Rob Shuter is the new CEO of MTN — he resumes 1st of July 2017. That concludes the search which has seen Phuthuma Nhleko holding up for the company since the crises began. Shuter joins MTN after a stint as CEO of Vodafone’s Europe Cluster. According to his LinkedIn profile, Shuter’s telecoms career began in 2009 as CFO for Vodacom, South Africa’s largest mobile network. A South African national, he will take up his new position as CEO and president by July 1, 2017
Zenvus is leading precision and data-driven agriculture in Africa
Agriculture is currently standing on the edge of a second green revolution. This revolution will entail fundamental shifts in how the agricultural sector utilises and implements innovative technology to improve output in a sustainable manner and address the need for greater food security globally. These are some of the highlights of PwC’s latest Africa Agribusinesses Insights Survey 2016 (www.PwC.com).
“Currently, there is a second green revolution underway. There is a desperate need for food security and therefore higher agricultural output without compromising resources in the process,” says Frans Weilbach, Agribusiness Industry Leader for PwC Africa.
“Advances in technology and innovation are the key to the future of agriculture as agribusinesses strive to feed an increasing population against a background of climate change, scarcity of water and a host of environmental concerns.
“Innovative technology and advancements in productivity are becoming increasingly important as pressure mounts on food systems,” says Weilbach. “The global population is growing rapidly and the climate is ever-changing.
“Agribusinesses are making changes to go high-tech. From data-gathering drones to artificial intelligence farming, technology is making the agricultural sector more precise and efficient as agribusinesses push for increased profits.”
The agricultural sector is regarded as one of the most critical industries for the African continent due to economic potential and is projected to become a US$1trillion industry in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by 2030. More than half (58.8%) of survey respondents consider investment in Africa as an opportunity for their businesses to expand. The top four countries they are planning to invest in are Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania and South Africa.
PwC’s Agribusinesses Insights Survey 2016 was carried out among a group of African agribusinesses that are mainly focused on delivering agricultural and related services to primary producers. The survey focuses on the strategic challenges that agribusiness leaders face in their businesses, while on the other hand it highlights areas where technological innovation is already taking place and where it can make a difference in the future. In addition, the survey provides viewpoints on the agricultural sector in Nigeria and Kenya.
Survey respondents, however are less optimistic about revenue growth over the next 12 months compared with their expectations a year ago. The majority of agribusinesses (46.2%) are expecting revenue growth of between 0-5%, and 26.9% of businesses expect it to be between 6-10%.
The biggest challenges to business growth cited by business leaders were access to technology, the scarcity of natural resources and supply-side uncertainties. African agribusinesses also feel that there is a long way to go toward better support from government in the sector. For example, businesses are of the view that government does not offer sufficient tax incentives to ensure international competitiveness. Furthermore, they say government is not doing enough to develop skilled workers in the sector. Zenvus, an African AgTech firm is leading the transformation of farming into precision and data-driven sector in the continent.
Rasheed Rahji, PwC Partner in Nigeria, says: “Agriculture contributed 24.18% to real GDP in Nigeria in Q4 2015. This is mainly due to mechanised farming and to other activities in the agribusiness value chain. It is being fuelled by the Government owing to its focus on agribusiness as a driver for poverty alleviation, and in part by continued investment by commercial farmers. Given the fall in the international price of crude oil over the past 18 months, the Government has encouraged agricultural exports as an alternative foreign exchange earner. A number of challenges in the agricultural sector remain to be addressed. These include inadequate infrastructure, access to credit, and the training and education of smallholder farmers in modern farming techniques. Adequate focus on these matters would certainly assist in improving Nigeria’s food security, grow its GDP and increase its foreign earnings.”
African agribusinesses also indicated they have maintained focus on risk management, with the majority of survey respondents (95.2%) periodically conducting a formal risk assessment. It is also positive to note that 53.8% of respondents prepare an integrated report.
