What does Gateway Partners do?
We connect private capital to investment opportunities that we believe are exceptionally attractive across Africa, the Middle East and southeast Asia. We believe these markets are fundamentally attractive for a few reason. One is demographics, with two-thirds of the population under the age of 35, or in Africa’s case, three quarters. We’re also rapidly urbanizing. Across Africa, the Middle East and southeast Asia, almost a billion-and-a-half people will get urbanized over the next 20 to 30 years. If you add the young, growing population with the burgeoning urbanization, you have an increase in consumption and a growth in manufacturing services. Then, if you look at the global economy over the last 20 years, the biggest growth engine has been the trade and investment floors between and across emerging markets.
How important is private equity for Africa?
I think it’s important for a variety of reasons. Africa needs to invest a lot more. It’s estimated that you’ve got to spend another $50 billion a year in building Africa’s infrastructure. If you take the growing consumer, there is a huge opportunity there. Agriculture is also a huge opportunity. So, all of that requires investment. The big challenge that Africa has is its savings rate is very low. The savings rate to GDP ratio across Africa is 15%. In contrast, China has close to 45%. Also the size of the domestic financial sector, once you get outside of South Africa, is very small relative to the investment requirements of Africa.
I’ll give you an example, if you take the entire Nigerian banking system, the combined market capitalization of the top 10 banks, is less than a quarter of the market capitalization of the single largest bank in Indonesia… It means Africa needs foreign capital. Foreign capital takes the form of private equity, foreign markets, bond markets or bank lending. Africa probably needs all of them.
Also, private equity is useful in bringing in potentially an upgradation in management skills, technical skills and technology.
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In terms of investment, how does Africa compare to other parts of the world you have worked in , like Asia, the Middle East and Europe? 
In a word: attractive. But, it’s not without its challenges and risks. The way I like to look at Africa is this is China 1990. This is India 2000. This is Vietnam 2005. If you were to look at Africa as the great market for people wanting to buy their first microwave, their first refrigerator, their first car, their first apartment, there is a huge underlying market here.
Also, Africa has had the second highest GDP growth of any continent over the last 10 or 20 years. The levels of governance and the macroeconomic fundamentals of Africa are generally improving. In 20 years, Africa will have more people of a working age than either India or China. If you take agriculture, 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land is in Africa. If you look across the spectrum, there is a huge need. But, it is not without risk because capital markets are not deep and liquid. The quality of governance in some of these companies is not really high. A lot of the entrepreneurs are third generation entrepreneurs. They need to be lifted up and almost mentored.
What do you look for in a company before making an investment?
As Gateway Fund, we look for companies that provide goods and services that cater to the basic needs of humanity in our markets. We don’t like to invest in companies to do caviar. We don’t like to invest in companies that are a bet on the future and no cash flows. We invest in very basic companies – what we like to call Maslow’s hierarchy of needs bottom of the pyramid – food, shelter, clothing, that kind of stuff. If you look at the stuff we’ve invested in: biscuits and buns, convenience stores, cement, optical fiber network, or data which today is basic.
We also look for companies that have good management that we can trust and work with. And we look where we can add value in terms of taking them into new geographies, new markets and new clients.
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Aliko Dangote is on Gateway’s advisory board. How beneficial is it having the richest man in Africa part of your team? 
It’s huge. He provides insight into how Africa thinks, how Africa behaves, what works in Africa, what doesn’t work in Africa. You can do a 100-year MBA program at any business school and you won’t get that. Then, also, when we look at transactions and understanding whether that makes sense, providing the due diligence on the deal, that helps us as well. Also having somebody like Aliko to help our investee companies go into other markets helps. But I would just hasten to add, Aliko is the star of Africa, but we are also fortunate to have similar high quality advisory board members.

