"My Takes" by Fatima Al Ansar

Africa's narrative on the world stage today is being shaped as ground-breaking musicians, artists, journalists, blockbuster movies, tv shows and writers take center stage. This panel will discuss pertinent trends from across stakeholders in this culture - shaping ecosystem. As Africa accelerates into the future, this panel will present an insightful set of perspectives on the power of narrative and creativity to re-imagine and visualize the direction of progress. Our goal is to highlight how African music is showcased to the world, the challenges that exist and the forces that are at work to positively enhance the upward trajectory.

Although Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA)— where entrepreneurs search for and acquire small, stable, cash-flow positive businesses with the intention to grow them over time—is becoming more popular, few “search funds” have been established in Africa. Indeed, there has been limited data to support the case for investing in African search funds and the benefits of this novel asset class. Still, ETA remains uniquely positioned to unlock value, find new talent, and accelerate the growth and development of SMEs—particularly family businesses—across the continent. This panel will focus on three key questions: (1) What makes Africa ripe for the growth of search funds? (2) How can the North American search fund model function on the continent? (3) What are the dynamics of operating and growing businesses under this model?

African agriculture is at once an immense challenge and opportunity. With proper investments, we could increase production by hundreds of billions of dollars annually, with equal potential in processing and retail. The continent closed 150 agtech funding deals for $482.3M in 2021, but much more is needed. Come join Africa’s foremost agri investors, agtech entrepreneurs, and downstream and upstream operators as they outline how to realize the sector’s potential via better business models, talent and investment.