Afsane Jetha
"It is quite dangerous to think of Africa as an asset class because doing a project in Nigeria is different from a manufacturing deal in Egypt or a hospital deal in Kenya.
One of the things that concerned me a bit about our industry and generally the approach to private equity in Africa is that people tend to take a blanket approach to the continent. The idea that there is a big diversified Africa fund, and they were going to do everything within that fund while targeting thirty to forty countries at a time. From my experience, I felt that that was probably not the best approach.
If you look globally at the successful private equity players sector-focused funds had significantly higher returns than general funds."
I also increasingly felt that the healthcare sector was being under-invested, which was a shame since the healthcare sector is among the areas where you can have financial investments that have significant and lasting social impacts.
My vision was to bring a disciplined sector focus in healthcare and consumer healthcare sectors."
René van Wyk
"We've been operating in Africa for a long time, so we've seen the good and the bad, but we also look at what's happening elsewhere in the world and the investment opportunities making good returns.
That's not easy, so we have to look at where those opportunities are. I think there is a political will in Africa to build their own countries, and they appear to change from time to time as new people come into power.
We have a long term view in regards to opportunity in Africa. It takes hard work and interaction, and what you're doing now at AfricaLive is part of that. As we operate in those jurisdictions, we play a role within those political systems, talking to different people on how we can make a difference."
Sipho Mseleku
After building South Africa based Sakhumnotho Group Holdings into a thriving, diversified investment firm, CEO Sipho Mseleku began to look at the challenges facing Africa's entrepreneurs. Realising that Africa's chances of economic success are limited by an education system that fails to develop an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset in Africa's youth, Mr Mseleku and Sakhumnotho Group have put entrepreneurial education at the heart of their mission.
Through the Global School of Entrepreneurship and Global Business Roundtable, Sakhumnnotho Group has set about creating the environment required for SMEs to develop across the continent.
In this interview, Mr Mseleku shares his views with AfricaLive on the importance of morals and ethics in business and puts forward an ambitious vision for uplifting Africa through the power of entrepreneurship, impact investing, and empowering the youth of the continent.