<h1 style="text-align:center;">Steady the Course, Ethiopia</h1>There is an allegory that goes something like this: A group of people walking along a riverbank sees people drowning in a river and rushes down to help. Soon others rush in to pull people out of the river. These heroes risk their lives to save what seems like an endless number of drowning victims coming towards them. Then another group starts walking upstream. Those pulling people out of the river ask where they are going. They say, “to stop people from falling in.”Some of you may have heard this allegory before. While a little oversimplified, I find it helps me stay focused and not become caught up in the emotional frenzy of certain situations - for example, Ethiopia where the country is going through another drought. As an impact investor in Ethiopia, it can sometimes be tempting to rush down to the riverbank, versus steadying the course to fix the issues causing people to fall in.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/steady_the_course1_e6b86fff1f.jpg"></figure>The River: Scientists report that El Niño, a cyclical climate event that can cause drastic shifts in normal weather patterns, is creating drought conditions here in Ethiopia.* While Ethiopia is industrializing, its economy is still largely agrarian, especially in rural parts of the country. As of 2015, Ethiopia’s agricultural sector generate 41.4% of the country’s GDP and 85% of employment.** Agricultural actors are not major commercial farms with sophisticated irrigation systems that can tap Ethiopia’s vast water reserves thousands of meters below the surface. Rather, these are small farmers managing their own plots of land, relying on predictable weather patterns to plant, water and harvest their crops. When the climate changes, as is the case during El Niño years, the rains are neither as long nor as heavy, and yields decrease. In severe cases, families are not able to make an income from their harvest, or worse, they run out of food. They are the metaphorical victims in the river.The Heroes: Seeing this drought unfold, government and international aid organizations mobilize the international community to rush down to the river and begin pulling people out. In an ideal situation, this would be efficient and perfectly coordinated. Food would be shipped into the worst hit areas, and people suffering from the drought would receive much-needed, but temporary relief. However, in less developed countries, infrastructure issues can muck this up. Containers can be held up in poorly managed ports, import documentation is lost, trucks break down and food spoils.The Group Heading Upstream: So, why does this cycle seem to happen every seven to ten years? Where exactly are people falling into the river? How can the situation be fixed so that we no longer have to pull people out? It’s a challenging question to ask: “Who will step away from the riverbank and venture upstream to address the reason people are falling into the river in the first place?”The images of drought tug at my heartstrings, prompting action. However, the reason people continue to suffer on account of volatile weather – i.e., in terms of our analogy, falling in the river - is a lack of resilience. At the most basic level, this is evident in agricultural practices, but also more broadly in the agricultural economy, which lacks the technology, financing and diversity to weather the drought. The agricultural economy is the bridge Ethiopian farmers rely on to earn a living and sustain themselves, yet this bridge needs work before it is structurally sound. When it starts to give way in times of stress, causing victims to fall into the river, we need heroes to go down river and pull people out. This is critical, but not sufficient. We must also build a stronger bridge; a resilient agricultural economy.The Hole in the Bridge: At this point, I should clarify an assumption I am making about you, the reader: this is, that you believe many of the challenges we experience in developing countries can be solved when the economy strengthens in an equitable way (i.e. not just a small group of wealthy elites, but a thriving private sector with many thousands of businesses of all sizes).If people are falling in the river because a bridge is failing, responders must fix the holes in the bridge in a lasting way, with stones and cement. In the case of Ethiopia, the “stones” are companies – lots of them, in all shapes and sizes - little ones, medium ones and big ones. Together, these companies make up a diversified, and therefore resilient private sector, providing jobs, generating tax revenue and lifting incomes of millions of people. Taxes pay for the “cement” of the bridge, or the infrastructure for wells, electricity and roads around the country. The teams working around the clock to build these companies are the bankers, investors, entrepreneurs, brokers, government leaders, development workers, construction and road crews, dam builders, policy reformers and tax collectors. These individuals know droughts will come and, thus, are preparing a bridge to withstand the challenge. They know they must steady the course.To the heroes - those in Ethiopia and in the international community that are responding to the drought, we thank you. It is both deeply important and critical you are there. And in this time of emotion, let’s also remember to keep on building that bridge – to invest in the thriving, varied economy that will withstand the next challenge. Steady the course, builders! We are in this together.*<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36012217">BBC: Hunger in Ethiopia After Drought Exacerbated by El Nino</a> **<a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html">CIA The World Factbook: Ethiopia</a>

In honor of both the rescue workers and hole fixers.

