![]() ![]() ![]() There were any number of issues clamoring for attention at this year’s conference – the Arab Spring, the Eurozone crisis, burgeoning youth unemployment, the shifting of power from West to East, to name a few. Fitzgerald’s remarks came as part of the State Department’s first Global Business Conference, held in Washington, February 21–22. He reported that now is a great time for the United States to invest in sustainable development across Africa. government is promoting economic growth in Africa through public-private investment and development projects says Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, William Fitzgerald: “The United States is ready to do business in Africa in a much bigger way,” Fitzgerald said at the Washington Foreign Press Center February 22, 2012. The significant increase in foreign investment in Africa over recent years is a matter of much debate. While Pengo is focused on building a portal through which private investment capital here can flow to the underfunded private sector in high-growth emerging markets, it looks like the US government is also starting to take notice of the vast untapped opportunities in what some are calling the final frontier: the African continent… She and Kenya Relationship Manager, Emmanuel Munene, are preparing to launch the pilot in April. Pengo President, Jess Shorland, has safely landed and is getting settled in in Nairobi. There are nine BNI groups in Nairobi, and we plan on attending one more meeting with the same group, and visiting another group during our time here.īusinesses, banks, and brew bistro (our favorite spot for happy hour)… oh my.Jess and Emmanuel: reunited and ready to disburse our first loans! Dara followed up on those leads with our introductory survey to gather more relevant market data. We’re working on developing a value proposition for a potential partnership with a bank and are planning meetings with some of the biggest and most trusted names in Kenya.Īnd on top of all that, our friend Chris took us to a Business Networking International (BNI) meeting last week during which we met around 20 business owners, most of whom expressed interest in our product offering. We came out of the meeting with a new to-do list and a plethora of introductions and meetings to schedule. ![]() It could make sourcing businesses and gathering financial information easier. Secondly: To launch our pilot, we should look into partnering with a banking institution to keep our operations simple, lean, and scalable. It’s a new idea that isn’t familiar to most, so we need to develop a more succinct pitch that people can really wrap their heads around. After hearing us explain our model more in depth, he looked at the idea with a critical eye and gave us incredibly valuable feedback.įirst: People in Africa don’t really understand the peer-to-peer crowd-sourcing model. Jonathan has been in Kenya since the 80s and has spent much of his time working with private sector development, has formed deep connections within the community, and has one of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever seen in Nairobi (leaving his serene back porch covered by beautiful flora was a painful task). Pride Africa has since spread its reach into technology systems to help streamline agricultural supply chains and has continuously looked to develop appropriate, innovative solutions to meet market needs here in East Africa. This was the general tone of our meeting with Jonathan Campaigne, founder of Pride Africa, one of the first organizations to adapt the group-lending model to Africa successfully (1988). Disburse crowd-sourced loans to Kenyan SMEs. ![]()
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