International fraudster Bernard Madoff has been jailed for the rest of his life for swindling investors out of billions of dollars.
The 71-year-old was sentenced to 150 years after he, 10 of his victims and lawyers on both sides had addressed the court.
Dozens of those who lost fortunes in his pyramid-based Ponzi investment fraud that lasted decades filled the New York courthouse having spent hours queueing to get seats.
Madoff, a former Nasdaq chairman, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and other charges in March and has since been held in jail.
Victims who lost millions of dollars had described their ruined lives to judge Denny Chin.
Madoff, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a tie, sat and listened as they described how he wrecked their financial security, and urged he be sent to prison for life.
"Life has been a living hell. It feels like the nightmare we can't wake from," said Carla Hirshhorn.
"He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in between. He had no values," said Tom Fitzmaurice. "He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife Ruth could live a life of luxury beyond belief."
Dominic Ambrosino called it an "indescribably heinous crime" and urged a long prison sentence so "will know he is imprisoned in much the same way he imprisoned us and others." He added: "In a sense, I would like somebody in the court today to tell me how long is my sentence."
Madoff's lawyer had asked a judge to give his client 12 years behind bars. Prosecutors sought the maximum 150-year term.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Merger and Acquisition Interest on Nigerian Banks by Foreign Banks Likely to Happen
Plans by Nigeria’s central bank to lift the cap on foreign ownership of banks and to encourage mergers and acquisitions will spur interest in the banking system, UBA Capital Research said.
“Speculating on which individual banks could be targets for foreign banks is of limited value, but we do believe that it is likely that banks in the mid-tier segment will attract attention,” said UBA Capital, the brokerage unit of Lagos-based United Bank for Africa Plc. It reiterated its buy recommendations on Access Bank Nigeria Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc and GTBank.
Central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi, in his first interview since his appointment on June 3, told the Financial Times of London that he expected a further consolidation in the Nigerian banking industry to bring down the number of banks to about 15 from 24.
“Speculating on which individual banks could be targets for foreign banks is of limited value, but we do believe that it is likely that banks in the mid-tier segment will attract attention,” said UBA Capital, the brokerage unit of Lagos-based United Bank for Africa Plc. It reiterated its buy recommendations on Access Bank Nigeria Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc and GTBank.
Central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi, in his first interview since his appointment on June 3, told the Financial Times of London that he expected a further consolidation in the Nigerian banking industry to bring down the number of banks to about 15 from 24.
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Private equity face of infrastructure
Adebayo Ogunlesi is the Chairman and Managing Director of Global Infrastructure Partners and is based in New York City.
Bayo previously served as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer of Credit Suisse’s Investment Banking Division with senior responsibility for Credit Suisse’s corporate and sovereign investment banking clients. From 2002 to 2004, he was Head of Credit Suisse’s Global Investment Banking Department, responsible for worldwide capital markets (debt and equity), mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and advisory, industry, country and regional banking businesses.
Bayo was previously Head of Global Power, Utilities and Project Finance in 1994, and from 1997-2002, served as Head of the Global Energy Group (power, utilities, oil and gas, chemicals, mining and project finance).
Prior to becoming an investment banker, he was an attorney with the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. From 1980 to 1981, he served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Thurgood Marshall, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Ogunlesi, more commonly known as Bayo, holds a record that many in the private equity world would envy: the largest first-time fundraise for an independent fund manager. Even more impressive is the fact that he raised GIP's $5.64 billion war chest with a focus on an emerging asset class that was just beginning to be understood by investors. People familar with the native Nigerian credit the suscess to his laser-eyed focus on bringing operational efficiences to infrastructure assets. He is by far the loudest propenent of his strategy - a mainstay of the private equity sphere that is fast becoming mainstream in the infrastructure asset class, thanks in large part to his advocacy. His lean mean management of London's City airport, which GIP bought in concert with AIG affiliate in 2006 for £770 million, is the textbook example of this growing trend.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Five ways to grow the market and create value
After years of restructuring, reengineering, and downsizing many companies are now emphasizing growth. They are under pressure to do so from three directions: shareholders, competitors, and employees.
Shareholders have become more active and demanding in the US, but increasingly so in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Consider the number of companies that have fired or gently pushed out their CEOs in recent years. Shareholders demand value creation. This is closely linked to corporate growth. The obvious limits of value creation through cost cutting now make revenue growth essential.
Then there is heat from competitors, particularly in industries such as banking, pharmaceuticals, automotive, defense, airlines, and personal computers, which are undergoing consolidation. Here growth is essential if economies of scale in technology development, operations, capacity utilization, marketing, distribution, and network externalities are to be captures. Those companies that fail to expand as fast as competitors will lose competitive and enter a downward spiral. The only options then are expansion or a vicious cycle leading to oblivion.
Finally, employees are an important influence. Employees in an expanding company have greater opportunities for career advancement, financial rewards, job security, and job satisfaction. It is more fun to go work every day and the collective mood is more upbeat in growing company.
While growth is important, it is ot easy. Asked about their target growth, companies in the US and Europe will respond that on average it is between 10 and 15 percent. As the overall economic growth rate of the countries in which they trade is about 2 to 3 percent, there is no way all of them can achieve their targets.
Put differently: add up the five-year projected market shares of all the competitors in an industry and you get a figure well over 100 percent. For every company that achieves its growth target, another will be well short. To count among the successful, a company needs a wise growth strategy. Developing this involves two major decisions: the direction and the mode of growth.
There are five possible growth directions:
- from current business by gaining market share and increasing market penetration;
- in the same business, but in a different geographic location;
- by vertical integration, either backward or forward;
- in another related business;
- in a different, unrelated business.
A company does not have to pick only one such direction. However, it is unlikely that simultaneous pursuit in all directions is wise. Instead, given limited resources, a company should determine the relative emphasis to place on each chosen growth direction.
The most promising growth directions in today's environment are: market penetration, globalization (particularly where emerging country markets are concerned), and forward integration.
Shareholders have become more active and demanding in the US, but increasingly so in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Consider the number of companies that have fired or gently pushed out their CEOs in recent years. Shareholders demand value creation. This is closely linked to corporate growth. The obvious limits of value creation through cost cutting now make revenue growth essential.
Then there is heat from competitors, particularly in industries such as banking, pharmaceuticals, automotive, defense, airlines, and personal computers, which are undergoing consolidation. Here growth is essential if economies of scale in technology development, operations, capacity utilization, marketing, distribution, and network externalities are to be captures. Those companies that fail to expand as fast as competitors will lose competitive and enter a downward spiral. The only options then are expansion or a vicious cycle leading to oblivion.
