VENTURES AFRICA – The next time you find yourself walking or driving through the Central Business District of Kampala, Uganda’s bustling, cosmopolitan capital, take a moment to gaze up at the city’s impressive glistering skyline.

And if you bother to count the buildings one by one, chances are that you’ll count a decent number belonging to Sudhir Ruparelia, a Ugandan property developer, hotelier, banker and Africa’s newest billionaire.

Born in Uganda 56 years ago, Ruparelia was compelled to relocate to the United Kingdom with his parents when he was 16. The year was 1972 and Uganda’s Indophobic leader at the time, Idi Amin had expelled all African-Asians from the East African country in an ethnic cleansing move. Idi Amin’s government claimed that indigenous Indians were hoarding wealth and goods to the detriment of indigenous African and were ‘sabotaging’ the economy. While in the United Kingdom, Ruparelia survived by doing menial jobs and diligently saving his earnings. By 1985, when he was 29, he returned to Uganda armed with $25,000 in savings with which he started building the eponymous Ruparelia group now valued at about $1.5 billion with interests in everything from hotels, residential real estate, insurance and floriculture to banks and educational institutions. His controlling stake in the Ruparelia group makes him Uganda’s richest man, with a net-worth of at least $1.1 billion, according to data available to VENTURES AFRICA.

Legend has it that Sudhir Ruparelia, a 56 year-old ebullient, yet controversial Indian-Ugandan tycoon, owns half of the buildings in Kampala. Of course, this is a hyperbole of monumental proportions, but judging by the cheeky grin on his face, Ruparelia apparently relishes the exaggeration.

“If I owned half of the buildings in Kampala, I’d probably be god,” he says cheekily. “Reports of my property holdings are quite frankly, grossly exaggerated. I don’t own half of Kampala as people suggest, but I own quite a lot. And I’ve worked very hard for it,” he says the last sentence emphatically.

Speke Hotel Group

Ruparelia owns a significant chunk of Kampala’s most prestigious pieces of commercial and residential real estate and in some of the swankiest neighbourhoods in the country. Through one of his holding companies, Speke Hotel Group, he owns in his kitty, the Speke resort, a 5-star Hotel and resort which sits on 76 acres on an idyllic setting at Munyoyo on the shores of Lake Victoria. This is easily the most valuable asset in his extensive property portfolio. The resort has 59 Presidential suites, mainly because in 2007, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting took place there and 59 Heads of state were present. Sudhir says he built the resort specifically for the meeting. Other facilities include 10 state-of-the-art conference rooms, including a 1,000-seat ballroom and 9 multi-function meeting rooms accommodating groups of 10 to 300. The resort also has Uganda’s only Olympic size swimming pool, an equestrian centre and a choice of bars and restaurants. The property has a current value of at least $160 million according to Ruparelia, a figure corroborated by a couple of estate surveyors in Uganda. In 2010, the Libyan Government had attempted to acquire the resort for $120 million. Sudhir declined.

“The price was simply not good enough,” he recollects. “In any case, it would be hard for me to contemplate selling Speke resort. The place holds sentimental value for me. 59 Heads of Government were in this place. I think it’s hard to place a value on that,” Sudhir says during a recent lunch meeting with VENTURES AFRICA’s Managing Editor.

While Speke Resort remains his most important property till date, Sudhir also owns an impressive collection of other valuable hotel assets. He owns the prestigious Kabira Country club which has 95 luxurious guest rooms. Kabira Country club is the preferred leisure spot of many of Uganda’s wealthiest people and young highflying professionals. Sudhir’s portfolio also includes Speke Hotel which is located in Kampala’s CBD and Tourist Hotel, a budget hotel also located in the CBD. He also owns Speke Apartments, which provide 27 modern serviced apartments in one of the best residential areas of Kampala. Rent at the apartments are not cheap – at least by Ugandan standards. The cheapest you’d pay for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,800 a month. And if you think the price is outrageous, the apartments are fully booked all the time, mostly by corporate executives, expatriates and government officials.

But these are just five of his properties. Through his real estate holding company, Meera Investments (which is named after his first daughter), Sudhir owns at least 300 residential and commercial properties in Uganda, from the landmark Crane Chambers located on Kampala road in the CBD, which serves as the Headquarter for his many businesses to scores of other apartment blocks, shopping centers, office buildings and chunks of extremely valuable land in the city. He owns Baumann House, another landmark building in Kampala, located on Parliamentary Avenue, Kampala. The building houses the Headquarters of the Ugandan Police force and previously served as the office for over 200 Members of Parliament in Kampala. Sudhir also owns 2 private Islands. In 2011, Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni revealed that Sudhir earns $400m per annum from his businesses, mostly from his real estate concerns.

Crane Bank

Sudhir Ruparelia is the founder and dominant shareholder in Crane Bank, Uganda’s second largest commercial bank.

The beginnings of Crane Bank were modest. When Sudhir Ruparelia returned to Uganda from the United Kingdom, he began importing popular brands of Kenyan alcohol with the $25,000 he had saved through his years of working menial jobs in the United Kingdom. Uganda had no breweries at the time and so the country depended largely on imports. Sudhir struck a coup when he acquired the sole rights to distribute Kenya’s most premium beer brands in Uganda. Along with importing alcoholic beverages, Ruparelia also ventured into importing commodities like salt, sugar and cigarettes from traders at the Mombasa ports.

At the time, the vast majority of Sudhir’s customers were foreign nationals who paid for their stock in foreign currency. Sudhir spotted opportunity. He quickly formed an informal foreign exchange business. It became an immediate success, and Sudhir was making daily profits of about $10,000.

