<h1 style="text-align:center;">2014: What's Next</h1>Next year will be focused on scaling. We plan to make more great investments and focus on adding value to our portfolio companies. We will also be doing more work with our angel network. We plan to work more closely with our current chapters and expand organically into a few more cities. We’ll be offering our angels more trip options, benefits for their family members, and creative ways for them to help engage and work with their investments.We will also embark on some innovative projects to strengthen our analysis by gathering and mining sources of local market data, and monitoring and evaluating our portfolio so we can accurately capture and report post-investment metrics.Finally, we hope to create some great success stories, and we will do our best to profile these throughout the year.So stay tuned. Thank you all for your continued support of our company, and we hope to hear from you soon.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/photo_ethiopia_whats_next_for_2014_fc1a0de3da.jpg"></figure>Contact us at <a href="mailto:renew@renewcapital.com">renew@renewcapital.com</a> or follow us on Twitter @RENEWLLC to find out more.

A look into what's in store for RENEW in 2014.

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2014: What's Next

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Above the Clouds</h1>It’s been on my list for 17 years to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. From October 17 to 24, 2015, Matt and I left the world of cellphones, emails, computers, internal team and portfolio board meetings behind to challenge ourselves in a different way.The 55-mile hike might be classified as little more than an extended “walk”, except for one major exception: the elevation change. But living in Addis Ababa, at 2,356 meters (7,730 feet), certainly helped prepare us for this adventure. We spent the first night at an elevation we were used to and went slowly up from there. After about 3,700 meters (12,000 feet), we were mostly above the clouds for the remainder of our trek. I love clouds, and it was mesmerizing to watch the weather change beneath us, and the fog and cloudbanks roll up the mountainside throughout each day. Basecamp was at 4,750 meters (15,520 feet) and at about 12:20 AM on Wednesday night, we started our final ascent.We left later than the other groups, but somehow our guides got us to the top first. Slowly placing one foot ahead of the other, with the oxygen getting thinner and thinner with every step, we made it to Stella’s point and then the grand finale, Uhuru Peak at 5,895 meters (19,340 feet), just as the sun cracked the horizon. Our guides timed it perfectly. With a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne to toast the accomplishment and our second wedding anniversary, it was a moment I will never forget.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/nov_essentials_kilimanjaro_36476295b8.jpg"></figure>The trek also allowed ample time to think and journal about what we are doing at RENEW, and it really helped me crystalize and ‘renew’ some of the lessons I have learned after living and working in Ethiopia for almost four years. These are …&nbsp;<ol><li>You can be very productive when you are offline - Being offline for a week allowed us to focus and have productive thoughts and conversations. We had hours to remember, talk and brainstorm about what is and will be in our personal lives and in the work we are doing with the Impact Angel Network in Africa.</li><li>Listen to the locals - One of our guides had been climbing the mountain for 28 years and the other 17. We went at their recommended hiking pace, we drank water, ate food and rested when they told us to, and we were fine. Our guides had many stories to tell us about Westerners (Mzungus) who thought they could do it better than the guides…and they did not fair so well.</li><li>Poly, Poly - The term means ‘slowly, slowly’ in Swahili. Doing things slowly is not in our nature in the West, but doing some things slowly may be the difference between a successful and failed summit attempt.</li></ol>&nbsp;In some regards I would like to think I came down the mountain a different person. Both Matt and I descended with a clarity and vision for a few key areas of our life, the IAN and RENEW.My advice - don’t wait. If you have those things you’ve always been meaning to do, make a plan and get them done. You will be glad you did.

Adventures and lessons learnt while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak.

