Promoting and Protecting Investments in Africa

Addleshaw Goddard, in conjunction with the BCA and the DIT, is delighted to present an engaging and thought-provoking panel discussion on Promoting and Protecting Investments in Africa.

The key note speech will be delivered by Greg Hands MP (in his role as the Minister of State in the Department for International Trade) and will be followed by distinguished panellists, from both the public and private sectors, who will provide insights on how African investment is both attracted, promoted and secured across the continent.

View more details about the event here

Private Equity and East Africa: The Resilience of Private Equity in Africa

As investors continue to look to emerging economies seeking higher returns to offset weakening returns in more mature markets, Africa as the second largest continent by land mass and population is a natural home for such investment inflows. 

Read the article written by Darren Harris and Ben Sims (both of Addleshaw Goddard's Dubai office)

Kenyan Elections: Preparing for a ‘fresh’ election: implications of the Supreme Court’s nullification of Kenya’s presidential election results

In an unexpected turn of events, the Supreme Court on 1 September overturned the results of the 8 August presidential election, in which President Uhuru Kenyatta of the ruling Jubilee Party of Kenya (JPK) had been re-elected for a second term. The electoral commission (IEBC) announced that a court-mandated ‘fresh’ presidential poll will be held on 17 October. While there may be a delay by a week to appease the leaders of the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition who have rejected the date, the IEBC will likely stick to the announced plans.

Read the article written by Patrick Matu and Patricia Rodrigues (both of Control Risks' Nairobi office)

New Mining Legislation passed in Tanzania: Impact on the attractiveness of future Mining Projects Investment?

On the 10th July 2017, new legislation was signed into law by Tanzanian President John Magufuli. The new legislation which broadly looks at increasing royalties tax on gold and other minerals, were passed by parliament last week despite opposition from the mining industry body. The President was quoted as saying, “Tanzanians’ must benefit from our God-given minerals and that is why we must safeguard our natural resource wealth to ensure we do not end up with empty mining pits”.

Read the article written by Brendon Jones (Chief Executive Officer of Adansonia Holdings Limited - Mauritius)

Kenyan Visas: Permission to Enter & Work: What Foreigners need to know about working in Kenya

Kenya has one of the largest and fastest growing economies in East and Central Africa, specifically in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing and mining. As a thriving regional business market, the country has seen many multinationals and non-governmental organisations set up base here. This has caused a large number of foreign nationals to migrate into the country for work. Despite the growing economy, unemployment levels remain very high for locals and for this reason the Government has put in place laws to protect jobs that can be undertaken by locals, while at the same time putting up stringent legal processes for foreign nationals to gain work in Kenya.

Read the article written by Georgina Ogalo-Omondi and Angela Ogang (both of Oraro & Company Advocates)

This article first appeared in Legal & Kenyan (Issue 6, August 2017), a quarterly newsletter published by Oraro & Company Advocates.

Africa technology business forum (ATBN) - Round-up and Infographic

Addleshaw Goddard was delighted to once again host the annual Africa Technology Business Forum organised by the Africa Technology Business Network in Milton Gate on Wednesday 21 June 2017. 

The Forum brought together global technology innovators, business leaders and investors from established businesses, investment funds and leading consultancies based across Europe and Africa. Key players from government agencies, ecosystem builders and start-ups all listened and shared in workshops and panel discussions with the aim of creating a balanced discussion around building partnerships and sharing strategies for driving technology growth in Africa.

The key themes for this year included:

• Financial Inclusion - How is financial inclusion driving business growth?
• Value-added Investment - Is the global investment community adjusting their model to suit Africa’s specific needs?
• Policy - How does policy help innovation ecosystems to develop and technology to scale?
• Mobile Money – discussing the impact and growth of mobile money in Africa.

Click here for an infographic that provides a neat summary and round-up of the key points discussed at the Forum this year.

For further details about the speakers & programme visit ATBN or contact Nick Ashcroft. With special thanks to Beverley Nzeadi and Kristina Anglin.

Private equity investors can help Africa to feed itself

The agriculture sector employs more people in Africa than any other industry and it also accounts for almost half of the continent’s GDP.  Most importantly, well-targeted investments, alongside close collaboration between governments, donors, entrepreneurs, the international community and investors can make a significant and lasting contribution to Africa’s 2050 goal of being able to feed itself, as referenced in the African Development Bank’s Feeding Africa action plan.

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EEAR Private Equity to manage $500 billion fund

EEAR Private Equity (EEAR P.E), an emerging private equity firm, today announced it has secured rights to manage a USD $500 billion fund for government developmental and infrastructural projects in Ghana and across the West African sub-region.  Mr. Richard Dugan, Group President of EEAR Holdings said “We look forward to working with governments across the region particularly in Ghana to facilitate plans on development. This fund will in no doubt support infrastructural and developmental projects in West Africa and we are excited to be engineering this change.”

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$550m infrastructure investment fund for Africa

Cornerstone investors: A.P Moller Holding jointly with Pension Danmark and Lægernes Pension will be funding Africa with a new infrastructure fund worth $550m to support sustainable economic growth in the region. Managing Partner and CEO of A.P. Moller Capital, Kim Fejfer, said "We are very pleased with the significant support from the Danish pension funds and A.P. Moller Holding. Together, we will build and operate infrastructure business in Africa to support sustainable development and improvements in living standards across the continent. We will combine the best from industry in terms of project management and operational capabilities with the best from private equity in terms of agility and focus".