Finally, employees are an important influence. Employees in an expanding company have greater opportunities for career advancement, financial rewards, job security, and job satisfaction. It is more fun to go work every day and the collective mood is more upbeat in growing company.
While growth is important, it is ot easy. Asked about their target growth, companies in the US and Europe will respond that on average it is between 10 and 15 percent. As the overall economic growth rate of the countries in which they trade is about 2 to 3 percent, there is no way all of them can achieve their targets.
Put differently: add up the five-year projected market shares of all the competitors in an industry and you get a figure well over 100 percent. For every company that achieves its growth target, another will be well short. To count among the successful, a company needs a wise growth strategy. Developing this involves two major decisions: the direction and the mode of growth.
There are five possible growth directions:
- from current business by gaining market share and increasing market penetration;
- in the same business, but in a different geographic location;
- by vertical integration, either backward or forward;
- in another related business;
- in a different, unrelated business.
A company does not have to pick only one such direction. However, it is unlikely that simultaneous pursuit in all directions is wise. Instead, given limited resources, a company should determine the relative emphasis to place on each chosen growth direction.
The most promising growth directions in today's environment are: market penetration, globalization (particularly where emerging country markets are concerned), and forward integration.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Zain Africa Mobile Networks up for sale...
Vivendi Universal has emerged as one of the suitors for Zain’s operations in Africa. The deal would be worth an estimated Sh936 billion ($12 billion).
If Vivendi succeeds, it would mark an ironical return of the company to the Kenyan market, after selling its 60 per cent stake in KenCell — the predecessor of Zain Kenya — to Celtel in 2005, for $230 million. Celtel in turn sold the business to the Kuwait-based company, Zain, in August last year, as part of the larger Celtel Africa, which spans 12 African countries, for $3.4 billion.
South Africa’s MTN is said to be another contender.
Vivendi is one of the largest European entertainment companies. It has a 56 per cent stake in a French mobile network — SFR — that offers mobile services in Re-Union Islands and Morocco, and it is likely that this is the brand the African operation will don.
MTN has operations in much of the region, but Kenya has remained elusive for it. It unsuccessfully attempted to buy KenCell in 2004.
Zain has grown the Kenyan operation.
It has, for instance, built the 13 per cent market share it had at the time of the takeover, to over 20 per cent currently.
However, it sill remains a distant second to Safaricom with a market share of about 70 per cent.
For Sh930 billion, Zain could make a handsome profit for the company it bought for $3.4 billon.
Zain Group has posted record results for the financial year ended December 31, last year, with revenues increasing by 26 per cent to reach $7.441 billion, although fourth quarter results were hit by currency fluctuations, according to an unnamed company official.
Zain, which has operations in 22 countries across the Middle East and Africa, increased its customer base by 50 per cent to reach 63.5 million subscribers, while net profit increased by 6 per cent compared with 2007 to reach $1.2 billion.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Call for higher education support fund
Writer: Karen MacGregor
University World News
In Africa, Sixteen African ministers attending a preparatory meeting for the Unesco World Conference on Higher Education, to be held in Paris in July, called for improved financing of universities and a support fund to strengthen training and research in key areas. The ministers also want improved governance and quality assurance, and diversification of programmes to enable the sector to meet a wider range of needs, according to a conference statement circulated last week.
Africa's Regional Conference on Higher Education, or CRESA, was held in Dakar from 10 to 13 November last year and was organised by Unesco's Regional Office for Education in Africa, in partnership with the government of Senegal. The theme was "New Dynamics on Higher Education and Research: Strategies for change and development".
There were 241 participants from 27 African countries including two prime ministers, 16 higher education ministers, 23 heads of universities and a range of international organisations including Unesco, the African Union, EU, Association of African Universities, Association for the Development of Education in Africa and World Bank.
Following a meeting held during the CRESA conference, the 16 ministers called for more efficient policies to support national and international cooperation, to boost the revitalisation of higher education in Africa.
They urged governments and partners to increase spending on higher education, expand the involvement of women and prioritise science and technology for Africa's development. A Support Fund for Higher Education was proposed, to bolster efforts to expand and improve the sector and to develop training and research in key areas like science and technology.
The ministers said good governance in higher education should be strengthened to achieve greater autonomy, transparency and accountability in management. Diversification of training programmes was needed along with efficient quality assurance mechanisms that would provide a basis for harmonising qualifications.
South African Minister of Education Naledi Pandor called on African states to ensure the autonomy of higher education institutions so they could fully perform their role of creating and disseminating knowledge at the service of an African renaissance.
The aim of the Dakar regional conference was to bring higher education decision-makers, stakeholders and partners together to provide Africa with some shared higher education benchmarks and produce guidelines for the 2009 world conference. The meeting reviewed progress made in the past decade and formulated strategies for the future.
Chair of the CRESA organising committee, Professor Ahmadou Lamine Ndiaye, said considerable improvements had been made in higher education in several areas, including access, equity - especially greater involvement of women - and good governance.
The report said there had been more awareness of the role that should be played by knowledge as the driving force of development. It said the will to reform higher education systems to achieve improvements in relevance and in quality, particularly by establishing monitoring and evaluation, quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms was also more evident.
Efforts to diversify provision and structures as well as sources of financing and to improve links between higher education, the state and private sector had occurred while increasing stress had been placed on information and communication technologies. Sub-regional and regional networks had been created to strengthen inter-African cooperation, exchange of experiences and harmonisation of policies.
But the stock-taking also revealed numerous challenges, said the conference report. One was that access to higher education remained generally very low and Africa was far from achieving the critical mass of skilled people needed to secure its development. The higher education participation rate fluctuated around 5% to 7% and was aggravated by a fairly low success rate, particularly in the first cycle of most universities.
In many countries there was persistent mismatch between the content of training programmes and needs of the market - reflected by high rates of graduate unemployment in some key economic sectors that woefully lacked qualified personnel. An imbalance also existed between numbers of students in the arts and humanities and those in science, technology and vocational streams - especially among women.
Further challenges were lack of reliable statistical data to inform policy and building an African higher education community, as well as the need to construct coherent education systems from pre-school to higher education and the inclusion of private education sas a fully-fledged component with the same demands as public education.
The conference reached conclusions in a number of areas, including: access; relevance, efficiency and effectiveness; quality assurance; research and innovation; partnerships and cooperation; creation of an African Higher Education Area; and funding.