Human resources (HR) models and processes are beginning to evolve, with more emphasis being placed on technology to improve networks and data. Agribusinesses are looking to their HR teams to provide not only basic services and transactional activities but also strategic insights and workforce intelligence. Businesses indicated internal HR capacity, labour unrest, employee turnover, and communication between employees and management as the most challenging human resources matters.
Although there is widespread consensus on the reality of global climate change, much uncertainty still exists when it comes to the exact measurable impact of changes in climatic conditions on agriculture and food security. The majority of agribusinesses are of the view that climate change will have a significant impact on SSA agriculture in the future – 41.2% indicated that there will be a significant impact in the short term and 35.3% that there will be an impact over the next 20 years. In addition, 35.3% of agribusiness leaders indicated that they are considering investment in renewable energy, while 29.4% have already done so. The main forms of renewable energy that agribusinesses have invested in are solar energy and biogas.
Increased pressure on the profitability of farming and agricultural business activities is forcing the agricultural sector to be an early adopter of new technologies in order that it may improve the productivity and profitability of the sector. Survey respondents noted the availability of real-time data as the biggest opportunity for technological innovation. In addition drones are fast becoming a real green-tech tool. Global research also shows that artificial intelligence (AI) farming will be the main enabling factor in increasing the world’s agricultural production capacity to meet the demands of the growing population. This goes hand in hand with precision farming and other technology trends. The majority of survey respondents (76.5%) agree that AI farming will make a major contribution to increasing capacity in Africa over the next ten years. Only 47% of businesses had already invested or plan to invest in the development of AI farming capabilities for primary production. This could be due to the cost of implementation, which was noted as the biggest restriction to the use of AI farming capabilities (64.7%).
All agribusinesses indicated that they felt a responsibility towards food security. Food quality and safety is the one pillar of food security that respondents indicated they can contribute towards the most followed by availability and affordability. It is also positive to note that all businesses indicated their agribusinesses contribute towards corporate social investment (CSI). The top three areas of investment are: healthcare, education and personal upliftment.
“It is predicted that technological innovation will act as a catalyst in lifting agribusiness to the next level in Africa. The winners will be those agribusinesses that seize the opportunity to create new opportunities through technology – they will be able to reach their strategic goals faster and more efficiently,” concludes Weilbach.
Zenvus is ready to lead that agriculture transformation in Africa.
Private equity firms leaving Africa as economic uncertainties accelerate
Economic meltdown, coupled with forex scarcity, have resulted in about 44 private equity companies exiting their investments in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Egypt markets last year. Ernst & Young (EY) and the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) disclosed this in their latest reports on African investments.
The report, which was monitored on Ernst & Young’s website, said that many private equity companies cashed out their investments in Africa last year than any other time as currencies across the continent fell against a globally stronger dollar.
The report, titled: “How private equity investors create value” on the stable of Ernst & Young (EY) and the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), showed that investors exited 44 companies in 2015, more than the 39 exits recorded in the previous two years, which was a nine-year high. According to the report, South Africa accounted for 39 per cent of the exits, 11 per cent from Egypt, while Nigeria and Kenya accounted for 10 per cent each.
Other African nations accounted for the remaining 30 per cent. “The last two years have seen an increase in the number of private equity firms making exits in the African markets,” Graham Stokoe, Africa Private Equity Leader at Ernst & Young, said in a statement.
“The biggest current challenges noted by private equity firms included an increasingly tough macro-economic environment, particularly currency fluctuations, valuations trending upwards and an intermediary landscape that is underdeveloped in a number of countries,” Ernst & Young said in the statement.
Most African currencies tumbled last year as commodities price rout on the international markets hurt their exports and the US Federal Reserve Bank hiked interest rates for the first time in nine-years.
Economists warned that emerging and frontier regions like Africa would face huge capital outflows as money that had left the United States during the financial crisis reversed the flow.
Private Equity firms shrug financial turmoil in many African countries in 2015 to raise a record $4.3 billion from the $2.6 billion accumulated in 2014.