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Steady the Course, Ethiopia

<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;">Never Forget Africa</h1><figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:34.07%;"><img src="/uploads/mountains_7d5a5e45b4.jpg"></figure>I first visited Africa in the spring of 2006, soon after graduating from high school. I previously received a small taste of international travel while visiting Europe with my family several years earlier. However, there existed in me a deep, unfulfilled desire to go out and experience the developing world and truly broaden my worldview. At the time, my aunt and uncle were living in Nairobi, so I jumped on an opportunity to live with them temporarily and volunteer at a community center providing recreational activities and services to Somali and Ethiopian refugees. I was instantly struck by the warmness, perseverance and inner beauty of both the refugees and the native Kenyans. This experience made such an impression on me that I vowed it would not be the last time I would visit Africa.A key component of the curriculum at Eastern Mennonite University (my alma mater) is the cross-cultural program, which requires students to spend a semester overseas to study foreign language, history and culture. EMU wants students to truly experience life as a local through homestays and to help communities in the form of service projects. The fondness I had of Kenya naturally led me to select the trip to South Africa and Lesotho. Once again, I was overwhelmed by the graciousness and determination of the African people. They deserved better employment opportunities, greater access to quality education and the baseline necessities that I had always taken for granted. Somehow, through their troubles, they maintained the ability to see the opportunities that existed in problems, rather than dwell on the insufficiencies. The last entry I recorded in my journal from this trip included three words: “Never forget Africa.” While I felt a sense of guilt in returning home to my privileged life in the U.S., I figured there had to be a way for me to help. The difficult part would be finding out exactly what that was, and what role my education in business and accounting could play in that discovery.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:100%;"><img src="/uploads/group_pic_3a216fffcc.jpg"><figcaption>Photo credit: Michael Spory</figcaption></figure>I enrolled in James Madison University’s evening MBA program in the fall of 2014 while continuing to work full time. I worked at Rosetta Stone since graduating from EMU in 2010 in procurement and business operations roles. I enjoyed my job, but my main motivation for pursuing the MBA was to find a clearer direction on where to ultimately take my career. The most influential component of the program was a class on business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Within this class we studied the concept of firms creating shared value. CSV describes business models, which inherently and by their nature produce social benefit, as opposed to CSR activities, which usually begin and end with a donation to a charitable organization; they are essentially a line item on the income statement. In learning about CSV, I came across the field of impact investing and started investigating further. It very quickly became clear that I wanted to be a part of this field.When I discovered RENEW, I was instantly intrigued. RENEW carries out a business model that uniquely and directly addresses a crucial financing gap (the “Missing Middle”) in African economies, through private sector investments in small and medium-sized enterprises. The company works with development partners and angel investors to carry out their mission. I could not help but become excited, and I applied for an opening as the contracts and operations manager.So here I am, not only staying true to my promise to never forget Africa, but also actively working to create lasting economic growth for the benefit of its people. &nbsp;

My story of staying true to a promise to create lasting economic growth for the continent.

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Never Forget Africa

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Term Sheets - Just What the Heck Are They?</h1>Investing On The Frontier’s host, Matt Davis, speaks with RENEW’s own legal guru and General Counsel, Tom Scriven, in the podcast’s latest episode.After relating some quick updates on key Ethiopian economic indicators (exchange rates, inflation rates, coffee prices, etc.), Matt and Tom set out to decode and provide clarity on term sheets, and why they are such an important part of the investment process – for both investors and entrepreneurs.Tom gives some great insight on the significance of going to terms, the typical outline of a term sheet and defines several key terms that are commonly found in a term sheets that every investor should know.Novice and sophisticated impact angel investors alike will find value in this informative discussion, so be sure to tune in to this month’s episode of Investing On The Frontier!&nbsp;&nbsp;

Investing On The Frontier podcast invites RENEW’s Tom Scriven to discuss all things term sheets.