Africa needed to increase and broaden student access to higher education with financial support for students from poor and marginalised communities and greater representation of women across broad fields of study, participants at the conference decided.
There was a call for a diverse range of institutions such as research-intensive universities, undergraduate universities, polytechnics, teacher training colleges and rural institutions. Also, private sector participation and open and distance learning should be encouraged, "with appropriate quality assurance mechanisms in place".
In terms of relevance, efficiency and effectiveness, the conference concluded that institutions should be supported to serve the priorities and needs of Africa's development through socio-culturally relevant curricula. According to the conference report:
"Development plans should match graduate output with national human resource needs in order to minimise graduate unemployment." Further, there should be technical, vocational and entrepreneurship training to prepare graduates for the world of work.
African indigenous knowledge should be included in curricula and disseminated widely, and values of democracy, sustainable development, peace, conflict prevention and resolution as well as ethical values, behaviours and attitudes should be "inculcated in students and staff".
The conference called for governance and management of institutions to be strengthened in ways conducive to "greater autonomy, transparency and accountability", for ICTs and open and distance learning to be used more widely, and for credible information systems and statistical databases to enable evidence-based planning and decision-making.
The meeting concluded that sub-regional and regional quality assurance networks should be established "to promote cooperation among African experts and common frames of reference for standards-setting and monitoring", that regulatory mechanisms for cross-border provision should be developed, and that capacity to deliver quality assurance should be strengthened.
Institutional and human capacity to generate quality research should also be strengthened through funding, training and collaboration with well-established researchers in and outside Africa. Also, quality documentary resources should be established, research and development should be promoted and rewarded - especially that targeting Africa's development problems - and innovation incubators and science parks should be created.
The report stated, that north-south cooperation should be based on strong structures and sustainable frameworks, research-driven cooperation should tackle shared regional cross-border challenges, and cooperation and partnerships should be mutually beneficial and structured to discourage the brain drain while strengthening links with the African Diaspora.
The conference called for the creation of an African Higher Education Area and regional centres of excellence to facilitate the exchange of experiences and expertise, regional student and staff mobility, joint degrees and mutual recognition of qualifications. African language teaching should be strengthened "to promote communication and regional integration".
Finally, the report said there should be a national commitment to fund higher education adequately with African governments giving priority to the sector and allocating more resources to it, while cost-sharing or cost-recovery as well as the diversification of funding sources should be encouraged.
"An African Higher Education Trust Fund should be established to supplement the efforts of African governments and institutions to expand and strengthen higher education institutions."
The conclusions of the conference helped to define a vision for, and the role and challenges facing, higher education, said the report. They would enable higher education and states "to make choices, opt for orientations and design plans of action for the development of post-secondary education in Africa in the years ahead".
University World News
In Africa, Sixteen African ministers attending a preparatory meeting for the Unesco World Conference on Higher Education, to be held in Paris in July, called for improved financing of universities and a support fund to strengthen training and research in key areas. The ministers also want improved governance and quality assurance, and diversification of programmes to enable the sector to meet a wider range of needs, according to a conference statement circulated last week.
Africa's Regional Conference on Higher Education, or CRESA, was held in Dakar from 10 to 13 November last year and was organised by Unesco's Regional Office for Education in Africa, in partnership with the government of Senegal. The theme was "New Dynamics on Higher Education and Research: Strategies for change and development".
There were 241 participants from 27 African countries including two prime ministers, 16 higher education ministers, 23 heads of universities and a range of international organisations including Unesco, the African Union, EU, Association of African Universities, Association for the Development of Education in Africa and World Bank.
Following a meeting held during the CRESA conference, the 16 ministers called for more efficient policies to support national and international cooperation, to boost the revitalisation of higher education in Africa.
They urged governments and partners to increase spending on higher education, expand the involvement of women and prioritise science and technology for Africa's development. A Support Fund for Higher Education was proposed, to bolster efforts to expand and improve the sector and to develop training and research in key areas like science and technology.
The ministers said good governance in higher education should be strengthened to achieve greater autonomy, transparency and accountability in management. Diversification of training programmes was needed along with efficient quality assurance mechanisms that would provide a basis for harmonising qualifications.
South African Minister of Education Naledi Pandor called on African states to ensure the autonomy of higher education institutions so they could fully perform their role of creating and disseminating knowledge at the service of an African renaissance.
The aim of the Dakar regional conference was to bring higher education decision-makers, stakeholders and partners together to provide Africa with some shared higher education benchmarks and produce guidelines for the 2009 world conference. The meeting reviewed progress made in the past decade and formulated strategies for the future.
Chair of the CRESA organising committee, Professor Ahmadou Lamine Ndiaye, said considerable improvements had been made in higher education in several areas, including access, equity - especially greater involvement of women - and good governance.
The report said there had been more awareness of the role that should be played by knowledge as the driving force of development. It said the will to reform higher education systems to achieve improvements in relevance and in quality, particularly by establishing monitoring and evaluation, quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms was also more evident.
Efforts to diversify provision and structures as well as sources of financing and to improve links between higher education, the state and private sector had occurred while increasing stress had been placed on information and communication technologies. Sub-regional and regional networks had been created to strengthen inter-African cooperation, exchange of experiences and harmonisation of policies.
But the stock-taking also revealed numerous challenges, said the conference report. One was that access to higher education remained generally very low and Africa was far from achieving the critical mass of skilled people needed to secure its development. The higher education participation rate fluctuated around 5% to 7% and was aggravated by a fairly low success rate, particularly in the first cycle of most universities.
In many countries there was persistent mismatch between the content of training programmes and needs of the market - reflected by high rates of graduate unemployment in some key economic sectors that woefully lacked qualified personnel. An imbalance also existed between numbers of students in the arts and humanities and those in science, technology and vocational streams - especially among women.
Further challenges were lack of reliable statistical data to inform policy and building an African higher education community, as well as the need to construct coherent education systems from pre-school to higher education and the inclusion of private education sas a fully-fledged component with the same demands as public education.
The conference reached conclusions in a number of areas, including: access; relevance, efficiency and effectiveness; quality assurance; research and innovation; partnerships and cooperation; creation of an African Higher Education Area; and funding.
Africa needed to increase and broaden student access to higher education with financial support for students from poor and marginalised communities and greater representation of women across broad fields of study, participants at the conference decided.
There was a call for a diverse range of institutions such as research-intensive universities, undergraduate universities, polytechnics, teacher training colleges and rural institutions. Also, private sector participation and open and distance learning should be encouraged, "with appropriate quality assurance mechanisms in place".
