Africa Investment Clubs Consultant

Economic empowerment  Economic empowerment is thought to allow poor people to think beyond immediate daily survival and to exercise greater control over both their resources and life choices. For example, it enables households to make their own decisions around making investments in health and education, and taking risks in order to increase their income. There is also some evidence that economic empowerment can strengthen vulnerable groups’ participation in the decision-making. There has been an exponential growth of investment in boda boda business as the sole way of earning their livelihoods in Kisumu West District. All indications are that this proportion has grown exponentially not only in Kisumu West District but in most areas in Kenya. Many school drop outs and young teenagers have ventured into this area. This should not come as a surprise as the number of motorcycles in Kenya has grown from 3800 in 2005, to more than 120,000 in 2012 (Otieno, 2012). In 2008 the government o...

Zambia is still ranked as the most entrepreneurial country in the World.  In spite of this ranking, many of the enterprises that start don’t live to celebrate their first anniversary or take off. This is a problem mostly attributed to a number of reasons but the most outstanding has always been the high cost of capital which in turn leads to a high cost of doing business. Considering the high cost of capital, it is imperative to explore alternative sources of finance. Although experts say private equity is a relatively new investment financial model in East Africa with Zambia emerging as the second most active country after Kenya, it presents a lease of life to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector. Investment clubs can be a good source of capital to established SMEs that want to expand through capitalisation. Ideally, an investment club is a group of fewer than 100 people who pool their money to invest in ventures they deem profitable. The investment clubs are organised a...

We can all agree that saving is a good thing, but earning a return on your investment is very important not only to help you in periods when you have run out of other sources of income but also to enable you to achieve your investment goals. These goals can vary, usually, people save to purchase high ticket items – for example, if someone is trying to buy a house, there are very few people in the country who can mobilize capital of 200m on a whim but saved up over time with the help of return on your investment, you can achieve that goal. In a webinar discussion organized by Zanaica for its Investment Club members, capital market experts discussed the opportunities available for Clubs to diversify their income in the long run. To get an understanding of the capital market,  capital markets is a financial system that provides an avenue for raising capital and for saving through investment mostly for longer-term alternatives. Both individuals and institutions can invest in this lucra...

 In Lusaka, for you to deliver a package across the city, you have 4 choices: you can take it yourself, of course, but you can also send it along with someone else, or ask the office manager - should you happen to have one - to bring it over, but all three are time consuming. Alternatively, you can hire a boda boda guy - a motorbike courier, in local parlance - if you happen to trust him enough. But things only get more complicated if you're thinking nationally. If you need to send a package across the country, you have 3 options: send it with a passenger you know and trust already heading in that direction, use the established matatu parcel delivery system, or defer to the G4S or DHL delivery systems. But if you're looking for delivery that will be seamless, secure, and affordable, your best bet is to go with a startup, and one that is barely 2 years old: Twende. Life in Zambia Before Twende I first used Twende in late 2020, as I worked at a startup that dealt in student disco...

Delivery has become the in-thing in the market. Customers nowadays don’t have to go to the shops but can just order, make a payment (either before or on delivery) and receive their orders at home, in the office or have them delivered wherever they want. The Exchange spoke to Twende, a startup founded and launched in Zambia in January 2021. The service is present in all the 54 countries and more than 100 cities. With over 10 years in business development, seven of which have been in the tech world, Twende Market Lead (Sub-Saharan Africa) Dichol Dimo divulges into the logistics business in Zambia and the region.  What makes the logistics space in Zambia an attractive prospect and why is Twende in this business? Logistics is the key driver to any economy. Without logistics, businesses will not be able to get their goods to their consumers. Logistics powers economic growth and can unlock the potential of businesses. At Twende, we believe that users should have access to their own city ...

Motorcycle business known as “Boda-boda” eased transportation problem of connecting urban and rural areas in Zambia.  “Boda-boda” originated early 1990s from Uganda through Busia town in western Zambia and spread to adjacent towns, subsequently other towns and all towns currently are crowded with Boda-boda in Kenya.  Initially bicycles were used as means of transportation in plains but as the introduction of motorcycle had afforded prices, businessmen shifted and used them and are easy to maintain. It is booming, since it is readily available in urban and rural areas and people always transport goods to and fro and uses paths instead of roads given that feeder roads in Zambia are impassible during rainy seasons.  The problems of Boda-boda riders cause accidents in Zambia highways and traffic jams in towns, yet it is a source of livelihood for the unemployed graduates and sustainable development. The objective is to investigate whether motorcycle riders acquire license thr...

Motorcycles and bicycles in Kenya can be traced back to the colonial era, although they were reserved for government officials and the rich. However, usage of bicycles as a mode of transportation can be traced on a border town of Busia between Uganda and Kenya(Manyara, 2013). This mode of transportation later spread to other urban and rural areas in both countries, but the fastest adoption of this mode of transportation occurred in Uganda than in Kenya. Initially they were used to smuggle goods across the Kenyan-Ugandan border but in time they transformed into an informal „for hire‟ type of transport service catering largely to passenger needs(Luchidio & Gatebe 2013). From this period Bodaboda mode of transport has been embraced Kenya, providing taxi services both in rural and urban areas. In a study byMwobobia(2013),Bodaboda have provided transport for goods at house hold  3 level and also by small scale traders who have gained greater and flexible mobility and enhance their i...