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Above the Clouds

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Financing Ethiopia’s Ambitious Economic Plans</h1>Economists, business leaders, investors, development partners, government leaders, local and international journalists and a host of others focused their attention on Addis Ababa last week with The Economists’ <a href="http://www.economist.com/events-conferences/emea/ethiopiasummit-2015">2015 Ethiopia Summit</a>, held at the Sheraton on October 28th and 29th.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/img_8243_1_128a3eec8e.jpg"></figure>His Honorable Excellency Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia opened the event, sharing some high level thoughts on Ethiopia’s economic accomplishments and plans. Next, Dr. Arkebe Oqubay, a senior advisor to the Prime Minister and the former mayor of Addis Ababa, gave a very succinct overview of the government’s development plans as described in the Growth and Transformation Plan II, which in some ways was formally launched at the event. Dr. Oqubay detailed how the government is aiming for continued economic growth at around 11% per year and plans to focus on growing the manufacturing, agriculture and export industries. The government is also aiming to help create two million jobs in the next ten years. He described how the government looked closely at the economic development plans and accomplishments of countries such as China, South Korea, Vietnam and Brazil, and used several of their lessons learnt and best practices to map out the country’s future economic goals.Both Dr. Oqubay and Prime Minister Desalegn mentioned the need for increasing local and foreign investment, encouraging groups like RENEW and the Impact Angel Network (IAN) to invest in textiles, leather, agro-processing, clean energy, steel, cement and chemicals. And, while some of these investments are larger than RENEW and the IAN’s focus (our sweet spot is $500K to $1.5M per deal), Dr. Oqubay stressed the need to invest in small and medium enterprises to fuel growth at all levels in the private sector.The government appeared determined to continue building, and in some cases owning, critical infrastructure, including EthioTelecom (a government owned entity), industrial parks, and the railway system to Djibouti, which is estimated to cut transportation costs by one half. At the same time, government leaders at the summit were clear that they would not be opening up the banking sector to foreigners for at least another five years, as they feel they do not yet have the capacity to regulate international banks. Dr. Oqubay spoke about the current challenges of the country (infrastructure and human capital), which the government will continue to work on within the context of their ‘state led capitalism’ plan.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/img_8257_1_8bc617077f.jpg"></figure>Later in the day, RENEW’s Matthew Davis, along with a powerhouse panel of international and local investment bankers, took the stage to discuss the “financing of Ethiopia’s ambitious plans.” Matthew’s fellow panelists included Davinder Sikand, Partner of The Abraaj Group; Helaway Tadesse, Senior Vice President and Chair of Management Credit Committee of Zemen Bank; and Sergei Stankovski, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs. Matthew’s main points were to be successful in Ethiopia investors need to “get small”, “play by the government’s rules” and “don’t complain about the challenges.”<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/img_8260_2_dae07cca2d.jpg"></figure>Following the panel, Hailu Tessema, one of the owners of Mama Fresh Injera PLC (a RENEW portfolio company), held a one-on-one interview with the Xan Smiley, the Editor-at-Large of The Economist, about “doing business in Ethiopia.” Hailu challenged the assumption that obtaining debt financing was an issue for companies in Ethiopia, and stressed how the Ethiopian government has helped ensure small, local companies are having access to foreign markets through partnership with companies like RENEW, which are helping increase exports and modernize cottage industries like injera manufacturing.Overall, the summit was a success and important for Ethiopia, as it brought the country’s economic progress and plans into the global spotlight, and gathered investors from around the world to hear about the prospects and challenges of investing in one of the next great investment frontiers.

RENEW reflects on its time at The Economist's 2015 Ethiopia Summit.

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Financing Ethiopia’s Ambitious Economic Plans

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Private Equity: New Options for Finance in Ethiopia</h1> Last week, RENEW's Matt Davis presented an equity investment workshop in Addis Ababa in partnership with USAID's AGP-AMDe. Workshop participants included commercial bankers, local entrepreneurs and government officials of Ethiopia.<figure class="image image-style-align-left image_resized" style="width:21.37%;"><img src="/uploads/img_1717_0f5131f911.jpg"></figure>The key topics raised included: what private equity (PE) is and why is it important to Ethiopia; how PE investors evaluate opportunities; how the PE process works and how to attract PE investors. The purpose of the training was to increase understanding among participants on what, how and why PE works for Ethiopia, how each group can benefit from PE and how to attract equity and “pitch” one's business to investors. A key learning point was how PE differs from debt, which was a main question among participants. Watching a live demonstration of pitching and the conversation between investors and business owners helped clarify their understanding. Overall, the training was a success in creating a general understanding about the PE world, and many of the trainees left with new knowledge on how PE could be a part of their individual stories and how PE will help grow the capital markets of Ethiopia.Individual comments from the day included: “PE investment is a brand new industry in Ethiopia. PE firms will help grow the untapped small enterprises and economy of the country."“Know your numbers. PE is like getting married. The training enhanced my understanding about the PE market, the process involved in PE, the requirements of investors and how to best pitch to investors."Contact us at <a href="mailto:renew@renewcapital.com">renew@renewcapital.com</a> or follow us on Twitter @RENEWLLC to find out more.