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Term Sheets - Just What the Heck Are They?

<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:52.3%;"><img src="/uploads/etat_feb_26_to_mar_4_2012_069_1_dbba254f5c.jpg"></figure><h1 style="text-align:center;">10 Things You Should Know About Ethiopia’s Business Environment</h1>The World Bank recently published its <a href="http://www.enterprisesurveys.org/data/exploreeconomies/2015/Ethiopia">2015 Enterprise Survey</a> on Ethiopia, which outlines some very interesting information about the biggest obstacles private sector companies face in Ethiopia. The survey summarizes “key factual indicators at the country and regional levels” for twelve business environment categories, including: corruption, crime, finance, firm characteristics, gender, informality, infrastructure, innovation and technology, performance, regulations and taxes, trade and workforce.*The RENEW team compiled 10 takeaways. We mainly focused our analysis on the outliers – indicators that were significantly&nbsp;different in Ethiopia as compared with the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region as a whole.1. Access to finance is the number one obstacle for Ethiopian firms: The World Bank asked 848 companies in Ethiopia to rank the most prevalent obstacles that they face while doing business in Ethiopia. From the list of 15 common obstacles presented, access to finance was identified as number one. This comes as no surprise. Ethiopia’s current financial services sector, like that in many developing economies, is simply not equipped to provide adequate financing options for growing small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which in turn creates a “missing middle” in the country’s economy. The good news is that companies like RENEW and the Impact Angel Network are stepping in to help <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/devinthorpe/2016/01/13/impact-investor-in-ethiopia-fills-financing-gap/#64f4de8e50b3">fill this financing gap</a> through private equity investments.2. Customs and foreign exchange are constraining growth: While it takes on average 19.2 days to clear import from customs, about 3 days longer than the SSA region’s average, the proportion of inputs and/or supplies that are of domestic origin are significantly higher than SSA - 82.5% versus 66.1%. This may be a result of forex issues and protectionist trade policies.3. Regulations and taxes are not as bad as we think: RENEW was surprised to find that, although the amount of time senior management spends dealing with the requirements of government regulations in Ethiopia is higher than that of SSA (11.9% versus 7.6%), the remaining indicators are all lower. Examples include the number of days it takes to acquire an operating license (5.4 versus 19.1), number of visits required to meet with tax officials (1.6 versus 2.2), the percentage of firms identifying tax rates as a major constraint (22.8% versus 33.2%).4. Productivity is low but growth is high: While capacity utilization and labor productivity are lower in Ethiopia than the SSA region, real sales and labor growth rates are higher. We see this as a good sign, since productivity can be can be improved with stronger management systems and training, along with investments in better technology and capital goods; both of which RENEW and the IAN address through our investments and portfolio management.5. International certifications could be a source of competitive advantage: Ethiopian firms are not doing well with gaining international quality certifications as compared to the SSA region: 4.3% versus 14.7%. This is another area where foreign investors assist Ethiopian companies in achieving the next level of business and economic development.6. Firms need more electricity and faster access to the grid: Generator use is much higher in Ethiopia than SSA (48.9% versus 26.5%), which is to be expected given that the country is quickly industrializing but in need of more power. In fact, electricity was listed as the second highest obstacle that firms face in Ethiopia. It takes companies 194.3 days to obtain an electrical connection upon application, versus the 33.0 days for the rest of SSA. On a positive note, roads are better in Ethiopia, which shows in the survey’s last indicator: percentage of firms identifying transportation as a major constraint is 8.3% versus 22.8% for the SSA region.7. Firms need to hire more women executives – especially CFOs(RENEW’s opinion): One indicator that stuck out to us is that only 4.5% of firms in Ethiopia have a female top manager. And while the country did better in other gender indicators than SSA, RENEW’s takeaway from the entire Gender section of the survey is that we, as outside investors, need to encourage Ethiopian companies to hire qualified women into senior management positions.8. Ethiopia’s business environment is still closed: The proportion of private domestic ownership in a firm versus the private foreign ownership in a firm (95.9% versus 3.8%) shows that RENEW and the IAN are part of a very small percentage of foreign investors doing business in Ethiopia. Private equity investment is still very much an unknown concept to business owners, an issue that RENEW sets out to address in each of the <a href="../2015/why-are-angel-investors-important.html">trainings</a> we provide on financing options to entrepreneurs, banks and government employees.9. Firms could leverage foreign investors as a source of capital: If you have a free moment, this is the section of the survey to spend some time on. To RENEW, all of the indicators point to a "financial anemia" of sorts. The main indicators that stood out to us concern how and where investments come from: 83.3% of investments were financed internally, versus 7.8% financed by banks, 0.3% financed by supplier credit, or 0.8% financed by equity of stock sales. Only 16.4% of firms in Ethiopia use banks for working capital loans, in comparison to the 21.8% of companies in SSA.10. Yes, there's corruption; but not as bad as some: While it is evident that corruption still occurs in Ethiopia, the survey’s indicators demonstrate that Ethiopia is doing better than the SSA region as a whole.Overall, we are encouraged by these survey results and remain bullish on Ethiopia.*<a href="http://www.enterprisesurveys.org/data/exploreeconomies/2015/Ethiopia">World Bank 2015 Enterprise Survey on Ethiopia</a>