“I knew I had hit something big,” he says.

By 1989, President Yoweri Museveni banned the importation of beer in an effort to encourage indigenous manufacturing of alcohol. Sudhir decided he was not interested in producing beer. He opted to focus on his informal Forex business instead.

In 1990, Sudhir formalized this currency trading business when he opened Crane Forex Bureau. It was the first of its kind in Uganda and it is still the biggest chain of Forex Bureaus in the country.

With the daily profits Sudhir was realizing from Crane Forex bureaus, he started buying up huge chunks of land and dilapidated commercial and residential structures in Kampala’s CBD and other suburbs at ridiculously low prices.

“Some of the properties I bought at the time were valued at about 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars. That was way back in the early 90s. Properties were cheap back then and we were making a lot of money on a daily basis, so I kept acquiring. Today, many of those properties are worth millions of dollars,” Sudhir explains.

It was during this period (1990 – 1994) that Ruparelia acquired a huge chunk of land and property in Kampala’s CBD, as well as several other choice properties which house his numerous hotel, tourism and residential interests. Sudhir says he acquired some properties for as little as $50,000 in 1991 and they are worth $12 million today. Many of the properties he owns made their value within 4 years. It’s with the rental income earned from these properties and his thriving forex business that Ruparelia continually acquired more properties at dirt cheap prices.

As Sudhir’s forex business became so large, he decided it was time to build an even bigger financial services corporation. He applied for a commercial banking license which was granted. By 1995, Sudhir opened the doors of his new bank, Crane Bank to the general public. Sudhir used customer deposits to fund large-scale forex deals as well as acquisitions, developments and other activities in the Ruparelia Group while leveraging on impeccable customer service, attractive interest rates for deposits and the largest ATM network in Uganda to lure customers. Today, Crane Bank is the second largest commercial bank in Ugandan- second only to Stanbic Bank. In 2011, the Bank’s Profit before tax (PBT) was UGX90.23 billion ($40m) representing about 61 percent of Stanbic’s pre-tax profit of $65.4 million. Sudhir is the controlling shareholder of Crane Bank.

Other Assets

Other companies in the Ruparelia group include Goldstar Insurance, an Ugandan non-life Insurance firm. The Ruparelia Group also owns Kampala International School (KISU), an international high school in Kampala located in the high-brow Bukoto district. KIS’ students are children of Uganda’s elite and the school fees per annum are as high $13000. The property sits on 12 acres of prime land at the center of Kampala. The property the school sits on is valued at over $15 million alone. He also owns Kampala Parents School, a secondary school in Kampala for middle-class Ugandans and Rosebud, Uganda’s largest exporter of roses. Rosebud commands around 35% of Uganda’s rose export, exporting over 9 million stems per month.

Controversy

In 2010, a Canadian businessman Sadrudin Gulamhussein claimed Sudhir attempted to fraudulently acquire Gulanhussein’s $1.2 million property by forging a land title for the property located in Nasakero, a highbrow residential area in Kampala. The case lingered in court and the Judge ruled in favour of the Canadian businessman. Read more about the case here.

Philanthropy

As Uganda’s richest man, Sudhir is also one of the country’s most notable philanthropists. Sudhir has given away millions to building churches, mosques, rehabilitating schools and funding hospitals.

*Breakdown Of Sudhir Ruparelia’s Key Assets*

Meera Investments – $600 million

Crane Bank – $250 million

Speak Hotel Group – $240 million

Rosebud – $10 million

Other Investments (Schools, Personal Homes) – $30 million

Total: $1.12 Billion

The post Africa’s Newest Billionaire: Ugandan Builds $1.1 Billion Fortune From The Ground Up appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

Recognising this gap in the market for companies seeking expansion capital and start-ups who require funding, as well as the need to stimulate the post-recession economy, private business investment company Corculture launched its innovative online portal in 2012. The company is making waves in both the venture capital and private equity space by offering a unique, innovative and effective digital means of exposing investment opportunities to a group of high net worth individuals who are actively seeking investment opportunities.

The company is managed by Johannesburg-based businessmen and Corculture CEO, David Seinker, an expert in residential property and a “serial entrepreneur” as well as Brian Horwitz a qualified Chartered Accountant with a background in finance and property who took on the role of Executive Director. Seinker saw a gap in the market to help other entrepreneurs to achieve success and took the concept to Horwitz, whose passion for analysing companies and their potential for success “had him hooked from the start,” said Horwitz. Seinker wanted to help entrepreneurs by connecting them to his investment group. In search of early-stage companies that have already taken their product to market and gained traction, thereby proving their business model, Corculture offers entrepreneurs a new method of accessing finance. Since its inception, the company has already received over 250 applications from entrepreneurs seeking investment.

“Although we look at all deals it is important for us to target early stage post revenue businesses with high growth potential,” said Seinker. “There is a gap in the market globally for the funding of startup – early stage businesses. We are trying to close this gap by encouraging investment into entrepreneurs in this space. In order to create jobs we have to invest in these early stage businesses. Government also needs to take on the risk that others aren’t prepared to and this will be done through setting up new venture capital funds.”

Entrepreneurs submit their application via Corculture’s online platform and should their application be compelling enough, Corculture will meet with the entrepreneur and a review and assessment of the business plan, historical financials and projections will be conducted. Once approved to be presented to the investment group,Corculture will get the entrepreneur investor ready by providing a management report which includes any gaps and weaknesses in the business plan and financial model; providing a self-assessment test to alert the entrepreneur to the requirements of a private equity transaction. The entrepreneur then has the option to either load the business opportunity on the platform or a deal summary can be sent through to the investment group.

