ENTREPRENEURIAL SERIES

 ENTREPRENEURIAL SERIES

11 Business Opportunities in Africa That Will Make More Millionaires in 2016

 (Part 3)

5) Education

  

source:google.com

 

Africa’s human talent is one of its most ignored and under-explored assets.

With one of the world’s youngest populations (over 50 percent of Africans are younger than 31), the continent is rich with creative and innovative talent. However, poor access to quality education is a serious threat to Africa’s human capital.

Currently, a couple of interesting businesses and initiatives are achieving remarkable successes as they tackle Africa’s education problems head-on.

Bridge Academies (in Kenya and East Africa) and Omega Schools (in Ghana and West Africa) have built an incredible education model of low-cost primary schools that allow pupils to pay as low as $1 a day as school fees.

Another interesting business on Africa’s education scene is Andela. Through its free and highly rigorous training program, Andela develops promising African talents into top class software developers who are hired out to the likes of Microsoft and other tech giants in the USA and Europe.

This interesting business model is called ‘talent-as-a-service’.

Andela recently attracted $10 million in investment and is on track to train 100,000 world class African software developers over ten years.

6) African Art

source:google.com

 

How much do you think African art is worth these days?

In November 2014, a collection of antique African art from Mali, Gabon, Congo and Liberia was sold in New York at Sotheby’s for a record-breaking price of $41 million. This is the largest ever sum realized from the sale of African art in the USA.

Not too long ago, a set of wooden sculptures by the Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu sold in London for over $500,000, three times the expected price.

New World Map, the aluminum and copper sculpture of El Anatsui, the Ghanaian artist, sold for roughly $767,000, one of the highest prices ever fetched by the work of an indigenous African artist.

After decades of neglect, both antique and contemporary works of African art are attracting high prices in the world’s major art markets.

In 2016, more investors and collectors will be upping the demand for African art, and more millionaires will be made in the process.

7) Retail

source:google.com

 

In April 2016, the Mall of Africa will open in South Africa. These massive 131,000 square meters of retail space is the largest shopping mall in Africa ever to be built in one phase.

Recently, the Two Rivers mall opened in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s the largest shopping mall of its kind anywhere in East Africa.

Across the continent, both local and international supermarket brands like Shoprite, Game, Checkers, Woolworths, Edgars and Spar are expanding as they scramble for every inch of available space in shopping and retail infrastructure developments.

Interestingly, the battle for retail supremacy in Africa isn’t only happening in physical retail chains.

Ecommerce giants like Konga and Jumia have grown quite impressively in the last few years. Both internet-based retail businesses now have a combined worth of over $1 billion.

In fact, the battle ground for Africa’s retail market is moving beyond the continent’s shores. New ecommerce entrants like Mall for Africa and Shop to my Door now make it possible for Africans to shop directly from retailers in the USA, UK and China.

Africa is now one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world. A large and growing middle class, increasing local spending power and a boom in the number of expat workers are fueling the shopping trend on the continent.

8) Apps and Online Services

source:google.com

 

There’s a digital revolution taking over Africa. These days, many services now have an app or are going online. Africa’s digital economy is growing really fast.

These days, there’s almost an app or online service for anything you want.

If you’re looking for a suitable hotel accommodation in Nigeria, Hotels.ng and Jovago.com are now the biggest online services in the hotel booking business. Recently, Hotels.ng attracted an investment of $1.2 million.

If you want to watch African movies on the fly, there’s an app for that. IrokoTV is an app that gives you access to 5,000+ African movies on your mobile phone.

In January 2016, IrokoTV secured an additional $19 million in investment funding to expand its presence across Africa.

If you’d like to order bespoke furniture pieces without having to run after artisans or worry about quality, there’s an online service for that too. Showroom.ng is a Nigerian startup that’s changing how people buy furniture in Africa’s biggest economy.

In 2016, more apps and online services will launch across Africa to solve problems and provide value. And more millionaires will be made in the process.

source:smallstarter.com