According to a statement by ECP, the investment into Nairobi Java House is the first private equity deal in east Africa’s restaurant industry. ECP did not disclose the finer details of the transaction, but said that the capital will be used to expand the chain’s operations and the number of locations around Kenya and the broader region.
Nairobi Java House opened its first outlet in 1999 and has since expanded to 18 locations throughout Kenya’s capital city, with new branches set to open in the cities of Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu. The chain serves African-grown coffee alongside a full menu that includes everything from hamburgers to Mexican food.
“Nairobi’s affluent and middle class have both embraced Nairobi Java House as a high-quality, affordable restaurant destination. By day, it is frequented by business professionals for a quick snack or a meeting over breakfast, coffee, or lunch; by night and at weekends, the crowd returns with friends and family for socialising and casual dining in the unique family-friendly ambiance,” said ECP in a statement.
As increased Web access and mobile phone penetration transform the way more than 1 billion Africans live and do business, a growing number of websites are looking to solve the distribution woes that have long plagued African filmmakers.
Though their business models and catalogs vary, the sites share common goals: to provide an effective outlet for the distribution of African content; to sidestep the pirates who have crippled homegrown film industries across the continent; to create new revenue streams for African content producers; and to allow Africans living in the diaspora to reconnect with their homelands.
“(The Web) provides a perfect opportunity for pirate-free content distribution based on sustainable models,” says Mike Dearham, former head of sales and acquisitions for South African network M-Net, which launched the online African Film Library, a collection of digitally remastered African classics, like Ousmane Sembene’s “La Noire de… (Black Girl)” and Djibril Diop Mambety’s “Touki Bouki.”
— Sites reel in auds for African pics - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety
In 2010, EarthWise was awarded $100,000 from the African Diaspora Marketplace competition sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Western Union Company.
EarthWise was one of 14 African business ventures to receive an award that year out of more than 700 entries.
The EarthWise team includes Ugandan, South African and American experts in business management and is led locally by Ugandans Calvin Echodu and Anthony Esenu.
In May 2011, EarthWise launched its first ferry, the MV Amani, connecting Kampala with the SseSe Islands in Lake Victoria. (In Swahili, Amani means peace.) Today, an estimated 1,600 people move from Kampala, Uganda, to Mwanza, Tanzania, daily. In the coming weeks, EarthWise expects to launch a second ferry. Like the first, it will be a two-level vessel outfitted with a state-of-the-art global positioning navigational system and sophisticated communication equipment to keep it on course and aware of safety issues relevant to passengers and crew.
“The ferries will restore and create a vibrant economic corridor that will in turn create jobs and uplift the poor,” Esenu said. “The focus of EarthWise Ferries Uganda is to rebuild infrastructure,” Smith said.
“By rebuilding water transportation, we hope to energize rebuilding of the rail sector, as one depends on the other in moving goods across the lake.”
“I realised that the market for fish was not all that rewarding despite the efforts farmers put in fish farming. Besides, I was always challenged by many youth coming to office looking for jobs amidst high poverty levels in the country. My colleague and I started dreaming of what can be done to create sustainable and rewarding fish market, create employment and generate income,” she said.
That’s how she came up with the fish sausage idea and has never looked back in her pursuit to supply fish sausages that compete with the already known and tested beef, pork and chicken sausages.
The demand for fish sausages has since grown and that is why she is now intending to venture into regional trade. The first production was sold to friends and small sausage roasters before venturing into hotels.
“I was able to assemble bits and pieces from the net on how to make the sausages. Initially, most raw materials were not there, but I had to improvise, though the discouragements were many and as I sought information, people thought I was out of my mind. I knew I didn’t have much knowledge of it but I was determined,” said Lovin.
For internet entrepreneur Njeri Rionge, Africa represents the next economic frontier.
She says strong indigenous, African-owned companies are needed to take advantage of the boom times ahead. Ms Rionge is as famous in Kenya for her success in starting up several companies at the same time as she is for Wananchi.com, a cable, broadband and internet-based telephone company.
She started her dot com dream and first big venture, Wananchi.com, with the hope of bringing internet connectivity to the masses.
Today the firm has grown to become the largest internet service provider in East Africa and is worth $173 million (£107 million) a huge sum for a firm with an initial start-up of $500,000 (£308,000).
(via BBC News)
How Africa Tweets
Venture Capital for Africa (VC4Africa), an online community of venture capitalists, angels and entrepreneurs, today announced the launch of new tools aimed at helping people raise funds for their startups.
The network, which is dedicated to building business on the African continent, claims that the new tools make private investment easy, secure and social. It also says that they allow entrepreneurs to register their funding needs.
These are then shared for investors, registered as part of the VC4Africa investor network, to review. Any investor interested in the venture can reportedly engage the entrepreneur for more details. and if they like the terms the venture is offering, step forward as a lead investor.
The venture then goes into fundraising mode for 90 days in which the entrepreneur and lead investor can attract additional support.
This is the next step in VC4Africa’s efforts to help close the startup-funding gap, bringing quality entrepreneurs and qualified investors closer together.
The 2012 African Development Report, launched on Monday, in Arusha, Tanzania has identified the private sector as the major driver of sustainable African development.
The report, sponsored by the African Development Bank (AfDB), dwells on the challenges facing the continent’s private sector development and highlights ways of addressing the various challenges facing African countries.
Mr Donald Kaberuka, AfDB President, said during the launch that “after being hamstrung for decades by difficult political and economic conditions and burdensome government policies, the private sector is now poised to become the main engine of growth for the African continent”.
Kaberuka, who pledged the bank’s commitment toward the private sector development in Africa, also urged the organised private sector to be proactive on issues of wealth creation.
