Bombs, Terror and Islam in Mali?

No question this year has seen an unexpected change for the majority of companies. The impact on economies and their leaders has been immense. After a significant increase in 2018, FDI flows to Sub-Saharan Africa decreased by 10% in 2019 to $32 billion. FDI to West Africa decreased by 21% to $11 billion in 2019.

Before we get off on the wrong foot, yes poverty exists, everywhere! In my countries of expertise and origin poverty exists. One would wish that the repartition of wealth is more equal but reality is, that a lot of countries in the world do offer an image of uneven repartition of wealth. You dont have to travel far to withness it.

With a GDP of $3.5 trillion, Germany is the largest economy in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Like other highly developed, service-oriented social market economies, Germany has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Yet, 60000 volonteers work in 940 German foodbanks to help feed 1,5 million people who can not feed or cloth themselves.

89 million Germans live on 357,022 square kilometres.

19 Million Malian live on 1.24 million square kilometres.

Now one might think what and where is the link to Africa or particularly with Mali?

Let me tell you about my last Saturday then in Bamako. We started the night off at the Azalai Lounge which is located in the Azalai hotel in the centre of Bamako. The drinks are priced as in London; the entertainment was on point and the lounge well visited. I made a few phone calls to organize the rest of the night and I booked a table at Barramundi. Barramundi has and is the most known nightclub of the city. This club has survived all military coups and is to this day the place to be for saturday night. It is owned by a smart Libanese man. (There is a large population of Lebanese people in C?te d'Ivoire, whose numbers are variously estimated in the tens or hundreds of thousands. They are the largest Lebanese diaspora community in West Africa. An estimated 1% of all people living in the Ivory Coast are from Lebanon.) Our table was conveniently located next to the till so i had a great overview observing the forever flowing orders of bottles that were sold to a fully crowed bar bywell trained, efficient and friendly staff. The women at the nightclub dressed accordingly to Western standards in this "oh so dangerous islamic state". Prices for drinks equalled London's Mayfair (Oberkassel, Paris 16eme or Geneve Lac).

With a growth rate of 3.5 % Mali and most African countries are an opportunity no to miss. Germany's growth rate is 0.6% in comparison.

More then ever Mali has an emerging middleclass to boom in the next years, who will be wanting to develop of course water and electiricity supply first but the young population want to have: after work drinks at the roof top bar of Douala, eat sushi in Abidjans zone 4, shake a leg at Dolce in Dakar, or enjoy the perks of a shopping mall. They want to stream movies that reflect their world in a beautiful way, they will want to surf he internet as fast as possible, spend their hard earned money on goods available in their countries.

I am en entrepreneur through and through and I see the world through opportunites. Sitting in a yellow cab in Bamako, getting my chicken in central market of Douala, or crossing congo river betwwen Kinshasa and Brazzaville, lecturing at a university in Abidjan, sipping my fresh orange juice in the port of Matadi is where I see all the opportunities with ROI. Yes, we are different and so are you! But isn't that what makes cross chanel Africa business so attractive?

But don't copy! I am not asking you to jump on the next plane and walk around any of my expertise countries or walk into the city hall and register your company or invest without outsourcing the right partner and doing your due diligence. You need a trustworthy, local partner and not think of us as poor.

But most of all in your endiviour to do business with Africa, remember! that investing in Africa starts by respecting Africa! Discover our many beautiful cultures by travelling to Africa with open eyes but it also means to stop focussing on the negatices and rather on the positives, the opportunities that will turn into ROI that will consequently entail impact.