In terms of relevance, efficiency and effectiveness, the conference concluded that institutions should be supported to serve the priorities and needs of Africa's development through socio-culturally relevant curricula. According to the conference report:
"Development plans should match graduate output with national human resource needs in order to minimise graduate unemployment." Further, there should be technical, vocational and entrepreneurship training to prepare graduates for the world of work.
African indigenous knowledge should be included in curricula and disseminated widely, and values of democracy, sustainable development, peace, conflict prevention and resolution as well as ethical values, behaviours and attitudes should be "inculcated in students and staff".
The conference called for governance and management of institutions to be strengthened in ways conducive to "greater autonomy, transparency and accountability", for ICTs and open and distance learning to be used more widely, and for credible information systems and statistical databases to enable evidence-based planning and decision-making.
The meeting concluded that sub-regional and regional quality assurance networks should be established "to promote cooperation among African experts and common frames of reference for standards-setting and monitoring", that regulatory mechanisms for cross-border provision should be developed, and that capacity to deliver quality assurance should be strengthened.
Institutional and human capacity to generate quality research should also be strengthened through funding, training and collaboration with well-established researchers in and outside Africa. Also, quality documentary resources should be established, research and development should be promoted and rewarded - especially that targeting Africa's development problems - and innovation incubators and science parks should be created.
The report stated, that north-south cooperation should be based on strong structures and sustainable frameworks, research-driven cooperation should tackle shared regional cross-border challenges, and cooperation and partnerships should be mutually beneficial and structured to discourage the brain drain while strengthening links with the African Diaspora.
The conference called for the creation of an African Higher Education Area and regional centres of excellence to facilitate the exchange of experiences and expertise, regional student and staff mobility, joint degrees and mutual recognition of qualifications. African language teaching should be strengthened "to promote communication and regional integration".
Finally, the report said there should be a national commitment to fund higher education adequately with African governments giving priority to the sector and allocating more resources to it, while cost-sharing or cost-recovery as well as the diversification of funding sources should be encouraged.
"An African Higher Education Trust Fund should be established to supplement the efforts of African governments and institutions to expand and strengthen higher education institutions."
The conclusions of the conference helped to define a vision for, and the role and challenges facing, higher education, said the report. They would enable higher education and states "to make choices, opt for orientations and design plans of action for the development of post-secondary education in Africa in the years ahead".
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Nigerian economy best for investment in Africa
ABUJA—In spite of the hype on the effect of the global economic meltdown on the nation’s economy, the Minister of Works, Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Hassan Muhammad Lawal has said the country’s economy was strong and offered the best investment opportunity in Africa.
Dr. Lawal who stated this while welcoming the proposal by the Turkish Construction Giant TASYAPI Construction Undertaking to participate in the construction industry in Nigeria, said the fact the country is enjoying stable polity glitters its fortune as investment hobnob in the continent.
Led by the General Manager and member of the Board of TASYAPI Construction Undertaking, Mr. Goksel Bodur, the Minister assured the Turkish Firm that Nigerian economy was strong and the polity stable and offered the best investment opportunity in Africa.
He recalled that Nigeria and Turkey have a very cordial bilateral relationship and told the Turkish delegation that they had nothing to fear.
He said the coming of the Turkish company into the Nigerian construction industry would strengthen the existing cordial bilateral ties between Nigeria and Turkey.
He urged the company to comply with legal stipulations for business operations in Nigeria, and explore their areas of interest with relevant officials in the Ministry.
The Minister also called on them to participate in joint venture schemes with the Ministry to provide beautiful and affordable housing schemes for Nigerians, noting that the sector was very viable and lucrative.
He said the Federal Government will welcome the injection of international capital and investment in the housing sector to ease the problem of affordable and decent housing in the country.
Addressing the Minister earlier, leader of the Turkish delegation Mr. Goksel Bodur said they were the third largest construction company in Turkey and were currently involved in construction projects in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Written by Chris Ochayi
Tuesday, 03 March 2009
Dr. Lawal who stated this while welcoming the proposal by the Turkish Construction Giant TASYAPI Construction Undertaking to participate in the construction industry in Nigeria, said the fact the country is enjoying stable polity glitters its fortune as investment hobnob in the continent.
Led by the General Manager and member of the Board of TASYAPI Construction Undertaking, Mr. Goksel Bodur, the Minister assured the Turkish Firm that Nigerian economy was strong and the polity stable and offered the best investment opportunity in Africa.
He recalled that Nigeria and Turkey have a very cordial bilateral relationship and told the Turkish delegation that they had nothing to fear.
He said the coming of the Turkish company into the Nigerian construction industry would strengthen the existing cordial bilateral ties between Nigeria and Turkey.
He urged the company to comply with legal stipulations for business operations in Nigeria, and explore their areas of interest with relevant officials in the Ministry.
The Minister also called on them to participate in joint venture schemes with the Ministry to provide beautiful and affordable housing schemes for Nigerians, noting that the sector was very viable and lucrative.
He said the Federal Government will welcome the injection of international capital and investment in the housing sector to ease the problem of affordable and decent housing in the country.
Addressing the Minister earlier, leader of the Turkish delegation Mr. Goksel Bodur said they were the third largest construction company in Turkey and were currently involved in construction projects in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Written by Chris Ochayi
Tuesday, 03 March 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Nigeria will stabilize the naira following tumble, Soludo says
Nigeria will stabilize the naira without squandering its more than $50 billion of foreign reserves after the currency fell about 20 percent against the dollar, said central bank Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
Policy makers have a “flexible” exchange-rate policy, Soludo said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Currency-trading restrictions imposed last week are “temporary,” designed to prevent the central bank from running down international reserves as Russia has done to support the ruble.
The naira began tumbling as oil, which accounts for 90 percent of Nigeria’s export earnings, started its 74 percent drop from a record in July. The central bank banned interbank trading in the currency last week, spurring the resurgence of an unregulated market where the naira’s exchange rate is about 6.5 percent weaker than the central bank’s target rate.
Africa’s biggest oil producer and the fifth-largest supplier of crude to the U.S. has enough reserves to meet all its foreign- debt obligations “even for years,” Soludo said.
Foreign-currency reserves fell 5.7 percent to $58.4 billion from $61.9 billion a month earlier, the central bank said on Nov. 7. As of Jan. 22, reserves dropped to $50.9 billion as the central bank stepped in to buy naira after it reached a record low of 161.2 per dollar in interbank trading on Jan. 13.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Liberia’s First Microfinance Institution Starts Operations with IFC’s Support
Liberia’s first commercial microfinance bank has received a banking license and is making loans to the public, boosting the country’s economy by providing finance to its smallest businesses, many of which have had no access to financial services.
