Professional whiners who have been criticizing the African Continental Free Trade Area need to sit down and read this for a minute. Let’s celebrate this local homegrown startup; and the Nigeria-based Jumia, which we have grown to habitually love bashing :D:D:D.
“Dar es Salaam, Lagos and Addis Ababa could be the next stop for a Kenyan fresh-produce distribution platform in its quest to disrupt food-supply chains in Africa.Twiga Foods Ltd. aggregates farm produce and distributes it to vendors at street corners or market stalls in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, through a mobile phone-based supply platform.” …“The company has raised $35 million from venture capital and convertible notes since inception in 2013. This year, Twiga will conduct a second round of financing to fund expansion in Nairobi and another round in 2020 for growth outside of Kenya, Njonjo said.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-11/kenya-fresh-produce-platform-aims-to-disrupt-african-retail
“Jumia’s historic initial public offering has gone live trading on the New York Stock Exchange—and its stock shot up.
After the ceremonial ringing of the NYSE bell by company executives, Jumia’s first official day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange began. And, as investors specialized in backing e-commerce companies in emerging markets predicted to Quartz Africa, Jumia garnered investor interest and enjoyed an impressive first day run. Its stock, which was priced at $14.5, closed up 75%.”…“The listing is a watershed moment for Africa’s tech ecosystems as Jumia, the largest e-commerce company on the continent with operations 14 countries, is the first Africa-focused tech company to launch on NYSE or any major global exchange—and that novelty was played up throughout the launch event.”
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As we can see, the first African startup was listed in NY Stock Exchange. I see no reason why we cannot keep churning out more startups that will eventually grow to be transAfrican multinationals.
As our eyes remain fixed on Chinese investors, others are creeping in slowly. KNBS is understaffed and cannot cope with the rapid flow of small-scale investors and prefers to check usual data-big ticket projects. Hence, it is understating the real growth on the ground. Leo ndio nimejua hii company.
“Logistics-cum-e-commerce operator Copia has entered Kenya with a Sh2 billion investment in warehouses and network establishment.
“Copia’s concept takes away the delivery hassle from product resellers where it has established distribution networks of 3,500 agents across central Kenya with plans afoot to expand their distribution network to western Kenya,” Copia said the statement.
The firm, founded by US based entrepreneurs Ms Tracey Turner and Jonathan Lewis, has since signed partnership agreements with manufacturers within and beyond Kenya who have uploaded products on the platform.”
Diasporans like yourself who care about affairs back home could consider setting up an investment fund to invest in promising African businesses, instead of putting it all in real estate.
Definitely riskier, a number of issues to navigate, but the person who cracks this formula will reap