‘Africa Needs Foreign Capital’

What brings you to Johannesburg?
I am here to raise awareness about Expo 2020 that takes place in Dubai, whether it is from a business participation perspective, nations for their impact people providing innovations, or solutions that we can showcase to the world at this Expo. This is the first world expo in our region, so the developing world hasn’t had an easier access of showcasing their developments to the world.
What is the current link between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Africa?
Historically, there have been a lot of ties between the UAE and Africa. The UAE is at the center of Africa and Asia. Between these two regions, you have some of the world’s largest growing economies and the largest growing societies. What we want to make sure is that we capitalize on that relationship, to bring value for both parties and the world.
There is an initiative, called Expo Live. It is a $100 million fund that supports innovation around mobility, sustainability and opportunity, with a social impact component. It supports grant recipients with an opportunity for unlocking potential for people and communities to be able to succeed in access to funding, in access to education, in access to markets, supporting entrepreneurs, empowering women and empowering youth. All of these are access to opportunities. …So far we have 45 recipients that have been grantees of Expo Live. From the 45, 14 operate or are from Africa.
You’ve been instrumental in regional business development and integration, where do you see Africa positioned in terms of global business?
There is huge potential in Africa. African nations have done a tremendous job in really leveraging their assets. I am not just talking about its natural resources, I am also talking about the educated young population. From a geographical perspective as well as historical relationship between Africa and the UAE, we want to make sure that this expo provides opportunities. In 2017 we have awarded about $3 billion in contracts – construction and non-construction related. On top of that we will have 180 nations participating in our expo. These nations will need help in terms of design, construction and content and exhibits. On top of that we will have 25 million visits to our expo during a six-month period. We will need all kinds of services. The expo is a huge opportunity for businesses that already have the capability, in terms of resources, brain power and passion, to be able to deliver to the world.
What attracted you to Expo 2020?
We live in a world that is so connected we can no longer say ‘it is not my problem, it does not affect me’. That is not right. Sooner or later it will affect everyone. That is why the social impact component is critical.
Each nation should have its own voice. It doesn’t matter how big your country is, in terms of land or the economy. If we really want to solve the world’s pressing challenges, everyone has to be on equal footing. Everyone has a voice towards that solution.
Do you see African cities attracting global events, like Expo 2020?
Already in South Africa you have an ability to host; you’ve had the 2010 World Cup that had so much energy, the rest of the world watching wanted to be here and be a part of it. For any major event there are certain criteria that you need. You need a solid infrastructure, you need a strong hospitality sector, in terms of hotels services and food and beverages. From a communications perspective, you need to be able to tell the stories. You need a safe environment. You need support from the business community and from the people of the community itself. There are a lot of African nations that have made great strides in all of these areas.

‘We Can No Longer Say It Is Not My Problem’

