My Beauty Best Teacher

Ryan Shen Hoover writing in the the Cheetah Index states:

It’s great to see such confidence in Africa’s capital markets. It will encourage additional companies to go public and ultimately improve African exchanges’ liquidity. But it makes uncovering a “screaming buy” each month much more difficult. Instead of “40% off everything in the store,” value investing in Africa is now more akin to rummaging through the clearance section.
Still, retail investors can thrive in such an environment. They’re able to pick up deals that the big guys can’t touch. Large institutions find it difficult to invest in opportunities like Fan Milk because of the lack of liquidity, and great companies like SAB&T Ubuntu are too small for them to buy without moving the market. Moreover, most of Africa’s IPOs and secondary offerings tend to favor small-time investors. Like scooping up “Midnight Madness” deals, investing in African stocks isn’t convenient, but it can be rewarding and fun.

Economically, the majority of 130 million Nigerians impoverished by unemployment, unresponsive and repressive governments, lack of basic social infrastructure and amenities, marginalization and rising inflation, have clung to the church as the last refuge, while basically throwing their energies behind the precepts of tithes and offerings for manner to fall from heaven. Religion’s promise of prosperity has greatly influenced the mental psychology of the masses. The quest for a divine intervention in the dire situation of most Nigerians has also led to the increasing influence of an array of spiritual advisers who have become part and parcel of official structures of power across the country, creating a select theocratic class with direct phone lines to the corridors of state power.

Stuart R. Cohn wrote "...In most sub-Saharan countries there is so little history of successful investing in domestic enterprises, of capital raising through public offerings, and of stock market activity, that the mere inauguration of stock exchanges and the listing of former parastatals is far from sufficient to assure an active and growing stock market. Steps must be taken outside of the normal course of market development, beyond merely adding to the list of securities by new privatisations or the floating of government bonds. What is required is a change in how the government views the stock exchange as well as a commitment to capital growth..."

The FT reports(subscr. reqd):

The development of capital markets in Africa’s strongest economies has accelerated this year. In Nigeria, there is now a bond yield curve out to 10 years, and equity capital markets transactions so far this year have totalled $3.3bn, according to Dealogic. This is tiny by international standards, but a huge jump that brings it close to volumes in the more developed South African market. Most of the Nigerian equity offerings, though, are the result of capital-raising by its consolidating banking sector, and more activity in areas such as oil and telecoms is needed to maintain the impetus.

John Paul reviews Despite Good Intentions a critique of developmental assistance "...in the rush to scale up microfinance offerings, many newcomers to the field might actually be doing more harm than good. He points out a number of flaws with the current approach to microfinance, cautioning that there is little historical evidence for the developmental role of credit to the poor; that there has been little rigorous evaluation of the overall benefits of microfinance to a person’s quality of life; and that the poorest of the poor are by definition the ones who "need" credit the most, but can do the least with it..."
via NextBillion

Actis on Infrastructure:

There is increased interest in African infrastructure opportunities from a host of investors experienced in, and new to, African countries. Development finance institutions (DFIs) continue to play a lead role in advising and financing challenging projects. African and international banks are broadening their debt offerings to include equity for infrastructure projects, contractors are prepared to commit more equity and State-sponsored entities from countries that include Russia and China are taking on significant infrastructure projects...Infrastructure assets have long lives, and it is impossible to forecast every turn in the fortunes of a country or a sector over a 20- or 30-year period. Time will tell whether the private-sector transactions currently being structured and negotiated are pricing the risk correctly, but the indications are that Africa's risk continues to be over-rated and experienced investors are able to lock in superior, risk-adjusted returns...[continue reading]

Babajide Komolafe reports that in Nigeria:

Community Banks have commenced moves to raise funds through private placement and initial public offerings (IPOs)...a Chairman of the National Association of Community Banks (NACOBs) David Adenekan, confirmed to the Vanguard that the association in a bid to ensure that its member banks meet the new capital base, has entered into discussions with Fidelity Bank to help community banks in the state raise funds through private placement. He said the arrangement is to package community banks for private placement on individual basis. He disclosed that five banks have already been packaged while five more banks are currently being packaged for private placement.