IFC is a founding shareholder in AccessBank Liberia, which received a preliminary banking license from Liberia’s central bank.
IFC has supported AccessBank Liberia through every stage of its development. AccessBank Liberia looks forward to a continued partnership with IFC to increase financial services to Liberia’s smallest entrepreneurs and help support the country’s economic development.
AccessBank Liberia is the result of a two-year partnership between IFC and Liberia’s government. IFC initially worked with partners at Liberia’s Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and within the World Bank Group to build a regulatory framework based on global best practices in microfinance. IFC will continue to work with Liberia’s central bank to strengthen its capacity to supervise microfinance lending.
The successful launch of AccessBank Liberia demonstrates IFC’s commitment to Liberia and strong belief in the potential of the country’s private sector. IFC Africa strategy involve supporting Africa’s smallest businesses and entrepreneurs by helping to extend financial services to people and places where they are most needed.
AccessBank Liberia was established in partnership with Access Holding. IFC previously worked with Access Holding to establish successful microfinance banks in Madagascar and Tanzania. The European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank are also shareholders in the new institution.
IFC is a founding shareholder in AccessBank Liberia, which received a preliminary banking license from Liberia’s central bank.
IFC has supported AccessBank Liberia through every stage of its development. AccessBank Liberia looks forward to a continued partnership with IFC to increase financial services to Liberia’s smallest entrepreneurs and help support the country’s economic development.
AccessBank Liberia is the result of a two-year partnership between IFC and Liberia’s government. IFC initially worked with partners at Liberia’s Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and within the World Bank Group to build a regulatory framework based on global best practices in microfinance. IFC will continue to work with Liberia’s central bank to strengthen its capacity to supervise microfinance lending.
The successful launch of AccessBank Liberia demonstrates IFC’s commitment to Liberia and strong belief in the potential of the country’s private sector. IFC Africa strategy involve supporting Africa’s smallest businesses and entrepreneurs by helping to extend financial services to people and places where they are most needed.
AccessBank Liberia was established in partnership with Access Holding. IFC previously worked with Access Holding to establish successful microfinance banks in Madagascar and Tanzania. The European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank are also shareholders in the new institution.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Breaking Views: Microfinance Risk? What risk?
Microfinance entrepreneur Dave Van Niekerk thinks Afraica is a safe bet and is lending the money to prove it - even though his customers don't have bank account between them.
Feeling Blue?
Blue Financial Services (www.blue.co.za) began life in 2001 as a finance provider for low-income earners in South Africa unable to afford mainstream financial services. By 2003 it had expanded into Botswana and by the year ending February 2005 it saw turnover reach R80 million ($11m). A swift listing on tha Altx board of the JSE in October 2006 and capital injections from AIG and IFC among others sponsored an ambitious expansion programme that sees it now operating 173 branches across Soth Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia and Kenya, employing over 1,000 people.
David Van Niekerk founded Blue Financial Services in 2001 and has led it since as CEO. He has worked in microfinance since 1997 when he joined Unity Financial Services, later becoming a shareholder and the operational manager. Unity was eventually sold to Theta investments to become part of its microfinance stable, which was then merged into South African loans provider African Bank, to become African Bank Investments Limited. Van Niekerk held various senior management posts there until leaving for Blue. He was officially to Blue's board in October 2005.
Q. Why does your company Blue focus on microfinance for the bottom of the pyramid?
The opportunities in the microfinance area across the continent are just enormous - banks are simply not servicing this market. In Zambia for instance, you can’t get a home improvement loan or even a loan to buy a vehicle from a commercial bank - the restrictions and costs are too high.
The majority of our customers live on a subsistence living, and they don’t have a large savings base. Many of them don’t have any savings, they live from hand to mouth, so the smallest emergency expense will set them back dramatically and they need to have access to capital to fix the problem.
Q. How successful has the venture been so far?
We’re currently the top-listed company on the ALTX, with a market capitalisation of about two billion rand (U S$281m). We have strong international shareholders like IFC, part of the World Bank; AIG, one of the largest insurers in the world; Stanlib from South Africa, and the Dutch Development Bank recently also placed funding with us. We have a nice investor base, and a lot of international flavour.
We want to become Africa’s biggest credit provider, and our intention is to be in the majority of African countries in the next five years. We’ll go where others fear to tread. Our Kenyan operation is continuing despite the political chaos and will continue, and the people that pull out now are the ones that are going to get hurt.
Q. What financial services do people in this market need?
People primarily need day-to-day finance - they need salary advances, which is instant finance. Second, they need term loans, which are essentially personal loans that can be used for a variety of purposes from home improvement to an emergency. Our third most popular product is the home improvement loan. In our experience the majority of our clients don’t want loans or advances paid into a bank account, they want to receive cash.
It’s not as easy as dealing with a high-profile customer: it’s a more labour-intensive market. We spend, on average, half an hour with each customer to get things done and we pay out advances or credit on average within an hour. People need access to credit in a hurry - they’ve got jobs they’ve got to maintain, and they don’t want to go and apply and then come back for an answer three weeks later. They will often travel large distances from rural to urban areas to get finance.
We give typically home loans of up to 350,000 rand ($49,000) - an area where the banks won’t play. We’ll give education loans, home improvement loans and normal personal loans, and advanced credit with fixed repayments over time.
Q. Why don’t the banks serve these customers?
The banks are not geared for this market. It’s not their fault they’re not geared, it’s a very tough market and there isn’t necessarily all the information to hand to grant credit.
Most of this population is also unbanked. So, if you’re a bank, you’re looking at banking that person first, to get them a track record, and a history to be able to grant the credit on. Banks look at this market from a very different perspective - we don’t measure our customers’ credit ability or credit worthiness from his bank account, we look at a number of factors. Banks like to have a customer with them before they will grant credit. So you first have to bank the population - it’s a chicken and egg situation, do you bank them first or lend to them first? In Tanzania, 35% of civil servants don’t have bank accounts. They get paid by collecting cheques from banks assigned by the government, but they don’t have an account there. These are civil servants, your more educated, higher level employees - it just illustrates the limited nature of banking in Africa.
Q. What can microfinance do for economic growth in Africa?
There are many stats showing that if you lift the GDP of a country by 10%, you raise the bottom income earners by 3% - you’ve taken 3% of the population out of poverty. How do you do that? You create employment, you give potential entrepreneurs access to funding.