Dropbox has filed confidentially to go public, setting in motion what could be one of the most closely-watched tech IPOs of the year.
The company valued by private investors at $10 billion has tapped Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to lead the listing process, a source with knowledge of the company has confirmed to Forbes. Dropbox declined to comment on the news, which was first reported by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-11/dropbox-is-said-to-file-confidentially-for-initial-offering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>.
According to that report, Dropbox reportedly aims to list within the first half of 2018. That timeline is disputed by Forbes&#8216; source, who declined to provide an alternative target date.
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One of tech&#8217;s youngest billionaires at 34-years-old, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston announced in January 2017 that the company had passed $1 billion in annual revenue run rate, meaning that its quarterly revenue at that time, if extrapolated across a one-year interval, would produce revenue of $1 billion. At the time, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2017/01/30/dropbox-hits-1-billion-revenue-run-rate/#43eafb6db6bb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the company said</a> it was the fastest software-as-a-service company to reach that milestone. Dropbox had about 500 million users and 200,000 paying business customers on its books a year ago.
In June 2016, Houston, who cofounded Dropbox with Arash Ferdowsi in 2007, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/dropbox-says-it-is-cash-flow-positive-in-no-rush-to-ipo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> a tech conference in San Francisco that the company was cash flow positive. In April 2017, the company <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-10/dropbox-has-whipped-itself-into-shape-but-going-public-won-t-be-easy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it was profitable on an EBITDA basis, which would include its stock-based compensation.
In what may prove to have been anticipation of the IPO process, Dropbox announced in September 2017 that it was appointing Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman to its board of directors. Then in December, the company beefed up the board&#8217;s financial makeup by adding former Nike CFO Don Blair.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/11/22/billionaire-meg-whitman-will-step-ceo-hpe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Billionaire Meg Whitman Will Step Down As CEO Of HPE</a>
How Dropbox fares on the public markets will provide a prominent beacon for tech &#8220;unicorns&#8221; valued at $1 billion or more who have watched Blue Apron and Snap struggle with their public debuts in recent months and remained on the sidelines. Other high-profile companies that could follow Dropbox in upcoming months include Airbnb, WeWork and Uber, as well as companies without quite the same buzz but with the financials to go public, such as Qualtrics.
While Dropbox has faced concerns about its ability to grow new products and the struggles that have beset some of its closest peers, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-10/dropbox-has-whipped-itself-into-shape-but-going-public-won-t-be-easy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sources told Bloomberg</a> in August that the company was growing its revenue at a healthy clip of about 30%. For comparison, Salesforce reported 32% annual growth for its fiscal 2015 on revenue of $5.37 billion.
In July 2017, Dropbox featured as No. 2 on the Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/cloud100/#467fd7615f94" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cloud 100</a> list of top private cloud companies. Should it go public, its exit would dwarf cloud&#8217;s most recent biggest, AppDynamics&#8217; acquisition <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/24/why-the-3-7-billion-appdynamics-acquisition-happened-right-before-ipo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for $3.7 billion</a> in January 2017. A successful IPO would mean a windfall for early venture capital investors Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures as well as a slew of firms with smaller stakes in the longtime Silicon Valley favorite. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Alex Konrad</a>, FORBES STAFF