RENEW analyzes the World Bank’s recent survey on Ethiopian enterprise and finds some surprises.

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10 Things You Should Know About Ethiopia’s Business Environment

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Mama Fresh Opens New Teff and Injera Learning Center in Ethiopia</h1><figure class="image image-style-align-left image_resized" style="width:21.87%;"><img src="/uploads/mftc_logo_tm_1_c24c612c9f.png"></figure>Mama Fresh is excited to announce the soft opening of its <a href="http://www.mama-fresh.com/visit/">Teff and Injera Learning Center</a> at its Addis Ababa export facility. Mama Fresh aims to make the entire world fall in love with Ethiopian cuisine by providing a wonderful educational and cultural experience that is great for the whole family.For those who are unfamiliar with this ancient and nutrient-rich grain, teff is naturally gluten free, native to Ethiopia and is an integral part of the Ethiopian diet. Teff can be eaten in a variety of ways, including being used as the main ingredient in the Ethiopian staple bread product, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/12/14/spc-marketplace-africa-teff-a.cnn">injera</a>. To make injera, teff grain is first ground into flour, then combined with water, allowed to ferment over several days, and finally baked into a spongy, unique and sourdough-like flatbread that is enjoyed with other meats and spices at every meal.Mama Fresh is the country’s largest commercial manufacturer and exporter of fresh-baked injera. Because teff is so vital to this country’s economy, Visitor Center guests will start experiencing the grain’s most famous output - injera - through the various stages of production. From teff grain and flour, to injera dough and baking. Visitors will also have a chance to bake their own piece of injera! Trust us, it’s harder than it looks.&nbsp;So the next time you find yourself in Ethiopia, be sure to stop by Mama Fresh to experience teff and injera like you’ve never before.Hours: Thursday to Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM, by appointment only. Location: Wolo Sefer across from the Wongelawit Building (near to the Gotera intersection on Ethio-China Road). For Appointments: +251 (0) 93 001 3713&nbsp;

The portfolio company is excited to announce the soft launch of its Addis Ababa visitor’s center.