In Zambia, most of our customers are existing civil servants who run a small business on the sideline; where they have agricultural crops, they have a poultry business, they do repair work, and they do it through loans they get from us. We have one lady there who borrowed money from us to start a chicken business. Over a year that has blossomed and she now makes three times her teacher’s salary through her business. That’s the kind of access to finance that people require.
Q. Africa’s low-income market is perceived to be credit-risky - would you agree?
In our experience, people who have new access to credit don’t want to disappoint the lender because they’ll never be able to borrow from you again, and they want to continue that relationship. So, we have a much better payment history in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa than we do in South Africa, and strangely enough the more informal or rural the country, the better the payment culture.
It’s essentially about responsible lending - the customer has to be able to afford the instalment, so you adjust the term, the period and the value of the advance to the use of the loan to ensure they can afford it. We match the term of the repayment to the product - we won’t give somebody a school fee loan over three years, it must be a one-year loan.
Q. How do you check the creditworthiness of your customers?
We have a scoring model that we use to determine the customer’s affordability and whether he should get the loan, and that involves working with ITC bureaux and credit bureaux in these countries, often using data shared between banks and financial institutions. We base our model on factors such as length of employment, how much the customer earns, how long he has lived at the current address, and a number of different aspects of his personal life.
Q. Do you back up your loans with money management support or mentoring?
We’ve only now moved into SMME lending - small business loans - and yes, we do. There is a lot of hand-holding involved; we give the person coaching, mentoring, we manage his bank account with him for the first few months.
We’ve got education courses for our customers and education booklets to train people on budgeting, managing their money, how to use a loan, why not to use a loan, how to repay a loan, what the effects of interest rates are. This is all designed to educate our customer base, because for many this is their first experience of credit. When we opened in Malawi we were the first formal microfinancier in the market, as they had only previously had loan sharks who would break their kneecaps. They knocked us over - we couldn’t keep up with demand for the first few weeks. It’s a big education process.
Original Article: Africa Investor
Can you make money in African infrastructure?
Brian Myerson, joint chairman of PME Infrastructure Managers, says you can, and he's raised a $180m fund to prove it
Brian Myerson is a director of PME African Infrastructure Opportunities and joint chairman of PME Infrstructure Managers Limited, which will mange the funds of PME Afraican Infrastructure Opportunities. He is also CEO of Pinnacle Capital Group (www.principalcapital.com), which he founded in November 2004. Pinnacle Capital Group specialises in alternative investment management and is one of four joint venture partners in PME Infrastructure Managers.
In 1993, Myerson co-founded Active Value and was a pioneer in actvist investing in the UK, Continental Europe and South Africa. He has also been on the boards of several listed UK companies.
Once described as one of the City’s "most feared corporate raiders", Myerson has turned his activist investor mindset to African infrastructure through the creation of PME African Infrastructure Opportunities, an AIM-listed investment fund.
"Infrastructure is literally top of every African government official’s agenda at the moment," says Myerson.
He believes the current environment is perfect for private equity investment in infrastructure due to a number of factors coming into play at the same time. First, the worldwide boom in demand for mineral resources is a fantastic opportunity for Africa. But to fully benefit Africa needs the mines and supporting infrastructure - such as roads, railways and ports - to get the stuff out of the ground and shipped to places such as India and China.
Second, peace has taken hold and democracy is spreading across large parts of Africa, significantly improving the investment climate. At the same time, African governments are starting to embrace capitalism. They are desperate for inward investment and going out of their way to bring down regulatory barriers. Finally, South Africa and many other African countries have experienced extended periods of economic growth but infrastructure development has not kept up.
"Just being in Africa and knowing people in the investment banking industry means I’m being shown potential deals all the time," says Myerson. "People are desperately looking for equity investments in infrastructure-related projects and that’s why we put this fund together."
Read More..
Integrity Counts
Vimal Shah, CEO of east African FMCG giant Bidco, has built a household name by matching business sense and commitment with firm ethics. He explains his vision to Alison Lock, Africa Investors.
It isn’t an easy time to be doing business in Kenya at the moment, but Vimal Shah, founder and head of the Bidco empire, has weathered a few storms in his time. "It’s a phase we have to go through and it’s good to learn from," he says stoically of the current political upheaval.
"These are our peak months, but they’ve been the opposite," he says. "It’s disrupted the distribution systems and the way people work, and in Uganda we’re down by about 50% from normal levels."
It was a similar story 15 years ago, during the 1992 multiparty elections in Kenya, when his small consumer goods company, producing and selling edible oils, fats, soaps and margarines was in its crucial expansion stage.
"It was a very tough period for us when we started off. Interest rates went from 15% to 80% per annum. The exchange rate was also very high, worse than it is at the moment in Kenya, it was very hard to operate. Lots of companies didn’t make it."
Bidco did survive, however, and has since grown from an idea conceived out of his father’s textile business into a household name with production plants in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania distributing 26 brands across 14 countries. Shah’s ambitions for his business now stretch continent-wide: "Africa’s per capita consumption is very low. It can only go up. We have a goal - 2030 - by which time we want to be all over Africa in this industry."
Read More..
It isn’t an easy time to be doing business in Kenya at the moment, but Vimal Shah, founder and head of the Bidco empire, has weathered a few storms in his time. "It’s a phase we have to go through and it’s good to learn from," he says stoically of the current political upheaval.
"These are our peak months, but they’ve been the opposite," he says. "It’s disrupted the distribution systems and the way people work, and in Uganda we’re down by about 50% from normal levels."
It was a similar story 15 years ago, during the 1992 multiparty elections in Kenya, when his small consumer goods company, producing and selling edible oils, fats, soaps and margarines was in its crucial expansion stage.
"It was a very tough period for us when we started off. Interest rates went from 15% to 80% per annum. The exchange rate was also very high, worse than it is at the moment in Kenya, it was very hard to operate. Lots of companies didn’t make it."
Bidco did survive, however, and has since grown from an idea conceived out of his father’s textile business into a household name with production plants in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania distributing 26 brands across 14 countries. Shah’s ambitions for his business now stretch continent-wide: "Africa’s per capita consumption is very low. It can only go up. We have a goal - 2030 - by which time we want to be all over Africa in this industry."
Read More..
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
South Africa's Treasury will provide electricity utility Eskom with loan guarantees of 175.97 billion rand
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's Treasury will provide electricity utility Eskom with loan guarantees of 175.97 billion rand over the next 5 years to help it raise funds for spending requirements.
