A guide to the business and investment opportunities in emerging Africa

By David Mataen

Sub-Saharan Africa is now one of the world’s most talked about regions in terms of emerging investment opportunities and sources of new growth. Its economies represent a quintessential frontier market and they are set to develop into an area of long-term investment interest. ‘Africa – The Ultimate Frontier Market’ is an investor’s guide to the transformations that have occurred in the African business landscape in the last 50 years and the key areas of interest for the future.

This book provides a detailed but lucid look at the changing trends in social life, government and business since the 1960s. It explains the background to consumer market developments and why they have occurred, the enablers that have been laid down within Africa that ready it for business expansion, and the sectors where there is opportunity for investment and growth. The business environment is then broken down into seven key areas on which investors should focus:

Agriculture – Real estate – Consumer retail – Financial services – Telecoms – Transport and logistics – Manufacturing and processing

Each of these chapters describes the major themes in the area and identifies the specific consumer sectors anticipated to experience the biggest growth in the years to come.

By following the long-term developments described by David Mataen, you will understand the pace of change in Africa in the past and gain an appreciation for how its business and economy will progress in the future. At this time of great opportunity, this book is an essential addition to your investment library.

During David Mataen's 13 years in financial services spanning commercial banking, stock brokerage, management consultancy and investment banking he has had the singular opportunity of becoming a scholar of African investing. His travels and tours of duty across the continent, though not to each and every corner, have allowed him to put his hand on the pulse and feel the heartbeat of African economies.

Being born, bred and educated, and having worked in Africa grants David the luxury of being first witness to the comings and goings in the continent, especially its commerce and economics. In his two and a half years as a contributing columnist to Business Daily, a publication of the Nation Media Group, he wandered far and wide intellectually and picked up invaluable insights, broad perspectives and sound reflexes that have become a foundation for his analysis of business on the continent.

Add to this his habits of extensive reading in finance and economics, and intense fascination with systems and their mechanics, which has favoured him the unique privilege of discovering just a little more of Africa’s economic soul. David’s travels outside of Africa gave him glimpses of a future Africa, when it grows up, and of what it has to do to reach that point. Above all, he is a hopeless romantic about the future and the intuitive signs of the future that appear in the course of ordinary life and business in the present.

David is currently the head of Corporate Finance at Faida Investment Bank in Nairobi, Kenya.