KWAME

Africa Finance Corporation CEO Makes Case for Infrastructure Investment

Andrew Alli is one of my favorite people to follow on Twitter. He is witty and always provides forthright analysis. During the celebration of the Africa Finance Corporation’s 10 years in business, Alli shared some observations on the importance of infrastructure in Africa. His admonishment to focus on working with companies that can scale and fixing the currency situation so that deals aren’t be done on US currency which is more risky. 

GM Sells Off South Africa Operations 

The auto industry is going to be really interesting to watch across the continent over the next several years. As global automakers fight for market share in a pending environment where ridesharing, autonomous driving, etc will be royalty, African countries still tangling with blackouts/brownouts just isn’t acceptable for a player like GM. The company can take its investment in a market like South Africa and drill down a bit further in a market like China where the path to seizing on huge growth potential is more visible. 

News like this crystallizes Andrew Alli’s statements about the critical role infrastructure investment plays in unlocking wealth on the continent. Foundational infrastructure combined with a wealthier consumer makes a more attractive investment for a GM. 

This piece also just brings back thoughts of where we’re going with technologies like artificial intelligence. Africa has to get the infrastructure right to be able to play in these spaces.