The Treasury said in its 2009 Budget Review, released on Wednesday, that the guarantees were in addition to a 60 billion rand, three-year direct loan to the company announced last year.
Eskom , which is battling to meet growing demand, plans to spend 343 billion rand over five years to boost capacity but a global credit crisis had raised borrowing costs making it different for the company to raise finance.
Read More
The Treasury said in its 2009 Budget Review, released on Wednesday, that the guarantees were in addition to a 60 billion rand, three-year direct loan to the company announced last year.
Eskom , which is battling to meet growing demand, plans to spend 343 billion rand over five years to boost capacity but a global credit crisis had raised borrowing costs making it different for the company to raise finance.
Read More
South Africa invests $16 billion to create jobs, cut poverty
South Africa will invest an additional 161 billion rand over the next three years to create jobs and reduce poverty as the effects of a global financial crisis weigh on the economy.
The government has allocated 25 billion rand to provinces to expand no-fee schools, reduce infant and child mortality and improve welfare services.
The government will concentrate on its expanded public works programme to try and rein in mounting job losses, mainly in the mining and manufacturing sectors, where shrinking exports and lower commodity prices place tens of thousands of jobs at risk.
The government will spend 4.1 billion rand on the public works programme and an additional 7.9 billion rand for housing and municipal infrastructure.
A further 5.4 billion rand will go to improve the criminal justice system and increase the number of police officials from 183,000 last year to over 204,000 in 2011/12.
The government has allocated 25 billion rand to provinces to expand no-fee schools, reduce infant and child mortality and improve welfare services.
The government will concentrate on its expanded public works programme to try and rein in mounting job losses, mainly in the mining and manufacturing sectors, where shrinking exports and lower commodity prices place tens of thousands of jobs at risk.
The government will spend 4.1 billion rand on the public works programme and an additional 7.9 billion rand for housing and municipal infrastructure.
A further 5.4 billion rand will go to improve the criminal justice system and increase the number of police officials from 183,000 last year to over 204,000 in 2011/12.
S.Africa ramps up spending to fight slowing growth
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa ramped up spending in its 2009 budget and cut taxes to counter a global slowdown and boost an economy seen limping to its lowest rate of growth in more than a decade.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel also delayed the introduction of mineral royalties until next year as miners struggle amid falling commodity prices and easing global demand.
Read More
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel also delayed the introduction of mineral royalties until next year as miners struggle amid falling commodity prices and easing global demand.
Read More
Angola's government will cut spending in 2009
Angola's government will cut spending in 2009 and bolster efforts to diversify the oil dependent economy to counter the global economic slowdown.
The government would continue to invest in key sectors like agriculture in a bid to improve the lives of ordinary Angolans -- an estimated two-thirds live on less than $2 a day.
The country's Economy minister Manuel Nunes said "We will continue to carry out efforts to fight hunger, poverty and implement key public investments."
The government, which in December forecast the economy in 2009 to grow 11.8 percent, has also said it could revise these estimates in the face of the global economic slowdown.
It has also pledged to spend $50 billion to build one million new homes for the poor in the next five years.
The government would continue to invest in key sectors like agriculture in a bid to improve the lives of ordinary Angolans -- an estimated two-thirds live on less than $2 a day.
The country's Economy minister Manuel Nunes said "We will continue to carry out efforts to fight hunger, poverty and implement key public investments."
The government, which in December forecast the economy in 2009 to grow 11.8 percent, has also said it could revise these estimates in the face of the global economic slowdown.
It has also pledged to spend $50 billion to build one million new homes for the poor in the next five years.
RAISING FUNDS FOR THE SMART & SERIOUS ENTREPRENEUR
We're expecting $400,000 in revenue this year and considering seeking outside capital for the first time. What do investors usually want in terms of percentage of ownership and rate of return?
The answer, in two words: a lot. Which makes sense, because the investors are taking a lot of risk. Out of any 10 investments, half will fail completely. Of the remaining five, two will break even and two will return a couple of times the investment. The profit needs to come from the last company, which means that every one them has to have the potential of being a home run.
What's a home run? In an angel's ideal world, an equity investment of $100,00 would turn into $1 million to $3 million in five to seven years. Angels won't complain about a lower return, however, if they can exit more quickly.
You may have to give away a large stake to get the money you need. Whereas a tech company with your level of revenue might be valued at $4 million to $5 million, a toffee maker probably is worth from $1 million to $2 million. If an angel estimates that your company is worth $1 million, then gives you $250,000, the investor will get a 20 percent stake. That's because the size of the stake is determined by the postmoney valuation of the company - in this example, $1 million plus the $250,000 investment. If you can show that sales are growing rapidly, you may have some leverage to negotiate a higher valuation. But may be not. Consumer products is a risky sector; even if your toffee is already on grocery store shelves, a larger company could drop its prices and drive you out.
Don't want to give up a large chunk of your company, only to see it sold off? You could approach friends and family members instead. Unlike a professional investor, Grandma probably can't tell you how to find a great new VP of marketing. On the other hand, she is much less likely to demand a full-ratchet anti-dilution provision. And there's something else to keep in mind. Like VCs, angels are increasingly asking for their shares to come in the form of participating preferred stock, which ranks higher than common stock. In an exit, your angels will receive the face value of their original investment plus any accrued dividends (usually worth about 8 percent a year) before you or any friends-and-family investors receive a cent. then if there's any money left over, the angels share in the rest of the pie. If the pie is big enough for all to share, great. If not? Well, you're in for an uncomfortable conversation with Grandma
This Blog Post was adapted from " Tough questions, smart answers ASK Inc." from the November 2008 issue of INC. Magazine.
The answer, in two words: a lot. Which makes sense, because the investors are taking a lot of risk. Out of any 10 investments, half will fail completely. Of the remaining five, two will break even and two will return a couple of times the investment. The profit needs to come from the last company, which means that every one them has to have the potential of being a home run.
What's a home run? In an angel's ideal world, an equity investment of $100,00 would turn into $1 million to $3 million in five to seven years. Angels won't complain about a lower return, however, if they can exit more quickly.
You may have to give away a large stake to get the money you need. Whereas a tech company with your level of revenue might be valued at $4 million to $5 million, a toffee maker probably is worth from $1 million to $2 million. If an angel estimates that your company is worth $1 million, then gives you $250,000, the investor will get a 20 percent stake. That's because the size of the stake is determined by the postmoney valuation of the company - in this example, $1 million plus the $250,000 investment. If you can show that sales are growing rapidly, you may have some leverage to negotiate a higher valuation. But may be not. Consumer products is a risky sector; even if your toffee is already on grocery store shelves, a larger company could drop its prices and drive you out.
