#22: African Corporate VCs & Softbank - Why African corporates are not investing in tech startups
Afrobility: Africa Tech & BusinessFebruary 08, 2021
22
01:29:04203.88 MB

#22: African Corporate VCs & Softbank - Why African corporates are not investing in tech startups

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about African Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) using Softbank as a reference point. We'll talk about Softbank's early history, transition from operational to investment company, and finally dive into the current state and future potential of CVC in Africa. This episode was recorded on Feb 7, 2021


Companies discussed: Softbank, Naspers / Prosus, MTN, Nedbank, Safaricom, Orange, Stripe, Visa, MasterCard, Tencent & Alibaba


Business concepts discussed: Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), M&A strategy, Internal vs External innovation & developing market investment strategy


Conversation highlights:

  • (01:05) - Why we’re talking about Corporate Venture Capital
  • (03:50) - Why we picked Softbank as a reference point
  • (07:30) - Masayoshi Son background Softbank History 
  • (16:14) - Softbank acquisitions, investments & the Vision Fund
  • (28:24) - Southern Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
  • (36:40) - West Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
  • (43:00) - East Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
  • (51:56) - North Africa CVCs - current potential candidates
  • (53:40) - Non-African CVCs investing in Africa
  • (59:30) - Bankole’s closing thoughts
  • (1:11:55) - Olumide’s closing thoughts
  • (1:23:38) - Recommendations and small wins


Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:


Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:


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