“Some see us as the ‘Dragon’s Den’ of South Africa as we have a group of high-net worth individuals who are eager to engage in investment opportunities. Banks are not lending to early stage companies, so this leaves a gap in the funding market. The bottom line is that the venture capital market in Africa is underdeveloped but still has much growth potential, and we believe that new digital platforms such as this will help accelerate this growth, particularly due to the online focus and measurability.” continued Seinker.

”This ease of engagement of the process is attractive to entrepreneurs. Confidentially and privacy is a key focus for us and non-disclosure agreements are signed prior to any meetings with the entrepreneur.”

There are a variety of approved entrepreneurs, with investments ranging from, but not limited to financial services, property, technology, e-commerce and manufacturing.

“We have been very impressed with the quality of applicants applying with us for funding. There are some incredible entrepreneurs out there and they have seen us as a real opportunity for effectively raising funding. With the healthy combination of experience and knowledge amongst our entrepreneurs, it confirms there is a bright future for our country,” concludes Seinker.

The post Africa’s Most Innovative Companies: Corculture appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

The company is now headed by Chris Rolfe who is the CEO, having joined in 2007 while Andrew was running the business from home in Stellenbosch. Chris is responsible for the commercial side of the business, while Andrew remains fixated on technical development.

In their range of innovative approach is the simple, yet powerful mobile CRM motto: Engage, Motivate and Measure. This is probably the most perfect approach for any company that has a large, consistent customer base or retains their customer base as a result of a range of different product offerings that spans an entire group of companies.

So why would you need Mobilitrix?

Mobilitrix allows you direct access to your customer and also doing so o a bigger scale. You can access you customer directly, in your time, at their convenience. Experience makes up the entire spectrum of the customer interaction with a business. Thus communicating, leveraging opinion on that interaction and achieving desired customer results to measure and improve service thus becomes part of their experience, but that of the company. In return, the customer is rewarded for change in behaviour and engaging with the brand.

The digital market is made up of in part a mobile market, especially here in the Emerging market. This mobile market is made up of almost 50 million handset customers that also form part of a customer base across the broader market. Mobile markets drive much of what interactivity takes place in the commercial world.

One of the biggest problems with innovative products in Africa per say is that getting the products out there and into the market is one of the biggest constraints.

Interestingly enough, I have never heard of Mobilitrix, hence deciding to cover what can be regarded as not only a remarkable technology but also a depiction of considerable strides the company has made whilst remaining under the radar.

To name a few, Mobilitrix has achieved to say the least, interesting partnerships. Clients include major brands such as, Kellogg’s, Shoprite, Brandhouse, The Foschini Group (TFG), Spur, Vodacom, Redbull and energy giant, Chevron. Pretty cool for a silent operator!

The company under the guidance of Chris Rolfe has also delved into various markets, securing critical and unique partnerships that ultimately accentuate the initial vision born from a simple technical brainwave using mobile to engage with end customers and reward the right behaviours using their mobile device.

The mobile generation is relevant in every aspect of activity and Moiblitrix illustrates this through their interaction with Trashback as part of their CSI initiative.

As a reward of success, Mobilitrix was also a co-sponsor of the 2011 PRISM Awards.

We’ll continue to watch Mobilitrix open up new markets for a global industry that anticipates growth towards 300 million users by 2014 and redemption value of $6 billion.

The post Africa’s Most Innovative Companies: Mobilitrix appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

Launched as an arm of the Terragon Group – a Lagos-based new media firm – in 2011, Twinpine entered the business space in Nigeria with a vision of empowering brands to effectively reach their customers.

Identifying mobile devices as key tools to both African businesses and consumers, Twinpine realised the potential of connecting the two parties via mobile, and the concept for the premium mobile advertising space was born, and has flourished in the increasingly mobile market.

“[Mobile is] a fascinating space to be in right now. The prices of mobile phones are falling, data is getting cheaper, and smartphone uptake is on the rise. It’s the primary device for accessing the Internet for over 60 percent of the population,” Odubanjo says, describing the business environment.

“Mobile is the game changer across several industries and we’re seeing it happen in mobile advertising,” he adds.

In addition to taking the advertising business mobile, however, Twinpine has also upped the stakes by creating a “premium” feel to the services provided – attracting big brand customers such as Nokia, MTN, Google, Pepsi, Guinness, P&G, Etisalat, UBA, Samsung, Ecobank, Stanbic, Blackberry and KFC through this high-level service.

“This [the premium service] ensures the right ads are matched to the right audience and the brand or publisher’s reputation is not harmed by any inappropriate placements – for example many brands would not want to appear on gambling sites and over-21 sites,” Odubanjo says explaining the premium concept, which is still relatively unheard of on the African market.

“Throughout the course of each campaign, we liaise with customers to develop their mobile campaign strategy and ensure they are pleased with the click through and conversion rates,” he adds.

The company also ensures that 24 hours per day support is available for customers, and the company stands on hand to re-work campaigns in order to ensure maximum effectiveness.

Twinpine has seen significant growth since its inception, quickly becoming a profit making company and attracting a continuous stream of requests, to such an extent that the company has already been able to launch operations on the Kenyan and Ghanaian markets.

Not only does Twinpine serve brands, but the company also supports top Nigerian mobile publishers, Odubanjo explains.

“We help these publishers grow and optimise their mobile content by developing and deploying mobile solutions such as SMS, mobile sites and applications development, mobile browser integration and social media integration.”

As a relatively new organisation, Twinpine’s plans for the up-coming years include solidifying the company’s Africa-specific offering and expanding further across the continent.

