The agreements will allow 240 SMEs to access world-class management training, run more efficient businesses and improve staff productivity. Business Edge is an important part of IFCs strategy to support smaller businesses in Africa. The interactive product has already helped more than 100,000 entrepreneurs in emerging markets improve their skills and profitability.

Mary-Jean Moyo, IFC Country Manager for Ghana, said, “IFC places high priority on encouraging entrepreneurship in Ghana, which is supported by new partnerships and the expansion of the Business Edge solution. More robust small and medium enterprises are critical to creating jobs and generating growth for Ghana.”

A few weeks ago the country’s Vice-president Kwesi Amissah-Arthur advised the IFC to focus its attention on supporting local Ghanaian businesses instead of foreign ones operating in the country. The vice president gave this admonition when the IFC Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Jean Philippe Prosper paid a working visit to the vice president’s office in Accra.

Support for Business Edge is part of a broader effort by IFC to support the conditions for smaller businesses. Through efforts to encourage efficient and effective regulation in areas such as licensing, registration and taxation, IFC and its partners aim to improve entry points and other building blocks for small business success.

To improve access to finance, IFC collaborates with local financial intermediaries that enable SMEs to grow their businesses with affordable and tailored credit and investment. Inadequate access to finance constrains growth of small and medium businesses in Ghana and hinders job creation. Only 22 percent of all Ghanaian firms have access to a line of credit, a figure that falls to 13 percent among smaller companies.

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VENTURES AFRICA – The last quarter is upon us and this year has seen the introduction of a plethora of new, networked technology devices. The endless streams of new models cater to the different demographics at far-reaching corners of our increasingly connected world. We are slowly homogenising into a “global village”.

From high-end smart phones and tablets to basic feature phones, we are now able to reach most people at the click of a button or two, and research facts and figures online without thinking twice. New solutions are developed fast, news travels faster and all the information you need is literally at your fingertips 24/7. While this state of affairs provides immense opportunity for businesses globally, it does also result in a progressively more complex environment within which companies need to manage and compete for talent.

Employees have the opportunity to take greater control of their careers, to make an impact and get results. No longer can anyone use the excuse of not having access to information – Google has organised it all for you. If you really can’t be bothered to look for the information, follow someone who does on Twitter. If you want it, it is out there and with the right level of curiosity and ambition it can be yours.

The technology and civil infrastructure challenges in some emerging markets and the actions leaders are taking towards improvement has been played to death. What is much more interesting is what managers do with the people they have working for them today – the employees who go though the challenges of poor roads, who face the fourhour journey into work because of traffic jams. What differentiates successful companies from the rest is how, and to what extent, they invest in their people.

Working on a project to improve the operations of a struggling financial institution, I identified a talented worker, Jimmy, who was unfortunately relegated to the back office. Too critical in his role providing much-needed data to his superiors on an ad-hoc basis, Jimmy had not taken a holiday in over a year, had no training despite his wanting to develop project management skills, and had no mentor. Added to this, in the typical management chaos, Jimmy never got feedback on the outcomes of his delivered work. He worked ungodly hours but had lost the will to continue. Both Jimmy and I knew what he was really good at, so when he asked me why he should continue to work at this institution when he could work for himself, providing such expertise to corporations, I struggled to provide a good-enough answer.

In my experience, most people want to do a good job. What hinders them is the lack of appropriate mentoring to learn and grow, an environment devoid of encouragement to take ownership of outcomes. The best managers nurture talent. They take the time to identify what drives an individual, and then give them clear goals which enable them to tap into their inner drive to produce outstanding results. In a world where everyone can easily become an expert with the help of the Internet, and where everyone can become an entrepreneur or have a far-reaching voice blogging on the Internet, managers need to find the voice that their employees desire and enable them to grow wings and fly. Or they risk losing perfectly good talent.

A so-called “B” player can very easily become an “A” player with a clear remit within an appropriately formed team. Great companies invest in their team leaders and managers to equip them with the tools necessary to form balanced, effective teams, comprised of complementary skilled teammembers, with tangible objectives. I daresay that in emerging economies there is simply not enough emphasis placed on developing people.

This is not an issue that requires advanced infrastructure to solve. It simply requires awareness and a willingness to invest in the parts that inevitably make up the whole.

