Baobab Capital
Namibia based Baobab Capital is raising $50m through the Baobab Growth Fund II to drive the growth of early-stage, fast-growth companies across Southern Africa. The fund will leverage off the success of the Baobab Growth Fund I which has successfully invested in eight companies in Baobab’s home market of Namibia.
The launch of the fund presents an opportunity both for investors looking to tap into the growth of early-stage African start-ups and for entrepreneurs ready to scale their business in the SADC region.
Lawrence Byensi
"As an institution, we realise that our education system has not changed radically since the days of colonial rule. This outdated set up has left us producing graduates that are ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of today’s business market. The conversation about revamping and decolonising our education system has begun here in Uganda. Consultations are being made with the industry to identify what should be taught and what skills should be imparted on students. The private sector is key in this process because it is always first to raise an alarm when they are not happy with the quality of graduates being produced."
Debate on Driving African Entrepreneurship: A Bolder Vision for African Finance
Are African exchanges beginning to find the levels of liquidity that could have a significant impact on African entrepreneurship? Are many SMEs overlooking the capital markets due to a misconception on what they can offer to companies at their stage of growth? And what steps are being taken to drive collaboration between Africa's markets?
Sakhumnotho Group Holdings
CEO of South Africa based Sakhumnotho Group Holdings, Sipho Mseleku, has challenged African governments to put entrepreneurial training at the heart of education and is calling for greater collaboration amongst African business leaders to tackle Africa’s primary economic challenges.
“Africa has a failing education system,” says Mr Mseleku.
“Africa’s education systems focus more on academic training than entrepreneurial training and that is proving quite problematic.
“We at Sakhumnotho believe that entrepreneurship is the missing piece towards the growth of African economies.”