Dropbox Just Confidentially Filed To Go Public, Setting Up A Bellwether IPO

Nancy Zevenbergen operates her market-beating $2.4 billion-in-assets investment firm from a canned-sardine-tight corner office overlooking Seattle&#8217;s Space Needle and the Olympic mountains. Inside this 400-square-foot &#8220;war room&#8221; is a pentagonal desk where she and the four other members of her stock-picking team use 15 computer screens displaying stock market and financial data. On the walls hang dry-erase boards with Zevenbergen Capital Investments&#8217; positions and corkboards holding newspaper and magazine clippings relating to long-held winners, such as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/amazon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon.com</a>, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/tesla/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tesla</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/netflix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netflix</a>. There&#8217;s even an unframed &#8220;Frank Underwood for President&#8221; poster &#8211; a nod to Netflix&#8217;s House of Cards hit.
The team listens via speaker to the earnings calls of the disruptive, entrepreneur-run businesses Zevenbergen favors. Together, she figures, they have a better chance of catching nuances beyond the numbers. Is a CEO excited about a new revenue stream? Losing faith in his strategy? Such cues are crucial because Zevenbergen is a &#8220;high conviction&#8221; investor who discounts value measures like price-to-earnings ratios in her hunt for &#8220;dreamers with way bigger brain capacity than I have&#8221; and the skill to execute. &#8220;My job,&#8221; she says, &#8220;is maybe without full information to make an investment alongside these folks and then track how they are doing.&#8221;
It&#8217;s a job that Zevenbergen, 58, has excelled at since setting up her own investment shop at the age of 28. To pay for college, she worked part-time as a teller at Seattle&#8217;s Rainier Bancorp. After graduation, she was hired by the bank&#8217;s trust department and began managing money. In 1986 she was assigned to vet the initial public offering of local phenom<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/microsoft/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Microsoft</a>. When the IPO shares popped, the trust department quickly sold its allotment to lock in clients&#8217; gains &#8211; a tad shortsighted considering Microsoft&#8217;s 43,000% return since 1987.
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The experience was formative; Zevenbergen saw the huge opportunities created by PCs and the wisdom of holding growth stocks for the long haul. She left to start her own firm with one client and $500,000 in assets and worked from her living room while her husband, mother and a nanny watched her infant and toddler.
By 1992, Zevenbergen had an office, 51 clients and $212 million under management. She needed help and recruited Brooke de Boutray, whom she&#8217;d befriended a decade before when both were studying for their CFA designations. Now 62, De Boutray had also been in the right place at the right time. After the 1984 breakup of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/att/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AT&amp;T</a>, she was assigned by a regional bank to cover sleepy telecoms &#8211; just before cellular service and local entrepreneur <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/craig-mccaw/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Craig McCaw</a> made the beat exciting. In 1994, Zevenbergen added Leslie Tubbs, now 58, a banker-turned-analyst who specializes in financial and biotechnology stocks. The three women still form the core of the stock-picking operation, with two younger male analysts added in 2011.
Despite dramatic losses during the dot-com bust and the financial crisis, Zevenbergen&#8217;s aggressive strategy has produced impressive long-term results. Her flagship growth equity fund has returned 11.5% annually, net of fees, since 1987, beating the Russell 3000 Growth Index&#8217;s 9.8% return. A smaller, even more growth-focused ZTech fund has returned 12.9% annually net of fees since 1994, trouncing the Russell 3000 Growth&#8217;s 8.8% return during that period.
In August 2015, Zevenbergen launched two mutual funds. The growth-heavy Zevenbergen Genea Fund &#8211; with an expense ratio of 1.4% and minimum investment of $2,500 &#8211; ranks in the top 1% of its category with a one-year return of 50%. The slightly less aggressive Zevenbergen Growth Fund is up 30% over the past year, ranking in the top decile of its category. In addition to proven winners like Amazon, the Genea Fund holds concentrated bets in Shopify and South American e-commerce giant <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/mercadolibre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MercadoLibre</a> and online education provider 2U.
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The mutual funds have attracted just $10 million and are not for the faint of heart &#8211; or the impatient. &#8220;If you just want to maintain wealth, go for diversification and go passive,&#8221; Zevenbergen says. &#8220;If you want to create wealth, own growth companies and concentrated portfolios. But recognize that they cannot perform every day or every week or every month or even every quarter.&#8221; She calls investing with a less than five-year time frame &#8220;truly speculative.&#8221;
Zevenbergen herself shows extraordinary patience &#8211; if she believes in an entrepreneur. She acquired the firm&#8217;s $167 million Netflix stake at an average split-adjusted cost of $6, mostly prior to 2010. The stock rose to $43, then plunged to $9 in 2011 after cofounder <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/reed-hastings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reed Hastings</a> attempted to spin off Netflix&#8217;s cash-cow DVD-rental business to hasten its streaming growth. Hastings reversed course, and Zevenbergen added to her holdings; Netflix now trades at $185.
Note that Zevenbergen bets on entrepreneurs and not just ideas. She shuns companies run by &#8220;rent-a-CEOs&#8221; in favor of founders who are ready to make &#8220;outrageous investment&#8221; decisions that may take years to pay off. And she can be forgiving. She bought Amazon in 1997 when it was newly public but sold when it tanked in 2000. She bought again in 2007 and today has a $157 million position in Amazon with a $60-a-share average basis, meaning her bet on <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeff Bezos</a> has risen sixteenfold.
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High conviction? She bought Facebook&#8217;s initial public offering at $38 and added to the stake after the social-networking company fell by half after its debut. Her $138 million position is up sevenfold. Then there&#8217;s Tesla, which trades at 16 times what Zevenbergen paid. Skeptics abound: $10 billion in short money is betting against it. Zevenbergen is unfazed. She says she worries more about finding the next great entrepreneur.
That search takes Zevenbergen well beyond tech and beyond her Seattle base (though she was early into local winners <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/starbucks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Starbucks</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/costco-wholesale/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Costco Wholesale</a>). In 2013, while screening for transportation companies that might benefit from Amazon&#8217;s growth, her team came upon Greenwich, Connecticut-based <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/xpo-logistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">XPO Logistics</a>, which was growing rapidly through acquisitions. CEO Bradley Jacobs had already done successful roll-ups in construction equipment and waste management. She started buying and added to her position after XPO&#8217;s September 2015 acquisition of trucker Con-way hammered its stock, bringing her average cost down to $32 a share. It now trades at $63.
That&#8217;s not to say Zevenbergen never bets wrong or loses patience. She has recently liquidated positions in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/pandora-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pandora Media</a>, LendingClub and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/under-armour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Under Armour</a> at a loss and has <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/snap/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Snap</a> and Blue Apron on watch.
Jim Martin, the former chief investment officer for the $1.1 billion-in-assets Murdock Trust, put $5 million with Zevenbergen in 1994 and stuck with her through the bad years. The trust now has $94 million under her management. &#8220;For investors who can stand that volatility, we&#8217;ve been rewarded,&#8221; Martin says, adding that with Zevenbergen&#8217;s high conviction you get &#8220;as much manager skill as possible to the bottom line.&#8221; &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Antoine Gara</a>, FORBES STAFF