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Mama Fresh Opens New Teff and Injera Learning Center in Ethiopia

<h1 style="text-align:center;">RENEW Participates at the Wharton Club Africa 2016 Investment Summit</h1>Last week, the Wharton Club of Africa hosted the 2016 Investment Summit and CEO forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. According to the WCA’s website, the event is a “premiere, global, and high impact Pan-African Executive Investment Summit” that features over 100 of the continent’s top investors, wealth managers, family offices and investors from 35 countries from across the globe.*Matt Davis, CEO of RENEW, joined Africa’s “leading regional and international investors, executive game-changers, Ministers, industry titans, and award-winning entrepreneurs” with the goal of brainstorming, collaborating and delivering “game-changing” industry intelligence on investing, investment operations, financial returns, business leadership and development on the continent.*<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:98.76%;"><img src="/uploads/wca_6954a77b6f.jpg"></figure>The following are Matt’s takeaways from his time at the event and as a speaker on the entrepreneurial leadership and impact investing panel:• I was impressed with the audience and speakers that the event attracted, which was a mix of investors and business people all interested or experienced in doing business and investing in Africa.• The chemistry on our panel was great thanks to: 1) a diverse group of people with different philosophies about impact investing, 2) people who have actually invested on the continent, and 3) a great facilitator who had deep experience in the impact investment industry and knew how to steer the discussion.• We also had a good audience that asked interesting questions: the most memorable being whether we had any investors reject a deal because the financial returns were too high - the audience member was working with an office that had rejected a deal on these grounds and they wondered if this was common. My response was that I personally had never experienced such a situation, nor had I heard of any investor rejecting an investment on the grounds that the financial returns were too high; however, this is an interesting problem in the impact investment space. As capital comes from a variety of sources (foundations, donor advised funds, private investment accounts, etc.) unique criteria arise that traditional investment managers may have not encountered before.• I emphasized that those in the industry should be open to a wide range of definitions about impact investing, because the space needs to grow and mature. But, investors and their managers should still be clear about how they individually define their impact investment philosophy and approach.• And, while a broad approach at the moment is appropriate, I also encouraged investors and managers to remember that in the end, impact investing is investing and needs to deliver a financial return. If the industry, which is garnering a lot of attention as of late, goes too long without these returns, we may see a correction; like what happened with the microfinance industry.• I ended by saying that RENEW is more keen on Africa's economic prospects - specifically Ethiopia – versus the broader growth of the impact investment space. In the end, for RENEW and our investors, impact investing is filling a gap in financial markets in countries like Ethiopia, between microfinance and larger private equity, and addressing the problem of the “missing middle”.Overall, I enjoyed the event and hearing the various perspectives from the fellow panelists. A special thanks to Aubrey Hruby, who chaired the panel. Aubrey is the Co-Founder of the Africa Expert Network. And to Lisa Lambie, who organized the whole conference.*<a href="http://www.wcaexecsummit2016.com/why-unique.html">WCA Executive Investment Summit &amp; CEO Forum 2016</a>

Partner Matt Davis speaks on an entrepreneurial leadership and impact investing panel.

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RENEW Participates at the Wharton Club Africa 2016 Investment Summit