Don't want to give up a large chunk of your company, only to see it sold off? You could approach friends and family members instead. Unlike a professional investor, Grandma probably can't tell you how to find a great new VP of marketing. On the other hand, she is much less likely to demand a full-ratchet anti-dilution provision. And there's something else to keep in mind. Like VCs, angels are increasingly asking for their shares to come in the form of participating preferred stock, which ranks higher than common stock. In an exit, your angels will receive the face value of their original investment plus any accrued dividends (usually worth about 8 percent a year) before you or any friends-and-family investors receive a cent. then if there's any money left over, the angels share in the rest of the pie. If the pie is big enough for all to share, great. If not? Well, you're in for an uncomfortable conversation with Grandma
This Blog Post was adapted from " Tough questions, smart answers ASK Inc." from the November 2008 issue of INC. Magazine.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
USA - Breaking News
Senate passes $838B STIMULUS PLAN. The plan was approved by vote of 61 to 37.
Pres. Obama on the economy:
- hails passage of senate stimulus bill
- plan will save or create "up to 4 million jobs"
- "we can use this crisis & turn it into an opportunity"
- middle-class tax cuts " the best way" to help
- "I expect to be judged by results"
Read More
Pres. Obama on the economy:
- hails passage of senate stimulus bill
- plan will save or create "up to 4 million jobs"
- "we can use this crisis & turn it into an opportunity"
- middle-class tax cuts " the best way" to help
- "I expect to be judged by results"
Read More
Monday, February 9, 2009
AllTech Ventures Management Adding Value beyond Capital to Entrepreneur's Project
Good initiative to provide financial, technical and managerial support to ensure long-term success of businesses or entrepreneur's project that will ultimately provide exceptional returns for both the entrepreneur and investors.
AllTech Ventures Management is the Allegiance Technologies Limited (a subsidiary of Steersman Enterprises, Inc.) vehicle for entrepreneurship development for technology creators, and venture creation services and resources for entrepreneurs committed to bridging the gap between technical ideas and viable companies.
AllTech partner with entrepreneurs to build leading evolutionary technology companies. Founders face significant challenges today in planning, staffing, launching, and financing new ventures. AllTech understand the gap that exists between great ideas and sustainable growth companies. AllTech Ventures Management provides extensive services and resources designed to turn great ideas into scalable enterprises. Portfolio companies receive:
• Access to proven funding, team-building, and customer networks
• Hands-on consultation from our experienced venture staff
• Technical expertise, to support product development, from one of the region’s leading research institutions
• Valuable infrastructure, such as advanced computer and biotechnology labs
The AllTech team is drawn from top start-ups, high ranked corporations, and world-class universities. AllTech Ventures Management professionals have an established record of excellence in the tasks they have dedicated themselves to — from academics to operating businesses.
AllTech Ventures Management draws upon the start-up, corporate, venture capital and management consulting experience of its founders to foster successful entrepreneurship and the management of technological innovation.
AllTech Ventures Management venture building activities includes:
VentureAccelerator Program (VA)
VA is a program open to Entrepreneurs committed to creating new companies based on Allegiance Technologies innovations. Once registered into the program,
VA company founders receive intense, hands-on assistance with a range of new business processes, including market validation, business planning, staffing and initial funding through grants and/or equity investment.
Technology Advancement Program (TAP)
TAP is a venture incubator that partners with entrepreneurs to build early-stage companies. TAP expedites the maturation of young firms by providing extensive hands-on business support from experienced and entrepreneurial staff, access to funding sources, technical expertise and turn-key infrastructure.
The Technology Advancement Program (TAP) staff is comprised of seasoned veterans of technology startups and venture capital firms who will provide:
• business advice and support
• product planning
• project management
• program management
• market intelligence
• introductions
• access to funding
• other critical assistance that can accelerate the growth of your technology venture.
AllTech Venture Creation programs provide to entrepreneurs in the emerging markets of Africa. We seek opportunities in multiple industries including wireless, digital media, software and service companies.
Submit business plan: bizplan@steersmanenterprises.com
AllTech Ventures Management is the Allegiance Technologies Limited (a subsidiary of Steersman Enterprises, Inc.) vehicle for entrepreneurship development for technology creators, and venture creation services and resources for entrepreneurs committed to bridging the gap between technical ideas and viable companies.
AllTech partner with entrepreneurs to build leading evolutionary technology companies. Founders face significant challenges today in planning, staffing, launching, and financing new ventures. AllTech understand the gap that exists between great ideas and sustainable growth companies. AllTech Ventures Management provides extensive services and resources designed to turn great ideas into scalable enterprises. Portfolio companies receive:
• Access to proven funding, team-building, and customer networks
• Hands-on consultation from our experienced venture staff
• Technical expertise, to support product development, from one of the region’s leading research institutions
• Valuable infrastructure, such as advanced computer and biotechnology labs
The AllTech team is drawn from top start-ups, high ranked corporations, and world-class universities. AllTech Ventures Management professionals have an established record of excellence in the tasks they have dedicated themselves to — from academics to operating businesses.
AllTech Ventures Management draws upon the start-up, corporate, venture capital and management consulting experience of its founders to foster successful entrepreneurship and the management of technological innovation.
AllTech Ventures Management venture building activities includes:
VentureAccelerator Program (VA)
VA is a program open to Entrepreneurs committed to creating new companies based on Allegiance Technologies innovations. Once registered into the program,
VA company founders receive intense, hands-on assistance with a range of new business processes, including market validation, business planning, staffing and initial funding through grants and/or equity investment.
Technology Advancement Program (TAP)
TAP is a venture incubator that partners with entrepreneurs to build early-stage companies. TAP expedites the maturation of young firms by providing extensive hands-on business support from experienced and entrepreneurial staff, access to funding sources, technical expertise and turn-key infrastructure.
The Technology Advancement Program (TAP) staff is comprised of seasoned veterans of technology startups and venture capital firms who will provide:
• business advice and support
• product planning
• project management
• program management
• market intelligence
• introductions
• access to funding
• other critical assistance that can accelerate the growth of your technology venture.
AllTech Venture Creation programs provide to entrepreneurs in the emerging markets of Africa. We seek opportunities in multiple industries including wireless, digital media, software and service companies.
Submit business plan: bizplan@steersmanenterprises.com
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