Welcome to The Journal of African Business, a unique guide to business and investment in Africa. Since the inaugural issue was published as an annual in 2020, the quarterly format has been adopted, giving our team more opportunities to bring to readers up-to-date information and opinions and offer our clients increased exposure at specific times of the year.
We cover a broad range of topics, ranging from energy and mining to tourism and skills development. A wide-ranging interview in this issue with a visionary entrepreneur gives a welcome insight into how the private sector can be deployed to solve issues that go to the heart of social problems, in this instance, affordable housing. Rali Mampeule, the founder and CEO of the pioneering South African Housing and Infrastructure Fund (SAHIF), reveals his plans for expansion into other parts of Africa through the African Housing and Infrastructure Fund (AHIF). A key problem in many African cities is the preparation of land for development and this is where Mampeule’s business model fills the gap between the hopes and the realities.
Related to urban development is the article that lays out the vision of one of the continent’s great cities to create a smarter city. City of Johannesburg Project Manager Lawrence Boya looks at the totality of the challenge and outlines steps already taken towards a smarter future, but notes that funding and funding partnerships will be key to achieving sustainable progress.
Special Economic Zones have been in Africa since 1970 but there has been a great deal of new thinking about the role that these zones can play in bolstering economic growth and promoting exports. An article explores the chief motivations for the growth of this particular policy intervention and notes that more zones and organisations representing these zones are aiming to work together, not only on a continental level but through the United Nations as well.
Executive education can boost the earnings of graduates of Master of Business Administration courses, but can those post-graduate programmes also respond to and equip students with the tools to tackle African challenges? An article provided by MBA.co.za tackles those questions.
African air travel is covered in an article by Wesgro, centred on the AviaDev Conference which took place in Kenya. The importance of being properly covered by insurance for extreme weather conditions is the subject of two case studies by the African Risk Capacity Limited, a financial affiliate of the African Risk Capacity Group, a specialised agency of the African Union.
Finally, OceanHub Africa has exciting news about the range of sea-based solutions that small businesses are coming up with to treat waste and generate energy.
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John Young
Editor, Journal of African Business