“Our vision remains to enable brands, agencies and businesses effectively reach their target audience with their message via mobile advertising channels with desired conversions in return,” Odubanjo says with regard to company’s plans, adding: “We will focus on developing localized solutions and initiatives that will exceed the demands of advertisers in the African region.”

Despite the success that Twinpine has enjoyed throughout its early operations, the co-founder admits there are always challenges to setting up a business, particularly in an African context.

“Cash flow is key in business and not having access to funding has been difficult for several companies. In the online advertising business for example, advertisers tend to pay after the campaign sometimes as late as 60 days yet publishers need to get paid monthly. A company without access to funds and no cash in the bank will likely fail for this singular reason,” Odubanjo notes.

“[Africa] is also a peculiar market. Many businesses have tried to copy ideas from other parts of the world and found them not to work here in Africa. That shows that more effort needs to go into building useful and relevant products for the continent,” he advises.

So, what should the most important consideration of any start-up leader be?

“…if I was to say one thing, it will be discipline. It’s absolutely important in business especially business in Africa,” Odubanjo concludes.

The post Africa’s Most Innovative Companies: Twinpine appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

VENTURES AFRICA – Favourites are hard to do, especially when there’s a sea of multitudes to pick from. Such labour.

“Share your top 10 print ads from Africa” is certainly an unfair request to one who’s got a tone of ads collected obsessively for years. And the harder it becomes when “Africa” becomes the filter of such request. Random questions raced through my mind.

Against what should the selections be judged? Wit? Execution? Visual Gymnastics? Copy craft? Effectiveness? Most-awarded? Do I ditch suspiciously scams ads (Though it’s hard to know them)? Life must be hard for jury members of advertising awards.

The following print ads from African ad agencies are particularly striking at least in the sense that they’re partly well executed and pass their messages across in compelling ways. I took the liberty to include a non-print campaign that I jealously love.

And for the possibility of ruining them, I’ve refrained from rationalizing each. Eat your hearts out.

Images from AdsoftheWorld

“Wildfires burns more than trees” Brand: Volunteer Wildfire Services Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Cape Town, South Africa

“Nobody’s immune to breast cancer.” Brand: ALCC Advertising Agency: DDB, Maputo, Mozambique

“Hear it as the author intended” Brand: Red Pepper Audio Books Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Johannesburg, South Africa

“You can’t get any close to the news.” Advertising Agency: Lowe Cape Town, South Africa Brand: The Cape Times.

“Make your next destination less predictable” Brand: Visit Mozambique Advertising Agency: DDB, Maputo, Mozambique

“African fashion brings back what the apartheid abolished: harmony between colors.” Brand: Mozambique Fashion Week. Advertising Agency: DDB, Maputo, Mozambique

Get closer. Advertising Agency: JWT, Tunisia Brand: Panasonic

Unleash The Beast Brand: Viagra. Advertising Agency: ADCC, Nairobi, Kenya

“Speechless, no longer.” Brand: GirlHub. Advertising Agency: DDB, Lagos, Nigeria

Honourable mention

Brand: The Zimbabwean TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris South Africa

The post Top 10 Amazing Print Ads from Africa appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

Mankou early on placed large stock by the importance of technology to the success of businesses, he explains: “I would say that technology is part of the DNA of the business.”

This remains as true in Africa, although Mankou soon realised that there are considerations pertinent to the launch of business-assisting technologies in an African context.

“In Africa, as elsewhere, technology has become a central element in the life of the company. The particularity of Africa is that she wants the same thing elsewhere but at a relatively low price.”

With this in mind, Mankou set about his project of designing a cheap computer for Africa during 2006. However, he says, his plans were revolutionised by the release of the first iPhone – immediately he turned to producing a “big iPhone” – a tablet – that would provide people with computing capabilities and internet connection at an affordable price.

“Since the beginnings of VMK, I always thought that we would succeed if we find the right balance between quality and price, so our products are widely available at a price attractive enough, and this is what we have managed to do,” the CEO says, remembering the evolution of his business model.

Mankou has sought to create a range of fully unique products for the African market, and this he says, could only be done by an African, who can understand what local consumers want and need.

“Our products are unique in their origin and vision… all our products are designed in Africa…we find African markets. Through this vision, I think only an African can know what is best for Africa, starting with the content,” he says.

In addition to VMK’s device offerings, Mankou has also developed a platform to make useful content accessible for African consumers: “we’ve launched VMK Market which is a marketplace to promote the content developed in Africa and for Africa before we did,” he explains, adding: “we saw that Africa has trouble to pay for applications because no payment solution is adapted to our continent – let us recall a very low rate of banking, and cards – so we launched VMK Market.”

Although VMK is already gathering a significant following and is enjoying substantial success – the company having made and exceeded its first million dollars in 2012 – Mankou already has a whole list of plans for the future of the company.

“In 5 years, I hope that our products will be present in more countries than today and that we will be able to give millions of people access to technology,” he comments, going on to outline a project he is particularly fond of – the accessible tablet designed to improve education across Africa.

“This year VMK will launch four new products, including … our educational project tablet which will cost less than $100,” he reveals, explaining further: “the aim here is to give all students the continents have a digital textbook in their shelves, I consider that a tablet can easily replace a binder and I fight for that by the 2nd half of this year thousands of people in Africa to have access to this product.”

Uptake is already strong, discloses the CEO, saying: “Please note that this product will be sold only to states and NGOs, not directly to students. Today, several countries have already approached to place an order.”

In further plans: “One of the largest European mobile operators is currently testing our concept for a digital class …” he says, giving a sneak-preview of what may be in store.