Meet The Best Investor You’ve Never Heard Of: How She Stuck With Amazon, Netflix And Tesla For Years

Sometimes the worst plans can make you richer. In this special Investment Guide we highlight strategies that may seem foolish at first, until you dig into them. Buy gold? Trade options? Take a reverse mortgage? All can provide big returns in the right circumstances. To help lead the way is the man behind pretty much every bad idea on HBO&#8217;s cult sitcom Silicon Valley &#8211; actor and comedian T.J. Miller, whose Erlich Bachman somehow always pulls through.
Written by Janet Novack, FORBES STAFF
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2017/06/13/reverse-mortgages-american-advisors-group-reza-jahangiri/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sleazy Image, Smart Play</a> / Reverse mortgages have a low-rent reputation. But they could play a bigger role in affluent Boomers’ retirement plans. If that happens, a 39-year-old neat freak will be a big winner. / By Lauren Gensler
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2017/06/13/the-best-buys-in-commodity-funds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gold Is for Cranks? Not So Fast </a> / Bad inflation may never return. But if it does, you’ll wish you owned some metal and hogs. / By William Baldwin
Related:<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2017/06/13/how-are-commodities-and-commodity-funds-taxed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Tax Devils</a>
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/johndobosz/2017/06/13/milking-stocks-for-extra-cash-by-selling-options/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Milking Your Stocks </a> / Trading options is a gambler’s bet, but for a math-minded investor, they can also provide a steady and relatively safe source of income.  /  By John Dobosz
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2017/06/13/ipo-your-home-investors-want-a-piece-americans-favorite-asset/#1d6928a6629d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Divide Your Home</a> / Forfeit part of your “best” long-term investment? It might make sense. / By Samantha Sharf
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2017/06/13/shrink-your-small-biz-salary-and-your-tax-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shrink Your Salary</a> / Newt Gingrich, John Edwards and (it appears) Donald Trump did it. Maybe you should too. / By Kelly Phillips Erb
Related:<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2017/06/13/6-smart-tax-moves-to-protect-your-small-business" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Keep The IRS At Bay</a>
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2017/06/13/how-much-are-those-employee-options-worth/#3fcd76a264cf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">When Paper Beats Cash</a> / Sacrificing salary for hard-to-value-options is crazy&#8212;unless you can do the math. / By William Baldwin
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2017/06/13/rowing-upstream-for-alpha/#1cf080d44535" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rowing Upstream for Alpha</a> / As billions pour out of active management, stockpicking standout T. Rowe Price is hunkering down and quietly setting up a quant shop, just in case. / By Matt Schifrin
Related: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2017/06/14/2-great-alternatives-to-t-rowe-prices-new-horizons-fund/#38bdba91e498" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2 Great Alternatives To T. Rowe Price&#8217;s New Horizons Fund</a>
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2017/06/13/the-new-face-of-active-investing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Faceless Returns</a> / Jack Bogle and a chorus of indexing champions say active investing is futile. BlackRock thinks Andrew Ang and his computer-driven ETFs are the strategy’s last great hope. / By Nathan Vardi
Web Extra: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2017/06/07/the-irresistible-math-behind-private-equity-stocks/#1d749103612d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Irresistible Math Behind Private Equity Stocks</a> / By Antoine Gara
&nbsp;

