Impact investing has grown rapidly since the term was coined in 2007. As wealth is transferred to a younger generation of investors with different priorities, greater emphasis is being placed on investments that generate positive social and environmental change, and as a result capital is slowly being directed towards creating impact. In 2018 alone, US...Read More

On the sidelines of the DealMakersAFRICA annual awards held in February 2019 in Nairobi, our Director for SME and Impact Finance, Julio De Souza spoke about impact investing gaining traction in Africa and what this portends for the business environment in the continent. The co-existence of a general upswing in the business environment in Africa...Read More

Note on image: The image above, from left to right, features StratLink’s Vice President (Transaction Advisory Services) Kyle Drexler, Senior Analyst Benson Njeri and Director for SME and Impact Finance Julio De Souza at the DealMakers Awards 2018 ceremony in Nairobi. StratLink is delighted to emerge second in the category of Financial Advisors (Deal Flow)...Read More

In line with our mandate to help unlock investment opportunities in Africa and other frontier markets, StratLink acted as the exclusive sell-side advisor to Art Caffé Coffee and Bakery, a restaurant group with multiple brand concepts throughout Kenya, in the transaction to sell a majority stake to Emerging Capital Partners (ECP). StratLink provided comprehensive market...Read More

Image credit – PwC 2017 Africa Capital Markets Watch Note: This article only looks at domestic companies that are listed within their country of operation, i.e. organisations that are cross listed are only counted in their country of origin. There is wide variation in the size and accessibility of securities exchanges across Africa however, data...Read More

The movement toward investment that targets a social and/or environmental impact is gaining momentum across the globe – especially in emerging and frontier markets. In sub-Saharan Africa in particular, impact finance has been pivotal in unlocking a new source of capital to balance the shortage of state funding for impact-oriented initiatives. The visibility of these...Read More

Ethiopia’s liberalisation offensive, opening up the state controlled Ethio telecom and Ethiopian Airlines to private investors, has taken many by surprise. Caught between a watershed political transition and a foreign currency crunch, opinion remains divided as to whether the move primarily signals a policy shift to relatively fast-pedalled liberalisation under the new administration, or is...Read More

As throngs poured into the streets of Harare in seeming euphoria following the November 2017 military takeover of power from Robert Mugabe, there was little, if any, consensus as to whether the unfolding events constituted a coup or not. The prospect of a general election in 2018 offers hope that the residual sky-high optimism could...Read More

A financial inclusion-focused entity recently engaged us to exercise due diligence on a working capital microcredit venture, with the intent of investing $1 million in equity in the business. Chief amongst the requirements was the evidence of employment creation brought about by the extension of credit to micro, small and medium enterprises. This was illuminating...Read More

In this interview (August 18th, 2017), our Senior Research Analyst analyses the immediate aftermath of Kenya’s August 8th, 2017 general election looking at factors such as perceived and actual political risk, electoral process management and the impending Supreme Court hearing on the disputed Presidential poll outcome. Interview available via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH1xRN_iZfg&t=70sRead More