Mankou accepts that there are certain challenges to achieving business success on the African continent, highlighting the main problem experienced by many entrepreneurs as lack of funding opportunities.

“I would say the biggest challenge is probably known lack of funding, especially in francophone African countries where risk capital does not exist. But more than that there are other serious problems as the lack of qualified manpower to areas of relatively high profile in addition to that tax policies and customs of some countries kill entrepreneurship especially in the case startups.”

Had Mankou had access to the necessary funding in time, he reminisces that the global technology history may have looked somewhat different: “because of lack of funding my project touchpad was born in late 2011, if I had funding, I could have launched the tablet end of 2009, well before the iPad, who knows, maybe the story would be written differently …”

As to advice for budding entrepreneurs, Mankou has a few poignant comments to make:

“Be passionate! Because regardless of the complexity of a project, I consider only the passion you can face the obstacles that we encounter every day in Africa!”

The post Africa’s Most Innovative Companies: VMK appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

African companies that have been enormously successful include SABMiller, MTN, Naspers, Billiton, Richemont, Sasol, Shoprite, Airtel Africa, Dangote Group, Oando and Capitec. Ventures’ List of African Global companies is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather to express a few key points. In that vien, Ventures Africa has compiled a list of African companies and identified those whose global expansion has been successful.

SABMILLER
For more than a decade World No.2 brewer SABMiller, which was launched in Johannesburg, South Africa, more than 150 years ago, has been on a drive to become a global player through making multi-billion rand acquisitions throughout the world.

It has since become the world’s second biggest brewer after the US’s Anhauser Busch.

Last year, SABMiller and Anadolu Efes completed the transaction to form a strategic alliance for Turkey, Russia, the CIS, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The deal was originally announced on 19 October 2011. SABMiller now has a 24 percent equity interest in Anadolu Efes, which is listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Last year, SABMiller also reached an agreement to buy the Australian brewer Foster’s for $10.15 billion, ending a four-month hostile takeover battle.

OANDO
Oando is a Pan-African multinational energy company. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria and active in various African countries, it is engaged in every aspect of the energy value chain, including petroleum marketing, exploration and production; refining, and power generation.

Oando is Nigeria’s largest non-government owned company in the energy industry. It is the first Nigerian company to achieve a dual listing on both the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges, and Nigeria’s largest oil company.

From its beginnings as a fuels marketer, the company has grown to become a Sub-saharan most integrated energy company.

In the Upstream sector, Oando Exploration & Production (OEPL) is the operator of two oil blocks in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region – OPL 278 and OPL 236. The company is also a Nigerian Content Partner with AGIP Oil on OPL 282 and has a 45 percent interest in a marginal field, OML 56.

Oando has concluded plans to raise 54.5 billion naira ($348 million) from the Nigerian capital market through a Rights Issue exercise.

The company is quoted in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as well as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange of South Africa. The proceeds from the Rights issue will be used for the part-repayment of 60 billon naira ($384 million) syndicated loan used to fund the acquisition of upstream assets and swamp drilling rigs.

Also, it will be used for the part-financing of acquisition of upstream and midstream assets by Oando’s Upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources as well as investment in working capital to support increased level of business.

In December 2012, Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy group announced that its affiliate, Oando Energy Resources (OER), entered into agreements with ConocoPhillips (COP) to acquire its entire business interests in Nigeria for an estimated $1.79 billion including customary adjustments. The company also,made a landmark move as it completed its reverse takeover (RTO) of Oando Energy Resources Inc. (OER), previously known as Exile Resources Inc., with the pioneer listing of the company’s shares on Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Thus, becoming the only Nigerian company with three trans-border listings – Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the TSX.

MTN
The MTN Group is a South Africa-based multinational mobile telecommunications company operating in many African and Middle Eastern countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. Its acquisition of Investcom expanded its operations to 10 more countries. As of early 2007, MTN was already active in Cyprus, Afghanistan, Botswana, Cameroon and many more other countries. The MTN Group is Africa’s leading telecommunications provider, operating in 21 countries across the region.

DANGOTE GROUP
The Dangote Group is currently the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa and one of the largest in Africa. It has generated revenue in excess of $1.25 billion since 2005. The group is one of the leading diversified business conglomerates in Africa. It employs in excess of 11.000 people.

Owned by the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, the Dangote Group is a diversified conglomerate, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with interests across a range of sectors in Africa.

Current interests include cement, sugar, flour, salt, pasta, beverages and real estate, with new projects in development in the oil and Natural gas, telecommunications, fertilizer and steel.

The group focuses on provision of local, value-added products and services that meet the needs of the African population.

Last year, CEO Dangote Group Aliko Dangote revealed in an interview with the Financial Times hopes to see construction begin on cement plants in Iraq and Myanmar by next year, as the company continues a strategy of globalisation.

Dangote Cement, the largest cement production company in Africa, with a market capitalization of almost $14 billion on the Nigeria Stock Exchange, has subsidiaries in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia. In December 2010, the group signed an agreement with the Government of Zambia to construct a $400 million cement plant in Zambia. Once completed in June 2013, as anticipated, the new plant is expected to have an annual output of 1.5 million metric tonnes of cement.

NASPERS

Naspers is a South Africa-based multinational mass media company with principal operations in electronic media (including pay-television, internet and instant-messaging subscriber platforms and the provision of related technologies) and print media (including the publishing, distribution and printing of magazines, newspapers and books, and the provision of private education services).

In May 2001, Naspers acquired a 46.5 percent interest in Tencent Holdings, the operator of an instant messaging platform in China called QQ, which subsequently developed into the leading business of its kind in China.