Forbes 2017 Investment Guide: Bad Ideas Gone Good

In Brussels, the airy, elegant, European capital built by King Leopold on riches from the minerals and rubber of the Democratic Republic of Congo, there was a glimmer of hope for Africa.
At the EU-Africa Business Forum, the European Union (EU) threw its weight behind a new push for investment, along with private companies in Europe, into the emerging economies of Africa. It could mean jobs and a new generation of entrepreneurs. The plan is to concentrate the money on dynamic small and medium enterprises, by easing private investment into the continent.
The EU plans to leverage investments in Africa to the tune of €44 billion ($49 billion) – the equivalent to the market cap of Barclays Bank – before the end of 2020; it also plans to reduce risk for foreign investors by putting up €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in guarantees to secure their money if it goes awry.
The EU is worried about the estimated 50,000 Africans who risk their lives, every year, crossing the Mediterranean because there is nothing at home.
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“Hope is what we are offering,” says Roberto Ridolfi, a former EU ambassador in Malawi, Uganda and Namibia, now the Director for Sustainable Growth and Development at the European Commission. He wrote the new investment policy and hopes it will navigate through the European Parliament by the end of July.
“Hope? We Africans have to work for this hope,” declared the Vice President of Côte d’Ivoire Daniel Kablan Duncan, sagely, when I asked him about it a few hours later.
Not all Africans in Brussels were happy. The Deputy Chairman of the African Union, Thomas Kwesi Quartey from Ghana, complained that the continent had not been consulted.
<blockquote>“It’s like someone coming in and planning alterations to your house without asking you,” he says.</blockquote>
How long it will take and how many jobs the plan will create is likely to be another question. When dealing with the governments of Africa the latter, in the shape of thousands of jobs, is likely to demanded by State House sooner rather than later. There was a lot of talk about so-called “sustainable jobs” in Brussels – with unemployment plaguing many African countries along with a rising number of discontent youth, the leadership of Africa wants vast numbers before  sustainability.
The problem is many of the high-tech companies interested in plugging the gaping infrastructure gaps in Africa employ few people. Take a foreign investor in Africa, 46-year-old Philip Gahn, based in San Diego, California, who runs an IT network in a number of countries, including Kenya, Uganda and Botswana.
Gahn, of Asian origin, is a maverick entrepreneur with a remarkable life. He was adopted by Ohio farmers and went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 14.
“It didn’t bother me about being young, there was a 10-year-old girl there doing her master’s!” he chuckles in Brussels.
By the age of 17, Gahn had graduated as an aeronautical engineer, but never went near a plane.
“They weren’t building airliners in the 80s.”
So he began in IT and became an entrepreneur that led to his current investment of $5.5 million into RippleNami, an information gathering network in Africa, with 12 million users, that draws on satellite technology. His system can tell you how many cows and chickens there are in Kenya; he gives farmers the price of cabbages so they can pick the most lucrative market. In Uganda, his system tells fisherman the price of fish so they can make the most valuable catch of the day on Lake Victoria.
<blockquote>“We are into big data, being the brains of the government,” he says.</blockquote>
How many people does he employ in his African network? Two, yes, enough to fit into the front seats of a car.
“We use artificial intelligence,” says Gahn.
Job creation is likely to be just one of the sticking points of this brave new future of investing in African entrepreneurs. The EU says 72% of foreign investment, according to 2012 figures, is concentrated in the continent’s 10 resource rich nations with a mere 6% going to what it calls fragile countries. It wants to help these fragile countries. How many countries will own up to being that?
I recall at the World Economic Forum in Durban in May, President Robert Mugabe being asked  about Zimbabwe.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/06/01/the-pain-of-mugabe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Pain Of Mugabe</a>
“I don’t think you can call us a fragile country. You can call the United States a fragile country.”
One of the many political mine fields the EU will have to navigate with this brave investment plan. It will take brave men and women to see it through.

Category: Investment

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

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