RENEW presents an equity investment workshop in Addis.

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Private Equity: New Options for Finance in Ethiopia

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Sesame: A Tiny Seed Has Great Potential in Ethiopia's Economy</h1>&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-align-left image_resized" style="width:32.94%;"><img src="/uploads/photo_sesame_0_7f156b2c73.jpg"></figure>In less than a decade, Ethiopia jumped from being a minor producer of sesame to one of the top five sesame producers in the world. At the same time, the international demand for sesame continues to increase every year. The world’s traded sesame seeds recently surpassed one million tons per year, valued at roughly $850 million. In the last 15 years, the world's trade in sesame has increased by nearly 80%. Sesame seeds are Ethiopia’s 2nd largest cash export crop behind coffee, and largest in terms of weight. The near-organic production practices enhance Ethiopia’s global reputation for producing high quality sesame.Ethiopia possesses favorable agro-climatic conditions for sesame production, as well as abundant land for agricultural activities. This makes the country one of the top raw sesame seed exporters in the world, supplying 14% of the global market for raw seeds. These seeds are then processed abroad. The domestic processing capacity in Ethiopia is currently quite limited, presenting a significant opportunity for investment. Currently Ethiopia is losing out on the opportunity to increase sesame revenues by mainly exporting seeds raw. Therefore, developing hulling facilities and other value addition facilities will position the country to grow its sesame market and better establish its international market position.Some target consuming markets of sesame such as the U.S. and Mexico primarily demand hulled sesame, which leaves Ethiopian sesame exporters unable to meet the requirements. RENEW is currently looking at existing sesame exporters and processors to identify investment opportunities. Such investments would help close the gap in revenue per ton between Ethiopian sesame and the global average in these hulled-sesame purchasing markets.Contact us at <a href="mailto:renew@renewcapital.com">renew@renewcapital.com</a> or follow us on Twitter @RENEWLLC to find out more.

A glimpse into Ethiopia's growing sesame market.

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Sesame: A Tiny Seed Has Great Potential in Ethiopia's Economy

<h1 style="text-align:center;">On the Road Again</h1>Matt and Laura Davis, partners of RENEW, will be heading from Ethiopia back to the United States to meet with investors at the end of April through the first two weeks of May. The partners will be traveling to the cities of Washington D.C., Omaha, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Salt Lake City.The purpose of RENEW’s investor roadshows is to meet with the members of the Impact Angel Network, foster new connections and provide some face time with the network’s founding members.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/screen_shot_2016_04_14_at_11_18_44_am_0_db1fdc9dba.png"></figure>If you have time to meet Matt and Laura, or know other like-minded investors in these cities, please let us know. We hope to see many of you in the coming weeks!

RENEW’s Matt and Laura Davis will be traveling to the Pacific Coast in April for a multi-city roadshow.