In a quest to further expand its business in China, the company acquired a 9.9 percent interest in the Beijing Media Corporation (BMC) in December 2004. BMC is a media company mainly engaged in the sale of advertising space for the Beijing Youth Daily as well as the production of newspapers and the trading of print-related materials.

In May 2006, Naspers acquired, for $422 million, a 30 percent interest in the Brazilian media group Editora Abril, publishers of dozens of titles, the most important of which being Revista Veja.

Also in January 2007, Naspers acquired a 30 percent interest in Mail.ru, Russian operator of Mail.ru Agent, an instant messaging service for desktop PCs and mobiles.

In November 2007 the company acquired a further 2.6 percent of Mail.ru.

In October 2007, Naspers acquired Gadu-Gadu, a listed Polish instant messaging business with c.8 million registered accounts (of a population of 38 million).

In March 2008, Naspers acquired Tradus (formerly QXL and listed on the London Stock Exchange), which provides an online auction platform and internet portals in Central and Eastern Europe. The company owns Allegro.pl, which is the leading online auction site in Poland for £946 million.

In August 2008, Naspers acquired a 25 percent stake in BuzzCity through MIH, its investment arm. BuzzCity is a mobile media company providing access to a global advertising network on the mobile internet for brand owners and agencies. The network is made up of publishers worldwide and BuzzCity’s own mobile media properties, including the myGamma social networking platform which is aimed at regions with low fixed-line internet penetration.

In July 2012, Naspers acquired eMAG, one of the biggest ecommerce sites in Romania. In Romania, Naspers also owns PayU Romania, online platforms autovit.ro, mercador.ro, compari.ro.

BHP BILLITON

BHP Billiton is an Anglo–South African-Australian multinational mining and petroleum company. It is the world’s largest mining company in terms of revenues. BHP Billiton was created in 2001 through the merger of the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) and the Anglo-Dutch Billiton plc.

On 22 February 2011 BHP announced that it paid $4.75 billion in cash to Chesapeake Energy Corp. for all of the company’s Fayetteville shale assets which include 487.000 acres (1.970 km2) of mineral rights leases and 420 miles (680 km) of pipeline located in north central Arkansas in the United States.

The wells on the mineral leases are currently producing about 415 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. BHP plans to spend $800 million to $1 billion a year over 10 years to develop the field and triple production.

On 14 July 2011, BHP Billiton said it would acquire Petrohawk Energy of the United States for approximately $12.1 billion in cash, considerably expanding its shale natural gas resources.

In August 2012, BHP Billiton announced that it was shelving its $20 billion (£12 billion) Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine expansion project in South Australia, as a result of falling commodity prices and slowing global economic growth. The company simultaneously announced a freeze on approving any major new expansion projects.

RICHEMONT
Compagnie Financière Richemont SA is a Swiss-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert.

Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont designs, manufactures, distributes and sells premium jewelery, watches, leather goods, writing instruments, clothing and accessories.

Richemont is a publicly traded company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchanges and the JSE.

As of November 2012 Compagnie Financière Richemont SA was the sixth largest corporation by market capitalization in the Swiss Market Index.
In March 2007, Richemont and Polo Ralph Lauren Inc. announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture, the Polo Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelery Company SÀRL.

SASOL
Sasol is an integrated energy and chemical company that began in Sasolburg, South Africa in 1950. It develops and commercialises technologies and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of product streams including liquid fuels, chemicals and electricity.

In particular, Sasol produces petrol and diesel profitably from coal and natural gas using the Fischer-Tropsch process.

Sasol has exploration, development, production, marketing and sales operations in 38 countries across the world, including Southern Africa, the rest of Africa, the Americas, United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Northern Asia, Southeast Asia, Far East, and Australasia.

The international energy cluster is the driver of Sasol’s international growth aspirations.

Last year, Sasol annouced plans to invest $14 billion in the construction of the world’s second largest gas-to-liquids plant in Louisiana, USA.

Sasol Synfuels International supports the group’s existing and future international gas to liquids (GTL) and coals to liquids (CTL) facilities. Sasol Petroleum International explores and produces upstream resources to secure feedstocks for Sasol’s downstream technologies.

SHOPRITE
Shoprite, listed on the Johannesburg, Namibian and Zambian Stock Exchanges is a South African-based retail and fast food company. It operates over 1200 corporate and 270 franchise outlets in 16 countries across Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands.

2005 saw Africa’s largest food retailer acquiring both Foodworld, with 13 stores, and South African ticket seller, Computicket, as well as opening the first Shoprite Liquor Shop. The company also opened its first Nigerian store in the Victoria Island area of Lagos.

In 2008, the Shoprite Group was added to the JSE Top-40 Index of blue-chips.

In March 2011, the Shoprite Group entered into an agreement with Metcash Trading Africa to acquire the franchise division of Metcash. The Metcash franchise division includes franchise arrangements with franchisees operating retail stores under registered trademark names such as Friendly, Seven Eleven and Price Club Discount Supermarket.

The Markinor Top Brands Survey 2011 found the Shoprite brand to be the No 1 Supermarket for the 5th year running, while in the Top Retail Brands Section of the same survey Shoprite claimed first place in all five grocery categories.

The Markinor Survey furthermore identified Shorite as the 6th overall favourite brand, with a 3rd most valued brand in terms of community upliftment in South Africa.

CAPITEC BANK

The management of Capitec Bank plans “to internationalise” South Africa’s fastest-growing low cost bank in the long term and India is one of the markets it could enter, CEO Riaan Stassen confirmed this recently.

