Comments for Appfrica

Comment on Sharing Advice and Tips for Entrepreneurs by Stephanie Bennis

Stephanie Bennis — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:09:48 +0000

As a young entrepreneur myself I’ve learned that hindsight is indeed 20/20. I’ve been fortunate to not make any business-destroying mistakes, but have made enough little annoying mistakes that caused unneeded frustration!

Comment on Apps Let Africans Take Matters Into their Own Hands by msu

msu — Sun, 20 May 2012 08:59:54 +0000

Agree..

Comment on Why Investors, Philanthropists, and the Diaspora Fail at African Business by Wilfred

Wilfred — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:46:20 +0000

Thanks for this article. It’s something that I have been thinking about for quite some time, so much so that I went ahead and registered diasporainvestment.com . The idea was that one could use some form of crowdfunding to invest.

Comment on Mobile Innovation Echo Chamber by Apps Let Africans Take Matters Into their Own Hands « Appfrica

Apps Let Africans Take Matters Into their Own Hands « Appfrica — Sat, 12 May 2012 19:08:31 +0000

[...] edited footage of the talk this interview can be found here. Share:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this [...]

Comment on Customer Service: Where Business in Africa Often Breaks Down by jongos

jongos — Sat, 12 May 2012 18:52:42 +0000

I did not but fellow Afrilabs member http://ihub.co.ke has a number of great reports about African marktets.

Comment on Customer Service: Where Business in Africa Often Breaks Down by Bukola

Bukola — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:33:09 +0000

Hi Monica

Did you ever produce your report. I have recently set up a linked in Group – customer Service Africa. My background is Customer service an all levels) and I am on a mission with others) at present to raise the service bar of Africa – no small task!!!

I would be very interested in discussiing a few things with you. Please take a look at linked in and join the group.

Comment on Why Investors, Philanthropists, and the Diaspora Fail at African Business by kaaze

kaaze — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:45:13 +0000

Great Article Jon!! I really enjoyed reading and learning about your perspective on this topic. I had hoped however to hear more about your thoughts on African banking systems. Venture Capitalism in America has developed over more than 65 years, and I think that it’ll be long before the African economy matures to include complex mutual and private equity funds. As we both know, the handful of existing African stock markets are still developing as well. In the end, the only home-grown solutions have to come from large African Industries, whose profits can trickle down into African banks, and finally, allow said banks to invest more aggressively in local SMEs. Inversely, from a statistical perspective, I’m curious to know how much money, either through foreign-owned companies or millionaires who bank/invest abroad, flows out of Africa, thus strangling local banks’ ability to lend. Just a thought…

Comment on Why Investors, Philanthropists, and the Diaspora Fail at African Business by Githa Kurdahl

Githa Kurdahl — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:09:44 +0000

Excellent article! We’re still not able to do VC at MYC4.com, but we continue to source for debt funding for African SMEs. Unfortunately, we see again and again that our larger loans (above €7,000) are difficult to fund and often we regretfully have to see them cancel. Right now we have for instance one open loan of 10,000 euro to an Ugandan entrepreneur who owns a drug shop and wants to stock up on anti-malarial drugs (http://www.myc4.com/Invest/Loans/View/10040). Personally, I see this as an excellent opportunity for our investors to participate in banking the missing middle, yet so far only 30 % has been financed. It would seem that there is a lack of “appetite” for SME loans even on a crowdfunding platform like ours where it takes relatively little effort for anyone to invest in the African middle class.

Comment on Why Investors, Philanthropists, and the Diaspora Fail at African Business by Daniel Hartz

Daniel Hartz — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:07:14 +0000

I think your analysis is spot on. The VC model used in Silicon Valley is totally inappropriate for the developing world. Like you, this is something that we are trying to tackle at Golden Mean Capital Partners. While our focus is on the agriculture sector ‘ecosystem’, tech companies like mobile payment and logistics platforms fit into this ecosystem alongside producers, processors, and warehousing and more. However, I think there is an additional factor for the lack of traditional VC investment in Africa. Many potential investors lack the network and/or will (to stay on-the-ground for long periods) required in order to make informed decisions in a business environment that is potentially opaque. This is particularly challenging when a VC is trying to assess tangible value. And it’s a major reason why there are so few of us doing it. It’s going to take serious collaboration between all of us — VCs, entrepreneurs, donors, diasporans — in order to make it work.

Comment on Why Investors, Philanthropists, and the Diaspora Fail at African Business by zia505

zia505 — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:13:21 +0000

Its a powerful thesis Jon and you define the gap in new terms that are clear to me. Indeed, its a challenge to change perceptions, build new channels and redirect capital in ways that better support entrepreneurs building potentially wonderful companies. That said, every day the space moves forward. Every day we have a new entrepreneur starting out and another investor taking a look at the market. Let’s make sure we don’t miss out on these small opportunities that combined can lead us to major changes.