Should I Invest in Africa?
July 4, 2013
Foreign investors – and Africans living abroad – are all asking this question. Ernst & Young has surveyed 500 global business leaders and published the results in the…
Author: Michael Martin
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How Good is Your Data?
May 21, 2013
When I studied feed manufacturing at Kansas State University’s International Grains Program I recall a professor who repeated again and again “you can’t control what you can’t measure.”…
Gas is Great
April 16, 2013
In East Africa these days, there’s a lot of excitement about gas. Tanzania has upped its estimate of gas reserves to 33 trillion cubic feet (tcf)…
Crowdfunding: The Next Normal in Project Funding?
March 5, 2013
A Ghanaian crowdfunding start-up was one of the winners of this year’s Apps4Africa competition, sponsored by the World Bank and the U.S. government: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21513287. The company –…
Saving Elephants with Extruders
January 2, 2013
In Africa, poaching wild animals has become like the drugs trade – ruthless, heavily armed, highly organized. 2011 broke the record of illegal ivory seized worldwide: 38.8 tons,…
What Poor People Do
November 13, 2012
A couple of months ago, a West African banker told me, “Farming is what poor people do.” Well, I recently had the privilege of attending the World Food…
Knocking on the Dollar Door: 5 Do’s for Raising Project Finance
September 25, 2012
DO prepare a Business Plan. Have it written, or at least checked, by a professional. It is easy to overlook key items, or include basic mistakes, that your…
Welcome to New Alliance
September 4, 2012
The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition was born back in May at the G8 Summit. It joins a prestigious family of worthy initiatives, such as the…
“Our Future is Bright”…with Sorghum
August 23, 2012
Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan, is upbeat about the future of food production in his country, telling his compatriots “our future is bright”. He needs to be optimistic. Nigeria spends…
“I Had a Farm in Africa…”
August 1, 2012
Less than 30% of total cultivable land in Africa is presently under cultivation. That excludes forests. The data may be unreliable, but for want of better, Africa has…
Time to Plant Soybeans!
June 27, 2012
Don’t be lulled by the falling Food Price Index. FAO, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, announced early May that its Food Price Index which measures monthly price…
Agri-Business Project Financing: Is Dawn About to Break?
May 9, 2012
It has been a long and bitter night for African agribusiness. But is dawn about to break? Commercial banks in Ethiopia, for example, are still asleep when it…
SME Financing in Africa – Not for the Faint-Hearted!
April 18, 2012
I’m a dairy farmer in Africa, and I need $5,000 to buy some cows – no problem! There are scores of micro-finance institutions ready to assist and lend…