7 minute read
African Stock Exchange/Bourse
• Algeria Algiers Stock Market www.sgbv.dz • Angola Angola Stock Exchange and Derivatives www.bodiva.ao • Botswana Botswana Stock Exchange www.bse.co.bw
• Cape Verde Islands Bolsa de Valores of Cape Verde www.bvc.cv (in Portug
• Cote de Ivoire Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres -
UEMOA (Abidjan) www.brvm.org • Egypt The Egyptian Exchange www.egx.com.eg • Ethiopia Ethiopia Commodity Exchange www.ecx.com.et • Ghana Ghana Stock Exchange www.gse.com.gh • Kenya Nairobi Stock Exchange www.luse.co.zm • Libya Libyan Stock Market www.lsm.gov.ly • Malawi Malawi Stock Exchange www.mse.co.mw
• Mauritius Stock Exchange of Mauritius www.stockexchangeof
• Morocco Casablanca Stock Exchange www.casablanca-bours • Mozambique Bolsa Valores de Mocambique www.bolsadevalores.co • Namibia Namibian Stock Exchange www.nsx.com.na • Nigeria Nigerian Stock Exchange www.nse.com.ng/Page www.abujacomex.com • Rwanda Rwanda Stock Exchange www.rse.rw • Seychelles Seychelles Securities Exchange https://merj.exchange • Somalia Somali Stock Exchange www.somalistockexcha • South Africa Bond Exchange of South Africa www.bondexchange.co Johannesburg Stock Exchange www.jse.co.za/Home.a www.a2x.co.za • South Sudan Khartoum Stock Exchange www.kse.com.sd • Swaziland Swaziland Stock Exchange www.ssx.org.sz • Tanzania Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange www.dse.co.tz • Tunisia Tunisia Stock Exchange www.bvmt.com.tn • Uganda Uganda Securities Exchange www.use.or.ug • Zambia Lusaka Stock Exchange www.luse.co.zm • Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Stock Exchange www.zse.co.zw
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Resource: Daily News Egypt
Stocks Mirror the Economy
Africa has around 29 stock exchanges representing 38 countries including two regional exchanges.
Africa has become the newest destination for emerging markets investors. From 2000, according to the World Economic Forum, "half of the world's fastest-growing economies have been in Africa." By 2030 one in five people will be African. Combine the continent’s soaring population with technology, economic growth, increasing demand from its growing middle class, improvements in infrastructure, political stability, health and education, and Africa could be the next century’s economic growth powerhouse. Nobody can predict the growth trajectory with accuracy, but Africa is poised for growth.
Profi le: The Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM) is the regional stock exchange of the member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. The Exchange is located in Abidjan but maintains market offi ces in each of the affi liated countries. Being both an economic and political institution, the BRVM is governed by the provisions of the OHADA Uniform Act relating to Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups. The operations of the Exchange are entirely digital making it a technical success story on the continent. Dealing members therefore need not be present on the premises of the central offi ce but can engage from their own offi ces which the bourse guarantees equal access regardless of the economic operator's location. https://afx.kwayisi.org/
Black-Owned Venture Capital Fund Impact X Capital wants to Invest £100 Million in Underrepresented Entrepreneurs
By Tommy Williams
OVER THE LAST FEW months in light of the Black Lives Matter movement we have seen many venture capital fi rms commit to funding underrepresented entrepreneurs realizing there are systemic issues that exist in the industry which means only 1% of venture capital funding goes to Black entrepreneurs. One venture capital fi rm that has been quietly working to address this issue long before the Black Lives Matter movement is Impact X Capital (www.impactxcapital. com), a double bottom line, venture capital fi rm seeking to invest £100 million in underrepresented entrepreneurs across Europe.
Building Impact X Capital
The idea for Impact X Capital was conceived by Eric Collins. Collins is originally from Alabama, son of a Swiss chemical company executive (Ciba Geigy became Novartis) and guidance counselor who later went to Princeton University and then Harvard Law School before starting his career as a strategy consultant. After managing his own consultancy fi rm he entered the tech industry in 2002 and in the years that followed held senior roles at several well-known tech companies, most notably SwiftKey (acquired by Microsoft MSFT +2.2% for $250 million) where he was Chief Revenue and Distribution Offi cer, a role which brought him to London and then he remained in the U.K. to be Chief Operating Offi cer of Touch Surgery (acquired by Medtronic MDT +1.5% in 2020).