The post Management Lessons As Seen By Successful Africans In The Diaspora appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

VENTURES AFRICA – The political instability in Egypt and neighbouring countries has hindered the influx of investment. Businesses’ are nervous about the political outlook and this has aggravated worries about Egypt’s infrastructure and regulation.

Nevertheless, Egypt offers longstanding benefits for both local and international companies. And it is possible to cut through or minimise the infrastructure problems and political risk. So despite the challenges, there remain compelling reasons for doing business there.

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Africa’s problem might be internal. The continent will continue to suffer if authorities keep drafting retrogressive economic empowerment policies that hamper economic growth and enrich a few. For the record, this column does not advocate for government freebies packaged as economic empowerment policies.

This past week, Africa’s richest man had something to say about South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment laws. Aliko Dangote, sharply criticised the BEE laws, and called them an obstacle to investment from other African countries.

“In Nigeria, we had these laws demanding that any foreign investor had to have a Nigerian partner. But that just dried up the capital flows. Now anyone can do business with anyone in Nigeria,” says Dangote.

“If you want real economic empowerment, then you have to do this based on merit and increased access to the capital markets,” he said, adding, ”the whole world needs capital. If you make it difficult for me to invest in one country then i will move my capital somewhere else where it is easier to invest.”

“In my view, we are all African brothers and sisters. There has to be a review that encourages Africans from other countries to participate in the South African economy,” said Dangote.

“If I want to invest and then i am forced into a marriage with someone who does not have the same appetite as me, or who does not have the equity behind them, then we have a problem,” added Mr Dangote.

His formal speech to the South Africa-Nigeria Business Forum, included highlighting Nigeria’s two major strengths, which he stated were, ”One is that we are a nation of entrepreneurs and the second is a banking system that is locally owned and understands the risks of doing business in our country.”

In any case, this is coming from a man with a 64 percent stake in Sephaku Cement, which has assets totalling about $600 million in South Africa. By contrast, it cannot be doubted that a successfully implemented economic empowerment policy can give disadvantaged and marginalized people the opportunity to become more economically active by providing them with skills and assisting with enterprise development, whilst improving their livelihoods and reducing poverty.

However, the sad reality is that only a fraction of the population has benefitted from these economic empowerment policies, and there has been a limited level of job creation. Around the continent, there is some controversy surrounding economic empowerment policy implementation, which is arguably an elite enrichment exercise that favours the wealthy whilst the rest of the populations remain in poverty.

Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence that the controversy around the empowerment policy will continue, unless manipulation of the system by both formerly disadvantaged and advantaged individuals, mainly the politically connected, can be halted. Due to the ills of the past, most ordinary citizens who should be beneficiaries of the policies, fail to do so. And due to the limited skills levels and experience, many who must benefit are considered unfit partners.

Meanwhile, a grey area of concern is always the issue of striking a balance between promoting the empowerment of local citizens, whilst at the same time not scaring away domestic and foreign investment. In South Africa and Zimbabwe for instance, after the pronouncements of their different empowerment policies due to uncertainty on the part of overseas investors, the direct foreign investment dropped.

It is always difficult for any international investor to be willing to take up any indigenisation offer, in which they will become minority shareholders and effectively have no authority in their investments after sinking in a substantial investment. Moreover, if these policies can make a billionaire have second thoughts about his investments, the growth of these economies will be hindered by the signals they send out to the investor community.Whether these empowerment policies can become shrewd bargain-hunting, state arm-twisting manoeuvres or over-ambitious empire-building exercises remains to be seen. Bad news seems to always be coming from the investor community, as its risk aversion reaches the extremes and the capital flow freeze – this a danger signal. On the face value, it may not seem to matter, but on the long-term, the effects will definitely be felt within the economy. It is always tempting for politicians to throw up new empowerment policies with poverty alleviation and job creation in mind, even if such a response, though on an individual government basis seems appealing, however when it becomes continentally widespread it is collectively futile.

“Controversy around empowerment programmes intensifies when political leaders use them as a political tool. In such circumstances, the key question that remains to be answered is that, “Are the objectives of these programmes still to empower the previously disadvantaged groups, or is it becoming a political tool to become more popular, (within the electorate), yet only the few in the political circles benefit in the name of empowerment?” Controversially, what may be regarded as “politicising” the empowerment programmes remains a challenge,” wrote Anthony M. Makwiramiti in a discussion paper.

