Venture Capital for Africa

Catching up on my blog-reading after a bit of a lapse.  VC Brad Feld posted this last month on his blog:

A Denver-based friend – Rob Fogler (a partner at the law firm of Kamlet Shepherd) and his colleague Antoine Bigirimana (the founder of the Kigali Center for Entrepreneurs) have started a Rwanda-based Venture Capital firm called Thousand Hills Venture Fund. 

While I’m personally not terribly clued into Rwanda (or Africa in general), a number of my friends in Boulder (including Amy) are and it’s easy to support guys like Rob (Amy and I are investors in THVF) who believe “that the US business community must pay greater attention to the opportunities and challenges of doing business in emerging markets if it will continue to thrive in the globalizing marketplace.”

Rob pointed me to an article in the Washington Post by Carol Pineau titled “The Africa You Never See” which asserts that Africa’s media image – which is filled with stories about hardship, AIDS, war, genocide, poverty, and corruption – does the people of Africa a major disservice....

I recently got my hands on a review copy of a documentary by Pineau called Africa: Open For Business.  In it, she profiles several African entrepreneurs. A few brief moments stood out to me:  One was the founder of what may be Africa's only animation studio, Pictoon in Senegal, saying that one of the "extra" costs of doing business in Africa was having to replace all his pricey MACs every year because the insonsistent power supply fried them.  Another was the CEO of Daallo Airlines in Somalia commenting that they owed their success to the fact that Somalia had no government at all.  "No government means no corruption," he said, laughing in disbelief.

At this I said simply, "Wow."  Then I thought about all great rushes to development, and how they often seem to take place in a lawless environment--or at least a mild vacuum.  If' you've been watching HBO's Deadwood, you've seen a blistering recreation of one of those environments.  Silicon Valley was another--expansion into the uncharted territory of the internet always outpaced regulation, and sales taxes still haven't caught up.  I didn't vote for Gore precisely because he was so keen on owning internet that I thought he'd mess it up (threw my vote away on some damned libertarian instead).  Most people operate under the assumption that something is always better than nothing.  As the Somalian CEO recognized, no government is better than bad government. 

The best thing the West could do to promote prosperity in Africa would be to find a way get venture capital to entrepreneurs and neutralize government interference while doing so--maybe forgive debt equal to a multiple of every investment dollar that actually goes to enterprise?

Comments

[Kofi Webb]

I am looking for a venture capitalist to start sending quality goods to Africa. The african folk are ready to pay for goods we take for granted in the west.

After several visits to Africa, I have realized that the hottest goods are the parts of American cars. The Africans are buying lots of trucks due to bad roads but the parts are being sold for ridiculous amounts. A average part like a mere light bulb in the USA which might cost less than $ 50 will sell for twice the cost.

Thus if one can arrange and obtain access into the parts dealers here in USA with good prices to shop quickly back into africa, the sky will be the limit because the ROI will be huge.

I need any venture capitalist to contact me and lets get this going for big profits.

Other areas are building marterials we typically see at the Home depots etc. These are moving very very fast.

Kofi Webb
Future Billionaire

[Matata Nzavatunga Nestor]

Mr. Matata Nzavatunga NESTOR
Heinrichsallee 15
52062 Aachen / Germany
Tel.: + 49 1782067131
Email: [email protected]

Entrepreneur Nestor,Matata

28. August 2008

Subject: I am looking for investor.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The business plan I developed for the fishing industry in the South Atlantic coast of Africa:
• Republic of Namibia,
• Republic of Angola,
• Democratic Republic of Congo,
• Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville),
• Gabonese Republic
To the equator at 10 location is ready for the market.
We have a development lead of about two years.
The business plan can be converted already today in practice.
My concept guarantees from the beginning, and rising an annual catch, and hence the turnover.
A Potential customer is ready.
Suppliers, strategic partners companies (e.g.sales) are contacted.
For schedule performance, I reckon after 2 years with the break-even.
For further Information, I stand out like every time available.

Sincerely yours.

Matata Nzavatunga Nestor

[Ben]

Thanks for this posting. We are working to build an online community dedicated to Venture Capital and Private Equity in Africa. Feel free to check it out !

http://vcafrica.ning.com

[Ben]

Hi there let me explain my situation from the beginning and hopefully someone can help.My names Ben i live in the UK I've just terned 22 I've recently left the armed forces after completing four years. I've completed two back to back tours of Iraq on the front line.I'm now in the middle of setting up my own charity raising funds for injured troops my charity will also be involved in housing lads and helping them financially when they leave the forces. I'm extremely passionate about my charity and theres no way my charity is going to fail i received a call of one of my close friends a few weeks ago to tell me that one of our lads had took his own life. I think society believe if you haven't been physically injured then your okay this really is not the case mental illnesses are just as bad if not worse.Anyway I've tried approaching loan firms but because i haven't got a credit score they wont give me the time of day. I've also made the mistake of paying fees to con men on the Internet anyway I've got a great team in place but i need an investor or private loan lender to lend us the sum of £20 000 to be fully operational this will enable us to become registered as well as buying are charity merchandise and paying solicitor fees.All funds will be paid back no later then 6 months of us receiving it with interest.If you feel you know anyone who may be able to help please contact me asap thanks and take care.

Ben Steven McKee.
[email protected]

[Dipl. Ing. Matata Nestor]

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

Hereby, I would ask them to delete my ad.
Thank you very much.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Nestor Matata

[Thomas]

I am looking for financial partners to kcikstart the publication addressing mining issues in Zimbabwe.

[Gerald Ekwen]

OLIVE is a sole proprietorship in Cameroon. We are starting up timber logging and sales of sawn wood business within the national territory. There is a large market for sawn planks within the national territory and Neighbouring towns such as Fontem, Dschang, Bafoussam and Bamenda.
We are currently seeking to expand our production and revenue generation, through the acquisition of a Mobile Sawmill. This will boost up our production to over 200 planks a day and sales of at least 20000 planks per month. Averagely, each tropical plank “1 by 12 inch” cost 4000 at the local market. Thus, this will generate a minimum revenue of 20000 X 4000FCFA per month = 80000000FCFA (150000 USD) PER Month.
We currently in need of a mobile sawmill machine. We are seeking for believers to invest in this venture or provide us a loan/grant. We will prefer investment in kind or Equipment, not Cash. Investor will own 30% of the companies stake for five years. Investors will be paid a minimum of 90,000,000 FCFA (169,399 USD) per year for five years

[MBUNWE Emmanuel]

I have developed a business plan to set up a micro financial institution responsible for payments. Am looking for a investor sponsor and exploit these investment opportunity in Cameroon.

Thanks