<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;">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;">RENEW Speaks at the Leeds School of Business</h1>RENEW's Tom Scriven was invited to speak to a class of about 30 MBA students at the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business on March 4. The topic was "Financing Sustainable Change: Cleantech and Impact Investing."Among topics discussed were the opportunities and challenges facing Ethiopia as its economy grows. Significant investments in infrastructure and a growing middle class in the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa present remarkable opportunities for business growth at rates which would be seen as "too good to be true" in most other countries of the world. The conversation also included discussing ways to minimize some of the risks associated with these investments and opportunities to attract more public and private sector funds into investments that have potential for both significant financial and social returns.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/20140304_183658_9dcc35a44c.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.

RENEW's Tom Scriven speaks at the Leeds School of Business.

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RENEW Speaks at the Leeds School of Business

<h1 style="text-align:center;">RENEW Welcomes Two New Team Members</h1>Berkessa Behailu and Lulit Negash, both of Ethiopia, join the RENEW team.<figure class="image image-style-align-left image_resized" style="width:23.97%;"><img src="/uploads/2014_lulit_and_berkessa_18f50c1cc2.jpg"></figure>RENEW is pleased to announce the addition of two new team members in the Addis Ababa office.<a href="https://renewcapital.com/team/berkessa-behailu">Berkessa Behailu</a> joins RENEW as an analyst and will be focused on investment analysis and due diligence. Berkessa worked previously at Precise Consult International as the project manager of the business and advisory department. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration and information technology from Addis Ababa University.<a href="https://renewcapital.com/team/lulit-negash">Lulit Negash</a> joins RENEW as a junior analyst and will focus on research and portfolio management. She joins RENEW from Nexus Investment Solutions, where she worked in market research. Lulit has a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Addis Ababa University.RENEW is thrilled to welcome Berkessa and Lulit to the team!Contact us at <a href="mailto:renew@renewcapital.com">renew@renewcapital.com</a> or follow us on Twitter @RENEWLLC to find out more.

RENEW welcomes two new members to the Ethiopia office.

RENEW Welcomes Two New Team Members

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Crowdsourcing Better Deals</h1><figure class="image image-style-align-left image_resized" style="width:21.64%;"><img src="/uploads/giin_logo_ffa8da7d81.jpg"></figure>RENEW has been selected as one of the winners of the Africa Impact Economy Innovations Fund (IEIF), funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, in partnership with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).IEIF provides grant capital for entrepreneurs with projects that create jobs in underserved sectors and supports proposals geared toward enabling capital solutions, fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems and promoting impact investing industry infrastructure. In addition to RENEW, Investisseurs &amp; Partenaires (Senegal), M.Lab Africa (Kenya), Policy and Economic Research Council (Tanzania), Doreo Partners (Nigeria), GIMPA Centre for Impact Investing (Ghana) and SliceBiz (Ghana) were selected as winners.The vision for the winners is to enable through their various projects, opportunities for additional entrepreneurship activities across Africa to thrive. “The winners were selected for their work in bridging the gap between African businesses and financing options. We, at the Foundation are excited to be part of the process of supporting interventions that contribute to sustained economic development across the continent.” Dr. Wiebe Boer, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, explained.RENEW is delighted to be selected and will be using the grant to pilot a methodology, originally developed by Global Giving in the non-profit space, to test whether crowdsourced qualitative data can be used to help impact investors identify quality deals in developing countries. "The high costs associated with finding and vetting companies is one of the barriers preventing more investors from investing in countries like Ethiopia. We are hoping this approach may uncover the potential for new types of data to enter the investment process." said Matthew Davis, a partner at RENEW.Contact us at <a href="mailto:renew@renewcapital.com">renew@renewcapital.com</a> or follow us on Twitter @RENEWLLC to find out more.

RENEW selected as winner of Africa Impact Economy Innovations Fund.

Crowdsourcing Better Deals

<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.

2014: What's Next

<h1 style="text-align:center;">RENEW in 2013</h1>In almost all regards, 2013 was a banner year for RENEW. We facilitated several investments into amazing companies in Ethiopia (see <a href="../../marketplace/portfolio.html">Portfolio</a>), secured great partnerships with the development community, and helped mobilize more than $3 million into our portfolio companies.As for impact, we created more than 20 full time jobs, some 30 part time jobs, supported 190* people, and helped mobilize $39 million** in the local economy.We provided more than five trainings on the basics of private equity, and met with more than 100 local companies.RENEW also hired three amazing staff members (see <a href="../../about-renew/team.html">Team</a>) and had three exceptional fellows participate in our RENEW Fellows Program.2013 was not without its challenges. We learned a lot about doing business in Ethiopia: I personally made some classic “western” blunders with regard to managing my team and negotiating terms with our portfolio companies (thank you all, for your grace, patience and wonderful advice). Nonetheless, we learned a lot from these challenges, and we are excited about what 2014 will bring!*Using the 9x job creation multiplier. **Using the 13x SEAF multiplier.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/photo_ethiopia_november_2013_angel_trip_6581aeedc7.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.