Globally transportation of both human and goods is one of the most active activity that has significant effects on the economic growth and development of every nation. In general public transportation systems in the word provide movement and access of both goods and people to areas of interest (Fasakin, 2011). Notably, globally people participate in transportation system to access areas of interests such as employment, retail, health, education, farms, and market among other areas depending with interest at a given time (Malmberg, 2014).Subsequently, the mobility of people and goods must occur on daily basis in an active economy, as such certain transportation systems are very crucial for the livelihood of a nation and its people. Due to the importance of transport sector, it attracts a lot of investment inform of resources and time to reap the guaranteed returns. According to Miller & Friesen (2003), bicycle and motorcycle based transportation system in the world occupies a very i...

 Bodaboda business in Kenya is one of the most popular industry in providing informal selfemployment and source of income for many unemployed youth, by offering the basic mode of transportation in both rural and urban areas.Conversely, young people especially the youth who have completed schooling in many parts of country, remain unemployed influencing them to seek for alternative employment in boda boda enterprises as a way of selfemployment. Although the youth form the largest work force in Chuka Municipality, there has been no tangible report on their operations and how Bodaboda has empowered the youth a gap that this study intended to fill.The study adopted a descriptive research survey design because the design deals with the situations the way they are without manipulating the variables. The target population for this study was approximate 260 youths, 15youth groups 5 Sacco‟s and 4 micro lending financial organizations in Chuka Municipality. The study used the simple random a...

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this publication to answer some common questions investors ask us about investment clubs. For additional investor education tools and resources, visit Investor.gov, the SEC’s website for individual investors.  What is an investment club? An investment club is generally a group of people who pool their money to invest together. Club members generally study different investments and then make investment decisions together—for example, the group might buy or sell based on a member vote. Club meetings may be educational, and each member may actively help make investment decisions. In another type of investment club, sometimes called a “self-directed investment club,” members research and select investments together, but they invest individually instead of pooling their money. Does the SEC a regulate investment clubs? The SEC generally does not regulate investment clubs.  But since each investment club is unique, each c...

Time-tested club operations tips that will your club achieve long-term success. Starting and running a stock investment club are two entirely different activities and have their own sets of challenges. We discuss starting an investment club in this article. But after you form an investment club, create your partnership agreement, open a brokerage account and perhaps a bank account so that you can buy and sell stocks, what’s next? The following are some time-tested club operations tips that will help your club achieve long-term success. 1. Make Expectations of Club Members Clear Don’t look just to fill seats. Find members who will work to make the club successful. The best way to identify members is to make sure candidates understand and agree with the club’s policies and goals. For example, a stock investment club that’s created to build wealth over the long term might not be appropriate for people looking to get rich right away. You can make the policies and goals more concrete by get...

At The College Investor, we want to help you navigate your finances. To do this, many or all of the products featured here may be from our partners. This doesn’t influence our evaluations or reviews. Our opinions are our own. Learn more here. When I was in college, I wanted to start an investment club.  I’d been looking at getting a group of people together to start one, and so I’d been looking for a good “how to start an investment club” tutorial. The trouble is, the only one I’ve found is a book – Starting and Running a Profitable Investment Club.  While this book is great (with over 200 pages of excellent step by step examples), for a lot of investors who already have a good understanding of the stock market, it’s not needed. So, I wanted to put together this resource in case you wanted to start you own investment club.  Here is a step by step guide on how to start an investment club. Also, with the rise of different FinTech companies, and lower costs to investing, act...

Investment clubs can be fun, educational, and profitable -- should you join one? Investment clubs are groups that meet regularly to learn about investing, analyze investment options, and, in many cases, buy and sell investments as a unit. Though members certainly welcome profits, the real focus of most investing clubs is education—and often a fair bit of socializing. Particularly for novices, the club environment can provide the support and structure they need to get started in investing. It encourages them to save money, in order to make their expected contribution to the joint investment pot. And clubs can make the stock market accessible for those who can't afford to make a large initial investment. Thousands of investment clubs exist across the country, with billions of dollars in their collective portfolios. How do you decide whether or not to join one of these groups, start your own club, or go it alone? How Investment Clubs Operate Before you can decide if joining or startin...

The retail industry across the globe is rapidly evolving as players in the sector continue to explore innovative ways of improving consumer experience. The food and beverage industry, which accounts for a significant share in the retail market, has been on the forefront of this revolution. Primary producers, manufacturers and retailers are continually seeking innovative ways of lifting profitability, adopting to changing lifestyles and improving consumer experience and definitely, sales. This has seen the retail industry take a new course and slowly migrate from the predominantly used physical stores to more convenient shopping systems. Arguably, e-commerce and last mile delivery seem to be wading their way into the market with analysis signaling that this retail space might grow into becoming one of the largest and fastest growing trends in the food and beverage industry. According to Statista, the revenue in the worldwide online food delivery segment shall hit US$18.9 billion in 2020...

The Covid-19 pandemic has caught the world completely by surprise and its huge global impact is likely to be felt for years to come. As the virus begins to spread at a quickening pace in many African countries, efforts to prevent its spread, including protracted stay-in-place lockdowns, have already had devastating consequences for their economies, leaving small businesses reeling from a sharply reduced demand for their goods and services. Following the pandemic, it’s unlikely that our lives will ever be the same again. Just as we have reluctantly adapted to the security precautions now routinely involved in air travel, so will the world be forced to adjust to a new normal: one that requires us to undertake all activities with a view to protecting ourselves from viral infection. Opportunities for African SMEs A post-pandemic Africa doesn’t need to lead to financial ruin for the African entrepreneur and, indeed, adaptation to the new normal can present opportunities for innovative small...