This means the company would look at making acquisitions overseas or be involved in leveraged buyouts in countries outside the African continent.

The company will clarify its international strategy in the next 12 months.

In preparation for its international expansion the company appointed Markus Jooste, CEO of Steinhoff International, as a non-executive director last year because he has an international retail “mindset.” The appointment would help the company when it starts searching for international opportunities.

In September 2012, South Africa’s fastest growing low cost bank announced it would be offering a banking app in 2013. This is in addition to its grand plans “to internationalise” the bank in the long term with India as one of the markets it could enter. Capitec’s Chief executive of marketing and corporate affairs, Carl Fischer said the market could “definitely” expect an app from Capitec in 2013. “We see it as part of expanding cellphone transacting,” he said.

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Syntek Global is responsible for the exciting new engine treatment product known as Xtreme Fuel Treatment (XFT). XFT extends engine life and reduces maintenance costs, lowers fuel spending by stabilising the fuel to increase its life, and reduces emissions thus supporting the environment.

Available for petrol and diesel cars and trucks, boats, scooters, generators and other combustible engines, the product helps users cut their overall costs significantly, hence its increasing uptake on the African continent.

Kirkpatrick notes: “In the gas savings alone, not even figuring lower maintenance bills and an engine that will live longer, it’s much like finding an ATM Machine at the gas station. Every time you fill up, you put $4 (the cost of one dose of XFT, on average) into the ATM, and it kicks back a $10 gas card to use right then and there, or at any gas station you choose.”

She adds: “that $6 earnings at each fill-up really adds up, especially when you start looking at commercial uses.”

However, Syntek also boasts another innovation, by way of its business model. Syntek empowers local individuals to get on board and become representatives of the company on the ground, making XFT available to consumers across Africa.

“The company believes in the power of offering global opportunity to succeed, and therefore will only sell through individuals, which is pretty amazing. The testimonials are really what’s causing the XFT fire to spread all through Africa and beyond!” Kirkpatrick says.

It is this element of enabling people to take hold of the business reins which makes Syntek so special, says Kirkpatrick.

“We all know that entrepreneurship is one of the few ways to become independently wealthy, yet it remains out of reach of the average African (or American, or European, for that matter). Many simply don’t have the thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dollars in capital to get started, nor do they have the business training, acumen, or necessary skills to beat the odds…. to become and remain successful,” she explains.

“Syntek gives the average person a chance to be an entrepreneur, but within a huge framework of support, leaders like myself who really care and are dedicated to their success, and via a product that virtually sells itself, for very little investment,” she continues.

It is the necessity of the product to the lives of users, combined with the empowerment of individuals which contribute to the success of Syntek, says Kirkpatrick, while also helping to build stronger economies in Africa.

“I’m constantly teaching about economic freedom and empowerment to women, men, families, communities throughout Africa….it’s about improving lives of Africans through Trade, Not Aid.”

With such a strong model and product, Syntek is experiencing incredible growth – recording 400 per cent growth last year alone. Kirkpatrick reveals a new country opens operations every six months at the current rate, with Syntek targeting one million distributors globally by 2018.

Most recently, Kirkpatrick launched a team in Uganda only this week, showing the rapid expansion of Syntak in an African context.

So, are there any challenges to operating in an African context?

“… there are cultural differences, of course, with internet and phone access, banking system and automation, security of shipping and product delivery,” notes Kirkpatrick, adding: “but the pros of working with people who live with such big, open hearts, who laugh and love so heartily and readily, and are so hungry for an opportunity, and are willing to go to any lengths to make this dream a reality for them, far outweighs any growing pains!”

As to what Kirkpatrick thinks she might have done differently given the opportunity to start again, she reveals her passion for empowering the women in Africa, in particular.

“I would instil more women with the confidence that they can, in fact, be successful at running their own businesses – even in the male-dominated fuel industry, yes!”

Kirkpatrick has a few departing words for hopeful entrepreneurs working to build their own business revolution.

“I would say, follow your heart. Do good, be deeply grateful, operate from your highest place of integrity and selflessness, focus on helping others succeed, and you will reap great rewards in business, and the business of life.”

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Averty was born out of the context of the Arab Revolution which took place as throughout 2011 in North Africa and the Middle East, displaying the importance of the internet of social media in connecting people and providing an avenue for people to speak up in society.

Founder and CEO Dahbi explains: “internet has been credited with helping to propel the Arab Revolution in North Africa and Middle East and it’s today one of the main outlets for free expression in the region creating a virtual ecology of civil society, debating contentious issues and topics. The idea of Averty is born from this context in order to empower people’s voice and make it heard.”

With the above described background as a starting point for a business model, Dahbi realised the potential of social polling in a business context, helping enterprises to connect with consumers and respond to customer needs. This impact becomes particularly apparent in an African context, where consumers may be spread across vast cities and territories; often including rural spaces- as such Averty helps businesses communicate with a profusely expansive consumer base.

“Opinions are today dispersed in different places (social media, forums, emails, chat rooms…) and it’s usually very difficult to combine them in one place and organize them in such intelligent way to support individuals, organizations and businesses’ decisions making. Get the right answers from the right targeted people at the right time and all this in the same place!” says Dahbi, explaining the significant service Averty is providing to the business arena.

Given the unique service that Averty provides in the business market, the company has found it important to partner with other innovators in order to fill the important communications gap in the business sector, with pivotal partners being members of the technology and research industries.

Dahbi comments: “Averty joins the best of online technology to advanced market research techniques to give individuals, organizations and businesses a user-friendly platform that collects, aggregates, analyses and transforms opinions to a valuable information that can influence perception and decision making.”