“Another area that is worth mentioning relates to the problem of “fronting”. This is a situation were the previously disadvantaged figureheads embark on fronting to access state contracts, on the basis of the provisions of the preferential procurement. These circumstances suggest that the Government and policymakers in each country should brace themselves in the fight against corruption and greed, which has become a disease in many African Governments. In the extreme case, a government may turn a country into the least attractive investment destination depending on how the empowerment is implemented and how enterprises are expected to comply with the legislation,” he further elaborated.

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“I am a big Sinophile because I recognize we need China’s investment and we need jobs and trade and we need something to happen,” China Daily quotes her as saying.

“Americans are not prepared to write bigchecks to drive trade and job creation in Africa anymore,” she added.

According to report, Moyo, a former Director with Barrick Gold, made the statement after speaking at the 20^th annual African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town.

She praised China’s focus on trade, job creation and infrastructure development.

Moyo, who was on the 2009 Time 100 most influential person in the world list, shot to limelight after her New York Times bestseller Dead Aid, which criticized the West’s aid to Africa and shed light on its inefficiencies.

She argued that Western aid had become like a drug to many African countries,giving them little incentive to develop industry since aid rather than tax was a more reliable source of government revenue,” China Daily reported.

Moyo is an author of several books including: How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly – And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead and Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and What It Means for the World and Dead Aid.

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Insight of the subject of capital as a factor for growth particularly limited. Basic economics teaches capital as a factor of production among land and labour. Capital has over the years been often described as money but knowledge and practice of this age has moved far from that. It now has types which include – human, social, infrastructural, institutional, security, information and financial capital. In considering these forms of capital, in the context of a nation, we will nexus them to their influence on national development.

Human capital

This relates to the extent to which every individual in a nation is realising their potential. It includes the advancement of individual skill, knowledge, talent and ability that influences personal, social and economic wellbeing. The underlying factor here is capacity development with consistency. Thus the growth of a nation can be measured by its human capital development.

Social capital

The quality of relationships amongst a diverse citizenry in a country with link to standards of mutuality and trust also plays a huge role in national development. Social capital is simply trust, which ultimately enhances other types of capital. This has the capacity to enhance speedy growth with less suspicion as it reduces corruption and crime. The main values of social capital have been described as trust, value system, sense of community and solidarity.

Infrastructural capital

It is a no brainer to contend with the possibilities proper infrastructure brings to a economy. Infrastructures such as power, transportation, friendly environment, government policies and laws influences development of enterprises and facilitation of growth. Commerce may survive without adequate infrastructure but will certainly boom with the provision of such. Also the cost of running business and individual sustenance is minimized. The absence of infrastructure can and has hindered growth across Africa, and in the 21st century the onus is on African government and the private sector to ensure the provision of necessary infrastructure that will spur the economy.

Institutional capital

This may be described as the guide of the nation which regulates the socially and culturally permissible behaviour that should be followed. Institutions dictate and enforce compliance on activities within the nation – consciously and unconsciously. The absence of this will create chaos in all areas of national existence. as the efficacy of institutional capital ensures that the objectives of projects, programmes and policies are met.

Security capital

This may be viewed in two perspectives – regime of government with sustainable policies on the one hand and physical security of the state on the other. Both local and foreign players in the economy are either skeptical or encouraged by policies of the government. It may also take the form of a government sustaining the progressive policies of previous administration(s). This should be based on objective test rather than subjective.

Physical security of the environment is a capital that cannot be overlooked. People and ventures thrive more in a secure environment. It cannot be overemphasised what a nation like Nigeria has lost to insecurity problems.

Information capital

This asserts information as an intrinsic value which can be shared and leveraged on to enhance growth. It means sharing information is sharing power. It enables the exchange of knowledge for advancement. Information capital emphasises decision making based on best available option. No individual, organisation or nation will function better than the level of information it is exposed to.