Read about RENEW's achievements and lessons learned in 2013.

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RENEW in 2013

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Angels in Addis</h1>November has been a busy month for RENEW with two angel groups from the U.S. visiting Addis for Econ-Tourism trips. This was the first trip to Ethiopia for most of the angels, who came from Washington, D.C., Delaware and Oregon.The groups met with countless Ethiopian entrepreneurs and visited a number of businesses spanning a variety of sectors - from healthcare to coffee to injera. All of the angels expressed their surprise and excitement about the incredible potential for growth they saw throughout the trips.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/2013_november_angels_3ac8cab271.jpg"></figure><figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/collage_2013_november_angels_oregon_0cc2ddd951.jpg"></figure>RENEW is gearing up for a busy 2014, with several trips already scheduled. Contact us to learn more about scheduling your own Econ-Tourism trip! Contact us at <a href="mailto:renew@renewcapital.com">renew@renewcapital.com</a> or follow us on Twitter @RENEWLLC to find out more.

RENEW hosted two angel groups in Addis in November.

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Angels in Addis

<h1 style="text-align:center;">RENEW's Fellows Program: A View from Inside</h1>This is a guest post by Ryan Musser, who participated in RENEW's Fellows Program from May - August 2013. Ryan lives and works in Washington, D.C.I first learned about RENEW a year ago and was instantly drawn to its mission. As a student and practitioner of international development, I’m always interested in new and better ways to facilitate and encourage development. What attracted me to RENEW is its public-private partnership approach of impact investment that puts the investor and entrepreneur on the same level, rather than the typical donor-recipient relationship in traditional development models. If I were to make a prediction about the future of economic development, I would predict that the way of donor-based economic development projects are on their way out. Impact investment is on its way in.In the upcoming years, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randall-kempner/entrepreneurs-are-transfo_b_825105.html">business creation, entrepreneurship, and investment</a> are bound to play an integral role in poverty alleviation around the world. China and India have proven that millions of people can be lifted out of poverty through the market-led economic growth of investment and business creation. Impact investment is an <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/skollworldforum/2013/07/30/why-impact-investing-is-an-emerging-paradigm-shift-in-philanthropy/">exciting opportunity </a>for philanthropists and development practitioners seeking to alleviate poverty.But impact investment isn’t just an opportunity for the charity-minded. We now see in Africa in general – and Ethiopia specifically – a situation that is ripe for investment with huge returns. Out of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world in the past decade, six are from Africa. From 2011-2015, seven African countries are set to be among the 10 fastest growing countries in the world, with only China and India being ahead of Ethiopia at 8.1% annual average GDP growth. Already from 2005 - 2009, Ethiopia recorded higher growth than China, averaging 11% growth. From 2003 to 2011, <a href="http://www.consultancyafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=1325:a-subtle-engagement-ethiopia-and-india&amp;catid=58:asia-dimension-discussion-papers&amp;Itemid=264">Ethiopians have seen their income double</a> from $527 per capita to over $1,100. In the next five years, <a href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/The_East_Africa_Boom:_Dont_be_left_behind/$FILE/130219_SGF_TL_East_email_version.pdf">East Africa is expected to attract $6.8 billion of annual foreign direct investment</a>. And investing in this growth in the developing world is profitable. According to WhyDev, forty percent of impact investment funds that focus on emerging markets target a return between 16-20% after fees, carry, and currency conversion.Impact investment is a <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/01/social-impact-investing-will-b/f">win-win</a> for everyone: investors, entrepreneurs, and the poor. Investors are making money, entrepreneurs are growing their businesses, and the poor are seeing their incomes rise and their quality of life improve. This past summer I participated in a fellowship with RENEW because I want in on this action. I believe that <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21575769-strategies-putting-money-work-fast-growing-continent-hottest">Africa is the future frontier for investment</a> and impact investment is a key tool in the fight to alleviate poverty. If the US wants to stay competitive globally, we need to be investing in Africa, and if international development practitioners want to stay competitive, we need to get involved in impact investing. During my fellowship with RENEW, I had the opportunity to familiarize myself with the impact investing field, gaining insight into the players, the opportunities, and the obstacles faced in impact investing. During this time and through my research with RENEW, my hunch has been confirmed: impact investing is a disruptive innovation here to stay. Whether you’re seeking a financial return or a social return with your money, you can’t ignore impact investing. It’s a crucial tool for the investment world, as well as the philanthropic and aid world, and it’s only just beginning to show its impact in these circles.&nbsp;