Despite the substantial progress of Averty since its inception only months ago- boasting thousands of active members instigating and participating in social polls -, Dahbi concedes there is still some way to go before the company achieves its goal of becoming “a principal source of information about what people think and regional leader in terms of online market research.”

The CEO reveals big plans for the company over the coming period, disclosing upcoming plans: “Our first objective is to enrich our services offer by developing advanced self-service polling platform for businesses, empower our technology with rich media features (video, audio and flash), create a suitable interface for Smartphones.”

There are further plans in store involving international expansion, saying Dahbi: “Secondly, we aim to expand our coverage to the rest of North African countries such as Tunisia and Algeria in near future.”

While ambitions are high, Dahbi notes that there are a number of challenges to setting up a business – in particular with respect to online-based companies operating in Africa.
“Being a web company, our activity relies very much on the penetration rate which is still below the average in Africa,” says the CEO.

However, challenges are there to be overcome, and Dahbi feels Averty is making good progress in succeeding any obstacles it meets; noting: “we have started our business in a country where almost 50 percent of the population is online and we are observing where there are more opportunities for our future development.”

Finally, Dahbi has some pertinent advice for entrepreneurs hoping to launch on the African start-up scene.

“Make sure your product or service is bringing real value and believe in the adage: Think big, start small, grow fast.”

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Tosheka Textiles is a green textiles company, which focuses on providing innovative solutions to the proliferation and inadequate disposal of plastic bags in Africa – starting the ambitious project in Kenya. Tosheka focuses on empowering the economically disadvantaged in society to recycle plastic bags and produce unique textiles and products.

The co-founders explain: “Our locally made hand crafted recycled textile products utilizing traditional skills and contemporary designs for the high end and medium income consumers [are] unique and of better quality…We produce cutting edge designs changing with the market trend, environmentally socially conscious products and support a community enterprise value chain.”

“We are the pioneers of the future “Green Textile Economy”,” they add.

Recycling is proving a big challenge to Africa, with every member of society being affected by the increasing extent of the problem. The Tosheka co-founders describe the problem that African communities are facing, and the issue that their social enterprise seeks to address.

“The proliferation and disposal of plastic bags is a huge environmental problem and polluting nuisance to cities and rural environments causing health hazards and deaths to children and animals,” the Bighams explain.

“They are consumed daily by the public with no effective means of being disposed. Also, in Africa there are almost no systems for collection and recycling,” the pair adds.

However, as a social enterprise the company addresses more than one pertinent problem in Africa. Not only does Tosheka combat the recycling deficit, but seeks to provide an avenue of income for local communities and producers, thus contributing to the alleviation of poverty – the company already employing 400 individuals, with over 200 local producers already earning between 1,200 and 2,000 Kenyan Shillings ($14- $23) per week.

“Tosheka has developed business driven solutions with significant impact on the environment and that provides income which eliminates the need to leave the homesteads to go to the cities in hopes of finding meager employment,” the co-founders say, explaining the multiple layers to the social enterprise.

Going on to describe the business benefits provided by this model, the Bighams note: “This distinguishes Tosheka from any potential competitor or the few businesses that engage in similar recycling or up cycling production. It also gives us access to the market place and long-term relationships with our partners, stakeholders and customers.”

However, the social enterprise model also has its drawbacks, with the co-founders easily pinpointing the most prominent difficulty behind the innovative business model.

“The social enterprise business model provides the benefit of establishing you as an entity that uses standard business practices with your clients & supplies and at the same time addresses social problems…The disadvantage of being an SE is that it is more difficult to get grant support.”

No amount of disadvantages or obstacles will dampen the Tosheka team’s ambition, and commitment to the cause, and the company already has extensive plans for future expansion and development.

“Our goal is to greatly expand our product line and production capacity to meet the global market demand for unique, quality green and recycled products,” reveal the Bighams, adding that they plan to use income and assets of the enterprise to: “develop a full-scale commercial green textile production facility in Kenya using cotton and other natural fibres, dyes and pigments.”

The Tosheka founders also have aims with respect to the uptake of plastics in African society, saying: “Our long-term goal is to reduce the consumption of plastics.”

Given the success in Kenya of the Tosheka business and social enterprise model, the pair already has plans for the global roll-out of the Tosheka concept, disclosing: “Our marketing response in USA and Haiti’s proximity to our Western Markets has necessitated our consideration to replicate this business and setup a production center in Haiti.”

So is the model as successful in financial terms as it is with respect to addressing important social and environmental issues, following its first year of operations?

“Our financial diagnostics values and findings are in a good range,” reveal the Tosheka founders, adding: “Using our income projections, comfortable operating and training cost figures with significant cash reserves we demonstrate moderate profitability in the second year.”

The coming period will be key for the company, with the co-foudners planning increased spending on advertising to maximize exposure, but nonetheless expecting significant growth over its second year of existence.

“The company projects rapid growth, with significant profitability in the second year. Our operating plan emphasizes the reinvestment of income for product development according to market appraisals, marketing, training and expansion. Our aggressive sales revenues will enable us fund our growth internally even without additional investments beyond that currently sought,” the Tosheka team discloses.

Despite the ambitious plans the pair has for Tosheka, they concede that there has been one particularly prominent obstacle to setting up a business in Kenya: “The bank interest rates are too high for small businesses.”

As to the consequences of this obstacle, they add: “We are hampered in achieving success or take advantage of the sales opportunities and project impact without an additional funding support.”

The Bigham pair has some parting words for budding entrepreneurs hoping to embark on their own business venture: “Do extensive research & planning up front & reassess your progress & plans quarterly.”

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