Financial capital

We have saved the big dog for the last. Financial capital, which is mostly been perceived as the only capital, is the money available for ventures to invest in products or services in sectors of the economy. The availability of financial capital makes ideas handy and thrive. This may extend to available credit facilities from financial institutions with special emphasis on fair interest rate. Other forms of capital mentioned will function at their optimum when financial capital meets them working effectively and efficiently in an economy.

In this era, capital transcends money. Nigeria, and indeed other African countries need to maximize all forms of capital towards national development. All of these forms of capital are important but I like to emphasise attention to Human, Social and Institutional capital. These are the major drivers of development in any nation. They have multiplier effect on the nation with the presence of all others.

Leading the maximum utility of capital as a veritable tool for national development should be led by the government. Some corporate organisations practice the use of capital beyond money and it has translated into development and growth. But for capital of all forms to have far reaching effect on the nation, all hands must be on deck and ultimately, national development will become a national experience.

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Paulvie drafted a detailed business plan for a high-class hospital in Kinshasa. She calculated the number of medical devices required and verified their availability in the country. She trekked back to the DRC several times over the past year to specifically ensure that the right cement would be used for the building. But she forgot to verify one key thing: the number of available nurses in the country.

Brain drain is hardly new to the medical field in the DRC. However the lack of nurses is less brain drain and more lack of available quality schooling. Experts estimate that eight to ten nursing schools are currently active in the DRC. The shortage of nursing schools and teachers translates to less than one nurse per 10,000 persons in the DRC.

But Africa’s fourth most populous country is not alone. Ethiopia – Africa’s second most populous country – has about two to three nurses per 10,000 persons. In the United Kingdom, there are approximately 100 nurses per 10,000 persons.

Dr. Tony Magana, a Harvard educated doctor who came to the Ethiopia to help build a specialist practice, says that most hospitals lack the nurses needed to support Ethiopia’s growing medical needs. Tasked with teaching other doctors from several neighboring countries, he wonders aloud about the potential success of these doctors in applying their new knowledge back in their home countries absent the necessary nurse support.

Neighboring Tanzania – Africa’s sixth most populous country – has two nurses per 10,000 persons. World Health Organization (WHO) experts argue that Tanzania’s inability to quickly and procedurally accredit different nursing schools speaks to the core of the nursing deficit in the country.

One expert argues that schools pop up but must wait years for the government to consider their accreditation. Accordingly, the growth in the number of schools has slowed in Tanzania despite millions of Tanzanians being interested in the potential of such jobs.

Many Africans travel to Asia and Europe for basic diagnoses and checkups. Their medical tourism amounts to a more than $1 billion industry. Abebe, a local Ethiopian, made yearly trips to Thailand to have all check-ups conducted in what he calls a more “reliable market.”

Recently, Messai decided to move to the U.S. to be near his adult kids because, despite U.S. increasing medical costs, his medical expenses have decreased absent the flight to Thailand and payments to doctors to do “what nurses should be able to do at any local hospital regardless of country.” Rumours of a potential chain of nursing schools coming online in Ethiopia in the future excites Messai. Still, he is keen to remind me that rumours are just rumors until he sees the actual progress

“Training nurses in internationally accredited schools will not solely boost the DRC’s supply, but will boost Africa’s supply,” says one private equity investor looking at this education space in the DRC. “International standards are better than most local standards in African countries easing our ability to replicate the idea and teaching materials across the DRC and into other markets.”

The investor, with laptop and kindle by his side, represents how technology will change Africa. In the same way mobile phones has transformed mobile banking and influenced the classroom, the investor believes that kindles and iPads have the potential to provide medical education absent the physical books and journals available in Western countries.

The investor planned a week trip to look at the DRC nursing market. After one day, he had accumulated all the needed information: “It will take one week to get a waiting list of 1,000 students in one neighborhood of Kinshasa….the rest of my research requires finding a good facility, good staff, and good management.” Those tasks will surely take time in the DRC market. This imaginary waiting list can only double day by day when accounting for neighborhoods across the DRC, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

“Excitement is excitement” says Paulvie, “despite the need, do not expect the processes for building training facilities to move at a faster speed.”

Paulvie hopes she is wrong again.

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VENTURES AFRICA – Africa is a continent of contrasts. It is home to 54 countries in various stages of development and economies that operate at various levels of prosperity. It is a continent where it is common to find poverty existing alongside urban, westernised business districts serving cosmopolitan business communities.

