On July 16th, 2013 Appfrica CEO Jon Gosier had the pleasure of sharing information about the history of Appfrica and business opportunities in Africa with summer fellows at Temple University’s Urban Apps + Maps Studio.
Slides from the presentation. Business opportunities across the continent…
On Appfrica and our role…
When I posted the article “20 Ideas for Social Entrepreneurs” I was pretty sure I’d soon discover a number of those ideas already being implemented that I simply wasn’t aware of prior to writing it. One of those services is MyC4 which takes the idea of peer-to-peer lending and allows people from all over the world fund African entrepreneurs. It’s a simple concept and borrows elements of both Zoopa.com and Prosper.com to make lending to complete strangers both safe and profitable.
The goal of MyC4 is to become the first company in the world to be owned by the world. In essence this would mean 6.4 billion shareholders. At present, 6,734 investors from 68 countries have invested EUR 3.8 million in more than 2,300 businesses in Uganda, Ivory Coast and Kenya. By the end of 2008, MyC4 aims to reach 25,000 investors and facilitate investments of EUR 12.5 million in more than 5,000 African businesses.
MyC4 is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has an IT Development Center in Kampala, Uganda. MyC4 employs 22 people at its Danish office and ten people at its Ugandan office. Over the next three years, MyC4 is also aiming to sign up 12 new co-founders, named Musketeers, who – besides investing in the growth of MYC4 – will act as ambassadors and catalysts for MyC4. Besides the Musketeers, MyC4 has established advisory boards in Iceland, Sweden and Holland. More boards will be established in countries such as Norway, Uganda and Kenya as part of the company’s ongoing development. For students who wish to work or study in Africa, MyC4 has initiated a volunteer exchange service accessible via myc4.com.
As a hybrid between Grameen Bank, Wikipedia, MySpace and eBay, MyC4 offers an opportunity to invest money and knowledge in Africa’s future by providing a forum for exchange of advice and knowledge with the purpose of growing and supporting entrepreneurism in Africa. Ultimately, MyC4 is striving to become a universal platform that unites capital, people and knowledge in a common pursuit of promoting sustainable businesses in Africa. The driving force is the joint wisdom of the collective, meaning that together we are stronger, better and wiser than alone.
Like Prosper, Zopa and even Kiva, MyC4 will face some challenges. The biggest concern I hear about groups like this is the potential for scams, money laundering and fraud. Unquestionably, those things need to be addressed, but so does the fact that no matter how hard some entrepreneurs struggle to succeed in Africa, they still go unnoticed, unfavored and ultimately unfunded. MyC4 is taking on the commendable role of connecting pre-established African businesses and early start-ups with lenders from around the world who want to hear their stories and help them succeed. It’s something even domestic banks here don’t do often enough and I’m excited to see how their work progresses with the site.
CEO Tom Iseghohi comments to CNBC on the state of doing business in Africa today.
Everyday there seems to be new speculative articles about African progress and investment opportunities. Today is no different, here’s an excerpt from a report by Forbes commentator John Christy that suggests the same:
“In 1989, there were just five sub-Saharan stock exchanges; now there are 16.
Granted, these are still immature markets in many respects. Stock-market capitalization as a percentage of GDP is less than 30% in sub-Saharan Africa. The comparable figure for Brazil is nearly 70%.
Liquidity is a more pressing concern. At the tiny Uganda Securities Exchange in Kampala, just nine companies are listed, and trading took place only 11 days last month. The exchange’s average daily volume: $200,000. Don’t expect a Uganda ETF anytime soon.
That said, investor enthusiasm for so-called “frontier markets” has never been stronger. Last month, Nairobi-based Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest mobile-phone service provider, raised $800 million in an initial public offering that was heavily oversubscribed.”
A recent report from the World Bank has some interesting findings related to the African continent…
Politicians, donors and businesspeople with African investments increasingly claim that conditions on the ground are improving: economic policies are improving, economies are growing faster, the region is more politically stable and governance is getting better. Some of these assertions are broadly or partially correct, but the World Bank’s 2008 report on governance indicators—Governance Matters—suggests that, on governance at least, such optimism should be tempered, since African aggregate indicators worsened some 7.6% between 1996, when the governance indicators were first compiled, and 2000. There has been a modest improvement since then, but the total index is still 5% lower now than in 1996.
People ask me a lot about the financial climate in Africa and where they might considering investing. Here’s a few recent facts about the African continent economies…
Coming in 2008…Investors Without Borders will launch a web-based marketplace connecting individuals across the globe with opportunities to invest directly in Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Investors gain access to return-oriented, social impact investments by directly funding SME loan requests with as little as $100 per loan. Borrowers gain access to affordable loans that can create greater economic opportunities while connecting with a global business network.
IWB will launch in Ghana, West Africa, with more countries to follow.
When I initially began Appfrica one question I asked myself was: “Why is the world VC community at large ignoring a continent with nearly a billion people?” Of course there are a number of reasons:
All of those are valid concerns but only one of them is a realistic reason for making a decision about investment. However, none of them are reasons to ignore Africa forever. The main reason? Africa is progressing and even the smallest bit of progress among a billion people equals huge potential for returns and profits.
Emeka Okafor echoes this thought. This report from Bloomberg confirms it and cites evidence that investor attitudes about Africa are changing. Some are desperate for new opportunities after the recession crisis wreaked havock across western financial markets, some are boldly foraging new frontiers, and some are afraid of the rate at which China and India are engaging African markets and don’t want to be left out.
Appfrica has been carrying out creative technology projects in Africa since 2008. We work with Multinational Enterprises and NGOs to help them do better work across Africa's 54 countries.
We're a for-profit venture but reserve a portion of our profits to support various social impact initiatives. These altruistic efforts include a 1500 sq. ft. co-working & innovation space HiveColab, Women in Technology Uganda which helps ensure equitable career opportunities for women pursing tech careers, and our investment fund for Africa's next generation of brilliant minds, The Appfrica Fund.
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