bank surprised many economists last month by adding 25 basis points to borrowing costs.



The median forecast in the poll of 25 economists, conducted over the past week, suggests the central bank will wait until May before hiking interest rates by another 25 basis points, taking its key rate to 7.00 percent.



The Reserve Bank increased its benchmark lending rate for the first time in nearly three years last month, saying the risk of higher inflation in the longer-term remained elevated and that it could not risk waiting until later to take action.



“Risks to the inflation outlook remain to the upside, on possible rand depreciation and above inflationary increases in administered prices, particularly electricity tariffs,” Investec economist Kamilla Kaplan wrote in a note.



She pointed out that debt-troubled state-run utility Eskom proposes to increase electricity tariffs by 15 percent a year for the next three years.



The poll predicted inflation would quicken to 5.3 percent next year from 4.7 percent in 2018.



A separate poll last week suggested the rand&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/currencies/quote?srcCurr=ZAR&amp;destCurr=USD">ZAR=D3</a>&nbsp;will erase around a third of the 10 percent gains it made in the past two months in the run-up to elections next May as strong volatility rattles the currency, adding to inflationary pressures.&nbsp;



However, the Reserve Bank reacts more strongly to any signs of second round effects on its inflation outlook rather than to currency weakness.



Another poll showed analysts are increasingly pessimistic about the prospect of an oil price rally next year, even though markets expect OPEC to cut output.&nbsp;



<figure><iframe src="https://queso-cdn.prod.reuters.tv/new/index.html?autoplay=false&amp;muted=false&amp;countdown=true&amp;preroll=false&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fajo.prod.reuters.tv%2Fapi%2Fv2%2Fimg%2F5c11814ae4b0653ed1a867f1%3Fwidth%3D640%26location%3DLANDSCAPE%26videoId%3DOV9AN4UX7&amp;mid=OV9AN4UX7&amp;title=Wall%20Street%20rises%20on%20trade%20optimism&amp;suppress_ads=false&amp;suppress_rtv=true&amp;source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Farticle%2Fus-safrica-economy-poll%2Fsouth-africas-central-bank-to-wait-until-may-for-next-rate-hike-reuters-poll-idUSKBN1OC0D6&amp;chartbeat_uid=52639&amp;chartbeat_domain=preview.reuters.com&amp;region=US&amp;draggable=true&amp;hide_title=false&amp;basic=false&amp;allow_collapse=true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></figure>



Wall Street rises on trade optimism



Brent crude LCOc1 eventually affects local inflation, from factories through to consumers.



South Africa’s Reserve Bank tries to keep inflation in the middle of its 3-6 percent target range.



The South African economy is expected to expand to 1.5 percent next year from 0.7 percent this year. The economy expanded 2.2 percent in the third quarter, taking the country out of recession. -Reuters



<ul><li>Vuyani Ndaba</li></ul>



<ul><li>Additional polling by Khushboo Mittal in Bengaluru</li></ul>

South African Reserve Bank, Pretoria, Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa

South Africa’s Central Bank To Wait Until May For Next Rate Hike

The first-ever Africa Investment Forum was a resounding success with some fascinating math: 49 projects worth $38.7 billion over three days, all for the continent. 



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



On a breezy Wednesday morning in November in Johannesburg, there is a feverish bustle at the Sandton Convention Centre, one of South Africa’s most prestigious destinations for conferences. Known for regularly hosting world-class exhibitions and events, today, it is playing host to one of the most important events of the year. 



The second floor of the convention center is pulsating with action and excitement as hundreds of businessmen and power women in sharp suits and African attire greet each other. At each corner of the grand room are huge posters with quotes that say, “People don’t eat potential! It’s time to turn potential into real deals,” and,



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">We believe that the growth of Africa’s economy represents opportunities for its neighbors </blockquote>



The word on everyone’s lips is transactions. The inaugural edition of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB), is officially opened by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. 



The bigwigs of corporate Africa and political power brokers are all here, including Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, along with Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and Ethiopia’s first female president Sahle-Work Zewde. 



The AfDB describes the forum as a collaborative platform for the economic and social development of the continent. The goal is to bring together project sponsors, borrowers, lenders and public and private sector investments to unlock billions of dollars that will accelerate investment. The rationale is simple. Six of the 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa, yet Africa has a mammoth infrastructure funding gap of $130-$170 billion a year. 



The man called ‘Mr. Development’ in the October 2018 issue of FORBES AFRICA, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina, believes there needs to be a convergence of stakeholders from all over Africa to broker deals that finally unlock the potential of Africa. 



As with any conference with a multitude of minds, opinions are divided for this one too. On the one hand are those who quietly wonder whether this is going to be yet another three days of rhetoric and ambiguous targets that bear no fruit? Then you have those believers who are convinced that Africa is ripe for an integrated marketplace that can actually deliver real growth. 



For these people, the AIF offers new hope. They believe that the continent’s largest and smallest economies are ready to come together and take charge of their own destiny. 