Most often the thing differentiating the two communities, and defining the lack of opportunities available to the poor, is simply a lack of infrastructure that has been exacerbated by an inability to deliver electricity to sites where it is most needed.

The shortage of power, besides defining the geographical boundaries between urban and rural areas and separating the ‘haves from the ‘have-nots’, has a direct impact across a broad spectrum of life and service delivery in communities, particularly those situated far from roads and access to transportation routes.

The most important spheres of activity impacted on include:

• Medicine and health services. No electricity means an inability to use diagnostic and other equipment as well as restricting the use of essential basics such as refrigeration that are required in clinics.
• Access to telecommunications, the Internet, telephones and media.
• Education, which is stifled through the existence of the digital divide and the lack of teaching aids, textbooks and infrastructure that enables children to be taught, or to study alone at their own pace.
• Agriculture, which is impacted on by a lack of water pumps, boreholes, irrigation equipment and electrically-driven equipment required for intensive farming practices, whether it be the delivery of crops at a commercial level or construction of facilities such as ‘hot houses’, chicken breeding, silos and even abattoirs.
• Access to government services in rural areas. The lack of facilities here can extend from clinics through to provision of services ranging from social payments and population registration services.
• Most importantly, the commonly accepted amenities of life such as household appliances cannot exist.

Bringing quality of life to far-flung communities therefore requires that a cost effective, sustainable source of power is established close to communities. Delivering the solution, however, also requires power sources that can be easily transported along existing routes, no matter what their state of repair or disrepair to final destinations.

Solar power is the obvious solution to the dilemma, and has long been proposed as a solution to compensate for the lack of a formal electricity grid. In addition to the immediate improvements to quality of life offered by these facilities, is the fact that other benefits can be accrued.

These, if correctly used and implemented can result in solar power solutions also offering communities a facility which offers a return on investment over a short period of between two and three years, requires little maintenance. Best of all, it can cap its initial investment costs by offering communities a means of generating income.

Purpose- built installations that can be housed in traditional shipping containers present just such an opportunity. Delivered via rail or road, they just need to be treated to ensure that they can survive the vagaries of African weather conditions, and require nothing more than a flat solid, site for their placement.

The potential for these mobile installations lies in their ability to be tailored to meet specific requirements. Use as clinics, community centres or for education is all within their capabilities.

An example of what can be achieved through these containers is illustrated by the fact that a single unit could power four TV’s for five hours a day and simultaneously run four fridges for 24 hours a day, 16 neon or LED lights consuming 16w each for five hours a day, and four plug points delivering a maximum of 100w each for 24 hours. The advantages for a small rural village are obvious.

Power for the units would usually emanate from an array of panels deployed on the roof of the container and connected to a junction box so that the power can be distributed.

To ensure that a value is attached to the provision of electricity to the community, it can be arranged that pre-paid meters are installed and that a fee, no matter how small, is levied for the power. Funds generated can be allocated towards payment of the installation, a fund for battery replacement (generally required after about seven years) or paid to a municipality.

Reality at this stage dictates that many installations of this type will remain within the ambit of corporate social investment projects. Government and parastatals are required to concentrate on meeting the electricity demands of expanding economies. They therefore need, through necessity, to concentrate their primary efforts on the erection of new power stations and the appropriate delivery infrastructure.

When taken in context, what can be achieved through CSI programmes, however, is not insignificant. Recently Samsung Electronics delivered one container, the first of what could be a number of Solar Powered Internet Schools based in containers in Angola, in association with the Angolan government and other partners. The support for the project was in line with the company’s positioning as a leader in the business of creating solutions using solar energy.

The Solar Powered Internet School, which is geared to provide access to the Internet and electronic textbooks will operate on a shift basis and meet the needs of 200 children a day.

This school, housed in a ‘40-foot’ shipping container was delivered by truck to its site. It represents a breakthrough in the delivery of education by helping to break down the technological barriers facing education in Angola.

Used on a rotational basis by children during the day, the school will operate between 08h00 and 17h00 every day. It also has the capacity to operate effectively for up to 36 hours without any sunlight at all.