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On the Road Again

<h1 style="text-align:center;">The Africa Beat</h1>Over the past few weeks, several articles have been published about impacting investing, investing in Africa and investing in Ethiopia. Here are a few of our favorite recent stories on these topics:<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/desktop7_914634394d.jpg"></figure>IMPACT INVESTINGCNN Money: Millennials are dreamers and doers - they not only seek to make the world a better place, but also pursue activities that positively impact the world around them, be it philanthropy or value-based investments. It should come as no surprise then that in a recent U.S. Trust survey of individuals with $3M or more in assets, “93% of Millennials believe social impact is key to their investing decisions.” And while Baby Boomers are a bit slower to hop on the impact investing bandwagon, 51% of responders believe impact investing is where they should allocate their portfolios. <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/26/investing/millennial-impact-investing/">Read More</a>.INVEST IN AFRICACFA Institute: Bob Geldof was the keynote speaker for the CFA Institute’s 69th Annual Conference, which took place in Montréal, Canada this year. During his keynote address, he challenged attendees to stop ignoring the continent that is full of innovation and is poised for massive economic growth. “There is only one place left on Earth where growth can start from almost zero! Why don’t you do it?” Many incite geo-political instability as the reason, which has been recently created by terrorists groups operating from the Middle East. But, what would happen if the West invested in those economies, and created jobs and opportunities for the Africans who fight for such groups? <a href="https://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2016/05/16/bob-geldof-the-promise-of-africa/">Read More</a>.INVEST IN ETHIOPIAAfrican Business: Over the past several months, we’ve seen several negative headlines regarding Ethiopia’s drought and political protests among indigenous minorities, which has made several among the finance community ask whether the country is still sure ground for investment? Sophisticated investors from countries such as China, the United States and Europe believe “yes.” And, as they say, the proof is in the pudding - foreign direct investment into Ethiopia has “risen from about $200m in 2005 to $2.2bn in 2015, now equating to 3.6% of Ethiopia’s GDP.” Private equity groups, such as KKR and Black Rhino Group, along with multi-national corporations, like Coca-Cola and Unilever, see the vast opportunities and resources Ethiopia has to offer. <a href="http://africanbusinessmagazine.com/sectors/finance/ethiopia-still-sure-ground-investment/">Read More</a>.

RENEW takes a look at recent headlines concerning impact investing, investing in Africa and Ethiopia.

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The Africa Beat

<h1 style="text-align:center;">#What’sYourStory?</h1>Matt and Laura Davis have recently returned from Ethiopia to the United States to meet with investors and members of the IAN in Los Angeles, Chicago, Ottawa, Montreal and Boston from mid July through early August.Last week, RENEW co-hosted an informal info session and happy hour in Los Angeles for network members and their guests. We of course want to give a huge thank you to network <a href="https://renewcapital.com/impact-angel-network/advisory-board">Chapter Chair</a> Jodi Morris, who drove down from San Francisco to share about her experiences with the IAN, and introduce her close friends Teri and Steve Carcano, who opened up their beautiful Malibu home to us.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/malibu1_9c491e6eea.jpg"></figure>The theme of the evening was centered on uncovering the motivations and stories that connected each person to the event, to each other, to impact investing and to places in Africa, like Ethiopia. Jodi, Matt, Laura and a host of others, including Michael Adinew of <a href="https://metadplc.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=13&amp;Itemid=128">METAD</a>, shared stories about what brought them to the event and connected them to each other. It was an enlightening and lively discussion that revealed many interesting and unexpected linkages.Matt and Laura will soon be traveling to the cities of Chicago, Ottawa, Montreal and Boston to meet with members of the IAN, local investors and host information sessions on RENEW and the growing fields of angel and impact investing. Please be sure to reach out if you are interested in more details, or would like to connect with the partners while they are in the U.S.

RENEW’s Matt and Laura Davis are in the States connecting with investors and members of the IAN.

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#What’sYourStory?

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Impact Angel Network 2016 National Gathering</h1>SAVE THE DATE!Members of the Impact Angel Network (IAN) and other distinguished guests will be in Washington D.C., from October 14 to October 15, to attend the 2016 National Gathering.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/ng_2015_91b9dc26eb.jpg"></figure>The gathering will include a series of invite-only and members-only events throughout the weekend, starting off with a gala on Friday night. IAN members and select guests will be spending the evening with stakeholders, critically-acclaimed speakers, world leaders, politicians and business executives. Experts in the impact and angel investing space will be speaking throughout the night, sharing insights on investing in Africa, as well as other countries on the continent and throughout the world. RENEW aims to elevate the importance of angel and impact investing and how the private sector is driving growth in companies around the world, even in our own back yards.We will also be having an informal gathering for members of the IAN on Saturday evening, wherein we will be providing updates on our current portfolio, as well as discussing our current investment pipeline.More details to come on the weekend's other exciting and exclusive activities, but in the meantime, be sure to mark you calendars - this is one weekend that you will not want to miss!&nbsp;

The Impact Angel Network's second annual National Gathering to be hosted in Washington D.C.

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