Through his work in venture-backed companies, he quickly realized “only 1% of venture funding goes to Black entrepreneurs and only 4% goes to female entrepreneurs” something which intuitively did not make sense to him as “this market ineffi ciency means there is an opportunity to invest and make a signifi cant fi nancial return,” he says. Fixing this issue was the incentive to start Impact X Capital Partners. “I’ve long held an interest in double bottom line return, fi nancial return but also the ability to deliver some sort of positive measurable social impact” he says.
Collins's thesis that “investing in underrepresented entrepreneurs in Europe at the seed or series A stage, across digital technology, health, education, lifestyle, media, and entertainment” would lead to Impact X Capital Partners backing some of the most profi table and fast-growing companies was met with agreement from many. However, Collins was very intentional about the type of people he brought around the table in the early stages of forming the fund. “We wanted to go to an army of the willing and able because convincing institutional investors to understand a problem they can’t see would be too time-consuming” he says. The people who sat around the table included the following: Ric Lewis: Founder, Chairman of Tristan Capital Partners a London based real estate investment fi rm with approximately £11 billion under management, making it the largest private Black-owned business in the U.K.
Ursula Burns: Previously CEO of Xerox XRX -0.6%, the fi rst Black woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company. She is currently the executive chair of VEON, a listed Europe-based integrated telco operating throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa and her board service includes Uber UBER +3.6%, American Express AXP -0.7%, ExxonMobi XOM -2.1%l, Ford Foundation, and Nestle.
Sir Lenny Henry: Acclaimed English creative who co-founded the charity Comic Relief which since its inception has raised over £1.6 billion. Lenny is known for his acting on stage, in fi lm, and especially for his comedy and television work.
Joy Voyticky: CEO of Max International, leading the expansion of the health and lifestyle network marketing business to Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Paul Cleal: Seasoned executive with a wealth of experience in leadership and strategy gained from
From Left: Ezechi Britton, Yvonne Bajela, Eric Collins, Erica Motley, Paula Groves COURTESY OF IMPACT X CAPITAL
30 years working in both private and public sectors. Currently acts as an adviser, board member, or mentor to organizations and individuals who want to make positive change happen.
Valerie Mosley: Founder of Worth Wealth Investor, a partner at Valmo Ventures and Portfolio Manager and Strategist at Wellington Management Company
Impact X Capital In Action
With this team in place and the thesis intact Collins has since recruited a diverse set of limited partners who have invested in the fund and put together an impressive executive team that has successfully managed more than £12 billion, built large-scale companies that have had meaningful exits and generated solid returns for investors.
Since late 2018 the team has looked at over 700 companies making 21 commitments and closing on 17 investments. This is contradictory to the narrative you often hear that there is not enough deal fl ow from companies run by underrepresented entrepreneurs. The actual problem is a cycle where you have limited partners with similar backgrounds investing in venture capitalists with similar backgrounds who then fund companies founded by people who look like them. This closed community is also perpetuated by the “warm introduction” culture in venture capital where you need to be a friend of a friend to get a meeting.
Collins has a pragmatic view that the outsized returns they expect the fund to generate will be what lures in other investors. This is why the team set a very high bar for the companies they invest in. Specifi cally, they look for the very best entrepreneurs who are building scalable companies with products that are already proven and need capital to get exponential growth. However, the team is cognizant of the fact that many entrepreneurs are either not ready for venture capital funding or their business model suits another form of fi nancing such as revenue fi nancing or debt. To avoid these companies falling to the wayside given they’re already at a disadvantage the team at Impact X Capital are honest upfront and work with these companies to prepare them for venture fi nancing where appropriate, refer them to partners who off er alternative fi nancing and off er general business advice through their “Founders Series,” a webinar series which features prominent entrepreneurs and investors.
www.forbes.com/sites/tommywilliams1/2020/07/29/ black-owned-venture-capital-fund-impact-x-capitalwant-to-invest-100-million-in-underrepresentedentrepreneurs/#77a725cf76f2 Image credits: altfi .com
