Monthly Archives: December 2013

Blogging in 2013

Top blog posts in 2013

1. Consumer Guide on Solar for Homes
2. Kenya Bank Rankings 2012 (Part I) 
3. Kenyan M&A
4. Private Equity Moment
5. Subway (Restaurants) to Kenya
6. Why Unit Trusts are better than Bank Savings Accounts
7. Chama Management 101  (a book review) 
8. Paypal in Kenya
9. Base Titanium aims to be a model for the Kenya mining sector
10 Buyouts, Vultures, Divestments

So lot’s of interest in reading up merger and investment activity in Kenya this year, but, overall, the top posts visited were Safaricom/CBA launch M-Shwari and Who Created M-Pesa  both published in 2012.

5 African Consumer Trends for 2014

TrendWatching has published it’s first Africa Trend bulletin featuring 5 must-know African trends to watch for next year. They include; 

1. Faba (For Africa by Africa): Products for Africa such as in tech, food and fashion sectors, are best designed/built by Africans. E.g. BRCK

2. Mobile Roaming: The need for products and services for that assist in safety and convenience for people always on the move. E.g.BebaPay.

3. Civil Info-Nation: The need for useful information delivered in real time.

4. Africa (Collabo) Rising: African brands will engage in partnerships beyond a country’s borders.

5. Remotely Great: Even with the rapid urbanization of Africa, it is important to develop products that are useful in rural areas where majority of the population still lives.
Read the full report here. 

New African ICT VC Fund

Last week, saw the launch of a new Convergence Partners Communications Infrastructure Fund (CPCIF) from Convergence Partners. It is a pan African fund that has raised $145 million (from the IFC, EIB, FMO, DBSA and CDC) that they are seeking to invest in companies in communications, fibre, infrastructure, data centres etc. in countries like Kenya , DRC, Rwanda, and Sudan.
The Fund will target established companies with sound management, that are aiming to improve products or quality, or add value to their services – to invest amounts of about of $20-30 million in exchange for stakes of 15-49% with a horizon of about 10 years.

Their past portfolio includes investments in Seacom, New Dawn (with Intelsat) and Internet Solutions (who are taking over at Access Kenya and they plan to open an an East African office soon. 

Separately, in a nice post, @Wanjiku asks if there’s a racial bias in ICT funding from venture capitalists in Africa.