According to the World Bank, year-on-year economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is slashed by two percentage points due to a lack of infrastructure. Analysts believe around $100 billion must be invested each year to eliminate the deficit and give African infrastructure a shot at competing with other developing regions. 



Traditionally, the World Bank, the AfDB and African governments have sought to address the infrastructure gap by investing in larger infrastructure projects valued at more than $1 billion. 



This means smaller-scale projects, in the $100 million to $200 million range, which are also necessary for the development goals of the continent, are neglected. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">History shows that trade has the potential to transform nations. </blockquote>





Adesina believes this.&nbsp;





“The AIF is probably the most important game-changing initiative for accelerated economic development in Africa. It is a unique platform for investment, finance, transparent transactions and a genuine African marketplace for closing deals to accelerate the economic development of Africa. The fact is that no individual benefactor, no matter how rich, or government or sovereign wealth fund, or even a multilateral development bank, for that matter, can provide the resources to meet Africa’s critical economic development needs,” he says in his opening address at the conference. 



According to Adesina, the solution is clear. Africa can and Africa must collectively work towards financing its development, requiring broad partnerships with the private sector and an appreciation of the realities of global investment partners. 



“This will be an African investment marketplace where the AfDB and its partners will screen and enhance bankable projects and attract co-investors and facilitate transactions to close Africa’s investment gaps. This platform will reduce intermediation costs and improve the quality of documentation and information and increase active and productive engagements between African governments and the private sector,” he says. 



It is that type of collaboration that brings Shamima Mallam-Hassam, Country Executive of Alter Domus, all the way from Mauritius to Johannesburg. 



“We are a leading fund and corporate services provider, headquartered in Luxemburg, with an office in Mauritius. The purpose of being at the Africa Investment Forum is to meet with people that have projects in Africa, that we can help in their structuring, and use Mauritius as a platform for their investment into Africa. So this is a very high-level forum, where a lot of insights have been shared about where Africa is going and how there can be more collaborations to make projects happen,” she says. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-38061" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Ethiopia&#8217;s first female president Sahle- Zewde networking with delegates at the Africa Investment Forum. Picture: Gypseenia Lion</figcaption></figure>



Can developing nations thrive in a global economy without an international, collective mind-set? International organizations like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) believe that for sustainable development to exist, more developed African economies need to break down barriers between them and less developed economies. To begin with, the continent needs to address rising unemployment. 



“We need to create 400 million jobs for 400 million Africans, who are already born, between now and 2030. These massive numbers need massive responses,” says Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) during a panel conversation at AIF. A total of 49 deals were made at the AIF, which were valued at $38.7 billion, according to the final numbers released. These deals represent a renaissance for the African continent. But the concern for some is whether the returns from these deals will remain on the continent. 



“The ownership of industrial assets must be African companies. A lot of developers make the mistake of allowing foreign ownership, which alters the trajectory of your destiny,” says Basil El-Baz, chairman and CEO of Egypt’s Carbon Holdings. 



The all-important issue of women’s empowerment in corporate Africa is also discussed. A panel in ‘Investing in women for accelerated growth’ reveals women entrepreneurs experience a significant funding gap of $42 billion annually, but are more likely to repay loans compared to male borrowers. David Makhura, the premier of the Gauteng province where the conference is held, attests: “African women need to be supported. They are the ones that sell to provide for their children and families.” 



The panel comprises prominent and successful women, including Ibukun Awosika, president of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Hayat Sindi, senior advisor to the president of the Islamic Development Bank, and Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, chairperson of Kalagadi Manganese. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">We need to make women a critical component of our financial system <cite> Ibukun Awosika</cite></blockquote>



Underpinning the market place is ‘The AIF Platform’, that connects 200,000 American businesses and users from 100 countries, many of whom are potential investors and trade partners for Africa. 



The AIF Platform is announced in partnership with the Inter Development Bank (IDB) who launched a similar platform, Connect America, in 2014. “We have over 400 million smartphones in Africa. Within a few years, this number will exceed a billion. But none of these are made in Africa. We are the consumers but we’re not the value creators,” says Ashish Thakkar, founder of Mara Group, before the closing plenary. 



The AIF Platform was created to address exactly this. By connecting African-based companies like Mara to global trade partners, there can be economies of scale. 



If there is one thing to take away from the conference, it is this: there is a fight to back Africa as an investable destination so that capital can land in the continent and unlock its potential. As Adesina puts it: “This is Africa’s time to change the rhetoric. We need to make Africa independent; we can no longer build Africa relying on aid. The only way to achieve this is a complete rise in intra-Africa trade.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="926" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote.png" alt="" class="wp-image-38063" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote.png 926w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-600x400.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-768x512.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" /><figcaption>Africa&#8217;s richest man, Aliko Dangote attended the inaugural Africa Investment Forum. Picture: Gypseenia Lion</figcaption></figure>



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