About the project

The African Business Academy is a not-for profit organisation whose mission is to promote Africa as an investment-friendly ecosystem. It encourages sustainable investment across the continent.

Looking beyond preconceptions, the African continent is rich, diverse, young and dynamic, open to the world and eager to grow in the 21^st century. Africa’s diversity lies in the breadth of its cultures, values, references, institutions, codes and traditions. Understanding these features is essential when investing on the continent.

Building on its members’ aspirations, the African Business Academy fosters dialogue between Africans and investors to identify best practices and models of excellence for investment in Africa. The ultimate goal is to increase awareness of how to invest both sustainably and successfully in Africa, all while adopting an all-inclusive stakeholder approach.

Our history

An increasing number of investors are pursuing projects in Africa, and sometimes, such projects have a limited success, resulting in investors being surprised and even disappointed with the outcome of their experience in Africa. This situation may happen more frequently when investors commit without a sound grasp of the context and are therefore insufficiently prepared for conducting sustainable and successful investments in Africa.

Based on this observation and their personal and professional experiences in Africa, the founding members of the African Business Academy have created this organisation to increase investor awareness of how to conduct sustainable and successful investments taking an inclusive approach for all stakeholders.

An understanding of Africa, its people, and its specific cultural, social, institutional and economic features is essential to investing on the continent. Compliance with fundamental rights and international standards including the rights of local communities and workers, or anti-corruption issues, is a decisive factor when investing in Africa.

Beyond philanthropy, these considerations are essential in order to achieve long-lasting investments that fit into the local social structures. If they are overlooked, local populations may be severely affected and investors exposed to financial, operational, legal, or reputational risks that could seriously damage the projects’ viability.

With initial support from Herbert Smith Freehills law firm, the African Business Academy aims to garner support from a variety of companies, thereby expanding its network and providing the organisation with the support it needs.