<h1 style="text-align:center;">The Rise of Private Equity in East Africa</h1>&nbsp;CURRENT STATE OF PE IN EAST AFRICAAccording to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, there were reportedly&nbsp;158 private&nbsp;equity transactions in the East African&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:29.76%;"><a href="http://www.avca-africa.org/media/1314/avca-spotlight-on-east-africa-private-equity-public-version.pdf"><img src="/uploads/avca_infographic_0_51f293adde.png"></a></figure>region between 2007 and 2014, totaling approximately $1.5B (1). Now, with Ethiopia being the second most populous country on the continent with over 95 million people, one would expect for the majority of the capital to have been deployed to this country. Unfortunately, Ethiopia still has a ways to go. Only 4% of said 158 deals completed in the region took place in Ethiopia, accounting for only 7% of the impact capital distributed (see <a href="http://www.avca-africa.org/media/1314/avca-spotlight-on-east-africa-private-equity-public-version.pdf">figure</a> to the right) (2). Kenya, with less than half Ethiopia’s population, has attracted the majority of private equity transactions and has become known as the private equity hub of the region. In addition, according to the Global Impact Investing Network’s 2015 impact investing report on East Africa, “Ethiopia’s financial services sector - and particularly the financing options available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) - lags that of other major East African economies” (3).While it seems Ethiopia may have been receiving the short end of the stick in recent years, many in the investing world believe this will soon be changing.FUTURE STATE OF PE IN ETHIOPIA:There are several reasons why Ethiopia is becoming a rising star in the region, one being the country’s double-digit gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate over the past ten years, which is expected to continue over the next five years (4).In line with Ethiopia’s economic growth, the country’s population is expected to continue to increase. If economic output advances faster than population growth, the country will see a broadening of its middle class. As real / disposable incomes rise, demand for higher quality goods and services will rise and the private sector will respond and compete for customers. The good news is that there are plenty of driven and professional Ethiopian entrepreneurs who are more than ready to meet this growing domestic and international demand by providing local value-chain addition across various industries.The Ethiopian government is in favor of this new industry and has thrown its support and weight behind the small to medium sized enterprises that, with the right partners, could become the market leaders of tomorrow. The government’s Growth and Transformation Plan II seeks to make Ethiopia a lower-middle income country by 2025 through rapid (double-digit) economic growth, industrialization and structural transformation (5). The two pillars that will drive this major development will be manufacturing and agriculture.Ethiopia is home to many promising investment opportunities in both of these key sectors, among several others, a fact that is not lost on international private equity investors. The agriculture industry is ripe with investment opportunities in major commodities such as coffee, honey, teff, sesame, flowers and livestock. And the manufacturing industry is just as plush with its ever growing market for fast moving consumer goods, textiles, etc. In fact, in 2014 a major private equity firm - KKR - invested $220M into an Ethiopian rose farm. While large deals by private equity firms and institutional investors are important and vital to the country’s continued growth, they unfortunately do not address the important issue raised before - Ethiopia remains one of the most capital constrained economies in the region for SMEs.&nbsp;CUE THE RISE OF THE GLOBAL IMPACT ANGEL INVESTOR.High net worth individuals (HNIs) across the United States are looking to engage their personal wealth in ways that are different from the typical financial portfolio or fund. High impact (and at times higher risk) investments in frontier economies, such as Ethiopia, are increasingly becoming an important part of said investors’ financial goals. The reason? Investing in SMEs located in developing countries can provide investors with a double or even triple bottom line - financial returns, positive social impact and positive environmental impact. Every dollar invested has the potential to not only provide the company with the ability to scale, but also create jobs in the local community, pay workers a better wage, provide employees with healthcare, pay taxes, and so much more. Impact investing essentially combines the best elements of philanthropy and traditional investing.Operating under the philosophy of “doing well, by doing good”, many governments and NGOs are seeing impact investing as the long-term development solution for emerging economies, as it sustainably contributes towards a country’s economic growth. In lieu of giving a hand out, investors and development organizations can, together, give these countries a hand up - empowering them to take over their own development stories.<figure class="image"><img src="../../sites/default/files/pe_blog.jpg"></figure>Investors should not discount the challenges that these frontier markets possess though - in many instances, it’s still very much the Wild West. RENEW believes that every investor needs to talk with their financial advisors before considering making such investments and should work with a trusted in-country partner. Whether it is large institutional players or boutique investment firms, Western investors can find investment professionals working out of offices in Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Accra. In Ethiopia, where RENEW has an office, we offer our angel investors a full, turnkey, in-country investment service through our Impact Angel Network. And, while Ethiopia trails Kenya’s in private equity, we believe the country will soon be changing that story as well. In fact, we are already seeing progress! In just four years, the Impact Angel Network has closed seven investments and we are gearing up for another strong year in 2016.(1) <a href="http://www.avca-africa.org/media/1314/avca-spotlight-on-east-africa-private-equity-public-version.pdf">African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association: Spotlight on East Africa Private Equity</a> (2) <a href="http://www.avca-africa.org/media/1314/avca-spotlight-on-east-africa-private-equity-public-version.pdf">id.</a> (3) <a href="https://thegiin.org/assets/documents/pub/East Africa Landscape Study/09Ethiopia_GIIN_eastafrica_DIGITAL.pdf">The Global Impact Investing Network: The Landscape for Impact Investing in East Africa</a> (4) <a href="https://thegiin.org/assets/documents/pub/East Africa Landscape Study/09Ethiopia_GIIN_eastafrica_DIGITAL.pdf">id.</a> (5) <a href="https://www.africaintelligence.com/c/dc/LOI/1415/GTP-II.pdf">Africa Intelligence: The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Second Growth and Transformation Plan</a>

The RENEW teams take a closer look at the current state and future state of private equity in Ethiopia.