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PE Fund Aureos Capital Exits Region as Term Expires

Regional private equity fund Aureos East Africa Fund LLC has started the process of exiting its investments in East Africa. The fund which was established by Aureos Capital in 2003, had made several investments in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.  Recently, the fund which is managed by the Abraaj Group announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell its entire 5.53 per cent (6.83 million shares) stake in the clothing retailer Deacons East Africa Plc.

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Actis invests $275m in pan-African HE network

UK-based private equity firm, Actis, has made a $275m investment to establish a higher education network spanning nine countries in Africa.  Demand for higher education in Africa is outstripping supply and the shortfall shows no signs of shrinking. According to the UN, by 2100 the continent will be home to 4.4 billion people. Currently about 40% of the population is aged 0-14 years old.  Since spinning out of the UK government’s development corporation in 2004, Actis has invested over $5.5bn in companies in consumer industries, financial services, health care and industrials. According to the company, over 40% of its investments are located across Africa.

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EAC to Use Energy as Integration Factor

The East African Community (EAC) is moving towards getting energy solutions for the regional block as part of the integration factors. The EAC Deputy Secretary General, (Productive and Social Sectors), Mr Christophe Bazivamo, informed the second executive board meeting of the East African Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EACREEE), that as the EAC integration was business oriented, energy was key to promoting trade in the region.

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Airbus BizLab targets aerospace startups in East Africa

Airbus BizLab, a global aerospace accelerator has launched the #Africa4Future initiative targeting start-ups that are transforming the aerospace business in East Africa. The Airbus BizLab offers early-stage projects support, in the form of a six-month “accelerator programme”. The programme will give startups access to coaches, experts and mentors.

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General Motors East Africa is now Isuzu East Africa

General Motors East Africa (GMEA) has officially changed its company name to Isuzu East Africa Ltd. “Over the last 40 years, GMEA has continued to assemble quality Isuzu vehicles for the market impacting several industries in the East African Market. As such, Isuzu East Africa is starting out from a solid foundation established by General Motors in the Kenyan automotive industry. This change signifies a positive continuation of our growth and strategic direction under the new majority shareholder,” said Rita Kavashe.

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Dar to Host EAC Business Forum

Tanzania is expecting to host the second East African Business and Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition next month. The conference and exhibition is expected to draw participants from high level decision makers, investors and business leaders. The three-day event will deliberate on investments, entrepreneurship and trade opportunities in the East Africa Community (EAC) and beyond.

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Cabinet Approves the Ratification of the Tripartite Free Trade Area

Cabinet has approved the ratification of the EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Free Area Agreement (FTA), paving way for the implementation of the Agreement. In a Cabinet meeting that took place on Friday 4th August 2017, members unanimously agreed that Uganda was ready to start the implementation of the Tripartite FTA which will open up a wider market for Uganda's products and services in 26 African countries.

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• Stanlib to close some equity funds (South Africa)
• World Bank private lender to fund Goodlife Pharmacy growth
• Greycroft Partners leads BitPesa’s top up round (Kenya)
• Maersk owners eye African infrastructure deals with $558 million fund
• Fairfax consortium bids for South African cement producer PPC
• IMF extension will boost investor confidence—Economist (Ghana)
• African Rainbow Capital lists on JSE (South Africa)
• GreenWish plans $800 million investment in mobile phone towers
• Fairfax Africa’s $159 million Atlas Mara deal secures 42.4% stake
• Tahal Group awarded $176 million development project in Zambia
• Dangote Industries Limited to sell 800 million shares in Dangote Cement (Nigeria)
• Government releases Hilton contract, DoubleTree to come to Ethiopia

Established 60 years ago, our extensive membership base consists of more than 400 companies ranging from different sectors that are committed to doing business on the continent. Through our 30 plus events each year and In-Country Representative network, BCA members benefit from unparalleled networking opportunities with prominent business leaders, high-level government officials and visionary entrepreneurs.

For further information please contact George Arnold or Karen Taylor.

Commentary - A glimpse into the future

• Motor cars
• Robots
• Artificial Intelligence
• The impact of war
• Medical breakthroughs

Kenya

• Politics
  • The Elections saga
  • Expectations
  • Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) contretemps
• The Economy

Uganda

• Politics
• The Economy
• Outlook

Tanzania

• Politics
• The Economy
• Business

Rwanda

• Politics
• The Economy
• Business

Ethiopia

• Politics
• The Economy
• Infrastructure

Regional round-up

• South Sudan
• Somalia
• Burundi

For further information regarding the above please contact John Small.

The Eastern Africa Association (EAA) was established in 1964 on the initiative of a number of prominent, mainly British based companies with business interests in East Africa and it now has over 400 member companies from more than 25 different countries. The EAA aims to facilitate successful participation in the economic development of Eastern Africa by member companies. The EAA exists to support the business activities of its members in the countries covered by providing channels of communication and lobbying on common issues, either through the various diplomatic missions, the international financial institutions or directly with the respective national government.