Built to withstand harsh African conditions the solar panels powering the school are made from rubber instead of glass, to ensure that they are hardy and durable enough to survive long journeys across the continent.

The power generated by the panels each day also means that the school can be used beyond the traditional learning day. After-hours it can operate as an adult education centre or a community centre over weekends.

It may be a small beginning, but for the 200 children who will benefit, the school opens the door to huge opportunities. Finding the funding to create hundreds of similar facilities across Africa could, within a comparatively short period, transform education, quality of life and service delivery across Africa.

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The report, “Structured Finance – Conditions for infrastructure project bonds in African markets”, will be launched by AfDB Vice President Finance Charles Boamah next 19th April in Washington, DC, on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.

During the launching ceremony, African Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors will discuss how African markets could mobilize capital for infrastructure projects, especially through African capital markets. They will also discuss how policy-makers and development institutions can help the process.

The new AfDB report highlights the opportunity for project bonds, while outlining the conditions for efficient capital markets. In that regard, the report explains the crucial role of constructive government policies and draws the lessons from other markets that might be useful for Africa.

The release of this new report comes at a very opportune time. African countries have been growing at rates in excess of five per cent. Indeed, seven out of the 10 fastest-growing countries in the last few years are in Africa. This has created a growing middle class and a flourishing financial sector. Savings are accumulating with institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies.

Africa has the financial resources to play a significant role in building African infrastructure, especially since domestic capital markets are growing in several countries. Domestic government bond markets are well established and becoming increasingly sophisticated. In many markets, non-government issuers are actively raising funds.

An opportunity for further innovation exists and would be welcomed by the market. Several African countries today have given priority to the issuance of ‘infrastructure bonds’. Many countries have been attracted by the example of Kenya, which has launched infrastructure bonds both from the central government and from state-owned enterprises such as KenGen. The government of Kenya has led the way by introducing certain tax advantages for investors buying such bonds. This has helped to build interest in the institutional sector.

The report also elaborates on examples from other emerging markets such as Chile, Brazil, Peru and Malaysia using project bonds as a way to catalyze investors’ interest in infrastructure projects. Such examples can serve as a template for African countries on how to develop their own markets.

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What is the role of a university? Yes, it is to educate but that is not the only role of a university and some might argue that that is slightly less than 50 percent of the role of a university. In addition to educating, the developmental role of a university is creation. Further than simply learning centers, universities are also centers of inspiration to create and push the boundaries of our cumulative knowledge. In Africa, there are fourteen noble laureates. Eleven of them were recognized for their work in either literature or promoting a more peaceful Africa. Both of which, although admirable and desirable are less dependent on the quality of a tertiary education. The other three Nobel Laureates are South Africans. In three different years, these three different South Africans were recognized for their contributions to Medicine and Physiology and none of their groundbreaking work was done in any institution in Africa. They currently represent the closest to a dent the entire African continent has been recognized for making in a hard science.

Currently, every known resource available to generate electricity in commercial quantities is available on the African continent. Although the resources are not evenly spread through out every country, the fact that all African countries belong to at least one economic bloc means in theory, they are able to reap the benefits of the resource anywhere within their bloc. Resource blessed-geographically; economically by virtue of economic blocs; and population wise to drive the demand, yet, the continent only accounts for 4 percent of world electricity output. 75 percent of this 4 percent are generated in South Africa, Egypt and other countries along the North African littoral region. With barely any electricity, how do we expect any kind of access to emerging technologies- Information technology, Biotechnology, Micro technology and Communication technology that have revolutionized the socio economic development of other nations? Even in these abysmal situation, information and communication technology have been able to thrive. Private investment and capital have spurned success in the form of MTN, Multi Choice and the likes. Only few governments like that of South Africa and Kenya have made a concerted effort to pursue an IT agenda.

The fact of the matter is we currently live in a digital age and every aspect of our lives are getting more influenced by the digital age and it is moving fast. It is imperative that as Africans we catch up now or continue to allow the development gap to be widened. Catching up is only possible with infrastructure for empowering educations and legislature that allows for the rapid development of key industries like power, technology. It is one thing to loot and run governments with no kind of accountability, but a rather large, well defined line is crossed when reckless abandon dictates education and private sector development in any nation.

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