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The Rise of Private Equity in East Africa

<h1 style="text-align:center;">RENEW Speaks at Posner Center Business Leaders’ Event in Denver</h1><figure class="image image-style-align-left image_resized" style="width:40.07%;"><img src="/uploads/posner_logo_2_fa8185fdf9.png"></figure>Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at the <a href="http://posnercenter.org/">Posner Center for International Development’s</a> annual Business Leaders’ event in Denver, Colorado. The event highlighted activities of Posner Center tenants and international companies working together to pursue both business goals and development objectives.I was honored to join keynote speaker, Kelly Brough, CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, in commending the Colorado-based businesses and NGOs in attendance to continue their already vibrant collaborations in the international arena to realize business growth and social impact. Developing countries, such as those on the African continent in which RENEW operates, present unique opportunities for such collaboration. These countries possess new markets, new supply chains, and opportunities for technology transfers, strategic acquisitions and equity investments.Ethiopia is an example of one market that is seeing significant growth and attracting the attention of NGOs, businesses and investors alike. Ethiopian companies in RENEW’s portfolio are responding to the growing demands of the country’s more than 95 million people and an ever increasing middle class. These dynamics are contributing to Ethiopia being consistently ranked among the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world.International businesses and investors are looking to Ethiopia for its significant agricultural potential, particularly in areas of coffee, sesame, honey, cut flowers, livestock, and cotton, among others. But, there are clear needs for technology transfers, value chain improvements and outside expertise to unlock this potential. Attractive returns on investments can be realized by responding to these needs. Companies like Samsung, Dow, Heineken, Coca Cola, H&amp;M, WalMart, GE, among many others, as well as RENEW’s Impact Angel Network (IAN), are making or actively considering these opportunities to benefit from and help contribute to Ethiopia’s growth.Collaboration is often key to these investments, as companies seek to navigate an unfamiliar regulatory environment and tailor products and services to local consumer preferences and needs. During my conversation at Posner last week, I highlighted several examples of such collaboration between U.S. businesses and Ethiopian companies, including those in the Impact Angel Network <a href="../../marketplace/portfolio.html">portfolio</a>. These partnerships are providing access to new markets and knowledge transfers, which benefits both companies – the Ethiopian portfolio company and the U.S,-based partner.Frontier markets, like Ethiopia, are still volatile, so it is important to have appropriate hedging strategies in place (talk to your investment adviser, if you are considering investment opportunities in these markets). There are challenges to investing and doing business that warrant patience. In some instances, an effective strategy may be to enter a frontier market with a local partner and, in a more limited way, initially to allow for adaptation to the local context while building a company that operates to international standards. This is one reason why RENEW and the Impact Angel Network focus their investments on small and mid-size companies: invest in smaller companies and provide them the capital, networks and mentoring they need to scale. In this way, a small investment can now provide significant upside potential and exposure to an exciting part of the world economy.RENEW thanks the Posner Center for International Development for inviting us to participate in its annual Business Leaders’ event. The Posner Center is a Denver, Colorado-based shared work space and community of innovators whose mission is to grow lasting solutions to global poverty.<hr>RENEW is an impact investing firm working in Ethiopia through its partnership with USAID activities. It has been facilitating impact investments in East Africa and Asia since 2008. RENEW manages the Impact Angel Network, one of the largest U.S. based angel networks for Africa. &nbsp;

Partner Tom Scriven discusses impact investment and business opportunities in frontier markets.