Among those to close in 2015 was the Abraaj Group’s North Africa Fund II, which raised $375 million by August, $125 million above its target – its Africa Fund III had previously reached a final close at $990 million in March, having targeted $800 million. These were both topped by Helios Investors III, which reached a hard-cap of $1.1 billion, having targeted $900 million.
According to AVCA’s recent study, about 249 private equity exits took place in Africa between 2007 and 2014. While 2016 is not expected to be better than last year, five Africa-focused private equity funds have already closed this year, raising a total of $575 million, including the $295 million Investec Asset Management Africa Frontier Private Equity Fund 2, according to Preqin Ltd.
According to a Bloomberg report, private equity fundraising in Africa is expected to drop to about $2 billion this year because of economic headwinds, the potential downgrade of South African debt in June, and because some of the largest firms closed their funds last year
Zenvus – A New AgTech Company for Smart Farming
Dear Tekedia Readers,
Greetings. We just launched an AgTech (agricultural technology) venture. Zenvus monitors farms with electronic sensors communicated via GSM, WIFI or Satellites to cloud servers where we have built computational models to help farmers understand How, What and When to farm. It tracks humidity, nutrients, pH, etc. It also uses special cameras to build Vegetative Index of crops to detect stress, pests, diseases etc. This is our site: http://zenvus.com/
Farmers that buy our sensors and who can share some data can raise capital, insure farms, etc through our services like zCapital, zInsure, zCrowdfund, etc. We bring transparency in agriculture and validate farms because our systems have in-built GPS to authenticate locations.
We are looking for partners – foundations, intergovernmental institutions, governments, etc. We help farmers reduce waste, improve yields and accelerate productivity. Zenvus was funded through grants from USAID and we’re taking guesswork out of farming.
This is the future of farming; it is data-driven farming at its best.
Regards,
Zenvus Team
Planning a trip to unknown territory- to book online or just wing it?
Editor’s Note: This was contributed by Tolulope Olaifa
Stepping into the lobby of this “luxury” hotel I’d stopped at, I immediately started congratulating myself on finding such a beautiful hotel at such a great price- little did I know that I’d come to regret my decision. I stayed in this blissful happiness till about 6pm when I was lounging with a drink in hand and the TV remote in the other, the power suddenly tripped off. Thinking it was a routine power changeover, I stayed in semi-darkness for about ten minutes, before heading to the reception to ask what was wrong. See chaos at the reception! Apparently the receptionist was tired of telling guests that the hotel only put on their generator at 10 o’clock in the night, and she lost her cool when a guest came at her hot and angry. Eventually, things calmed down after a few blows, and the hotel manager informed us that we would have to pay extra if we wanted them to run the generator overnight. This experience left me wishing I’d done more research before flying 400km away from home and assuming I could rely on good luck to get me a good hotel.
Generally, Nigerians tend to wait for things to reach the eleventh hour before handling them; unfortunately, this is also the case with arranging for accommodation when going on a trip. Most people think, “What’s the use of booking a hotel online when I can get there and get a room immediately?” This mentality usually leads to booking less-than-standard hotels which can invariably ruin the entire trip. Another strong Nigerian train of thought is that booking online is too stressful. The funniest reason I got for why people don’t book online was that the hotel booking site might be a scam and run with their money.
Now, all these excuses may have been true a few years back, but because everything in the world is becoming digital, it has become extremely easy to book hotels online. Making reservations on hotel booking sites gives you the opportunity to thoroughly review several hotels and their facilities in minutes and make sure the price is within your range. It also gives you the opportunity to choose a hotel that is close to where you want to be, instead of managing one hotel 50km from where you are actually going. Also, booking online entitles you to perks you won’t normally receive when you check into a hotel physically. For example, a hotel booking platform like hotelnownow.com goes beyond the normal ‘pay and stay’ approach- they actually work to get customers some of the deepest personalised discounts, as well as super deals on select hotels and locations. Come on, there’s no plausible excuse for you to take a trip and end up in a “yeye” hotel ever again – go digital and book online today.