Bulls n Bears Entrepreneurship Zone :: How these Successful African Entrepreneurs Raised Capital for Their Businesses

Thu Nov 29 08:07:29 CAT 2018

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Bulls n Bears Entrepreneurship Zone :: How these Successful African Entrepreneurs Raised Capital for Their Businesses

 <mailto:sales at dulys.co.zw>  <mailto:sales at dulys.co.zw>  <mailto:sales at dulys.co.zw> 1) Lorna Rutto (Kenya)

In 2010, she quit her bank job to start a waste recycling business.

Her company, EcoPost, collects and recycles waste plastic into aesthetic, durable and environmentally-friendly fencing posts that serve as an alternative material to timber.

But her business would have remained a dream without the financial support of international and local investors and NGOs.

Every year, hundreds of international and local organisations support businesses that tackle issues such as environmental pollution, illiteracy, disease and other social problems. They usually provide grants, donations, loans, equity or even training and advice.

The problem is, many African entrepreneurs don’t know about these funding opportunities, and as a result they don’t apply.

So in 2010, Lorna applied for and won a $6,000 SEED Award which served as start-up capital for her business.  In the same year, she won a grant award of $12,700 from the Enablis Energy Globe-Safaricom Foundation.

She also won a business plan competition organized by the Cartier Women’s Initiative, and received a prize award of nearly $12,000.

Recently, her business attracted an equity investment from the Blue Haven Initiative and the Opus Foundation amounting to $495,000. This was used to expand the business and purchase advanced recycling equipment.

In the free course at the bottom of this article, I reveal the reasons why these organisations are eager to support businesses in developing countries by giving away millions of dollars as grants, donations, loans and equity every year.

2) Jason Njoku (Nigeria)

Jason is the co-founder of IrokoTV, a mobile entertainment and internet TV platform that’s particularly popular for its impressive catalogue of African ‘Nollywood’ movies.

But the struggle in the early days of this business was not as glamourous.

After failed attempts at previous businesses in the UK, Jason returned to Nigeria in 2010 to build relationships with local movie producers and purchase content rights for his new startup, IrokoTV.

Cash was tight, and starting this business would have been impossible without the £90,000 contribution of Jason’s friend and business partner, Sebastian.

Since then, the growth of IrokoTV has been remarkable. To date, the business has attracted up to $40 million in investment funding from foreign investors, mostly venture capital investors.

Its investors include Tiger Global, a New York-based private equity firm, and Investment AB Kinnevik, a Swedish venture capital investor.

Venture capital firms invest more than $140 billion every year <http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-global-venture-capital-trends-2015/$FILE/ey-global-venture-capital-trends-2015.pdf>  in startups and growth businesses across the world. But in Africa, venture capital is only just starting to pick up and they’re very interested in funding highly-scalable businesses that have significant profit potential.

In January 2016, IrokoTV raised $19 million in additional funding to expand its business into Francophone countries in Africa.

In summary, by using a combination of business partnerships and venture capital, Jason has been able to successfully raise significant amounts of capital to grow a company that was described by Forbes Magazine as “the Netflix of Africa.”

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Econet

AGM

Econet Park, Msasa

29/11/2018  (9am )

Econet

EGM

Econet Park, Msasa

29/11/2018  (10am )

GetBucks

AGM

Conference Room 1, Monomotapa Hotel

04/12/2018 (10am )

Innscor

AGM

Royal Harare Golf Club

05/12/2018 (8:15am)

Truworths

AGM

Boardroom, Prospect Park, 808 Seke Road

06/12/2018 (9am)

TSL

EGM

Head Office, 28 Simon Mazorodze Road, Southerton

07/11/2018 (10am )

Cassava shares list on the ZSE

11/12/2018

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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