Uzodinma Ezimora joins africon GmbH advisory board.

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africon has been strengthening its team including the advisory board which constitutes professionals with unparalleled skills and experience. The board embodies significant long-term Africa understanding and guides africon in its current growth phase. It contributes ideas, networks and local know-how. Therefore, africon is very pleased to add another member, Uzodinma (Uzo) Ezimora, to the board.

 Mr. Ezimora has 22 years’ experience in the launch and development of B2B sales networks in Africa, international business development and technology project execution. He has vast experience in key industries like energy and manufacturing sectors across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. His areas of expertise are in industrial sales, market development, business strategy and organizational design.

Uzo holds an MBA in International Business from the Ecole des Ponts Business School in Paris, France, and a double degree in Management Accounting and International Trade from the University of Hamburg in Germany and the EDC Business School in Paris.

He was formerly an Executive Director at General Electric in Nigeria and has held various leadership positions at General Electric Company, ArcelorMittal SA, KPMG Business Advisory Services UK, and KPMG Consulting France.

 “I am excited and honoured to join africon’s Advisory Board in its drive to support the development of business in Africa and with Africa. Despite numerous challenges globally, this decade is also a moment of great opportunity for those who recognize the potentials and understand the environment of the world’s largest untapped market”, Mr. Ezimora notes.

africon looks forward to a continuous exchange with the advisory board to support the growth of the company.

TU Berlin and Addis Ababa University students solve a business case for Henkel and Varta, organized by africon

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Africa has become a continent of growth. Over the past 5 years, 7 out of the 10 strongest growth countries were in Africa. The growing economies with their business potential led to an increasing interest by German and international companies to kick-off or review their Africa growth strategies.

Within the framework of the special initiative Training and Employment, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development together with the DAAD funding program, “University-Business Partnerships between universities and industry in Germany and developing countries”, developed the IPLogE (Integration of Practice-oriented Logistics Education in Ethiopia). It aims to promote the exchange between Ethiopian and German students and to enable the application of theoretical concepts to real-life practices while enhancing their soft skills.

The Technical University of Berlin (TUB) and Addis Ababa University (AAU) collaborated on a joint program, African Logistics Networks – Bringing together German and Ethiopian logistics students. africon and some of our clients were selected as the business partners. We co-developed a case study with Henkel and Varta who presented to the students at the beginning of their course.

The course kicked off in Q4 in 2020 with lectures and virtual discussion. The students were supported by the business contacts as well as africon who provided practice-relevant content. They worked in groups and presented their solutions.

This joint program was successful, and it enhanced collaboration between the students. The students leveraged their problem-solving abilities to come up with solutions for business problems. They were also able to understand the drivers, challenges, and development of logistics.

In the closing ceremony Ms. Yeni Fowotade from africon gave some HR insights for the graduands on how to approach the job market.

Slide of the month (SOTM) April. Overview of the tech scene in select countries in Africa

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The digital economy in Africa continues to grow with some countries having significant digital infrastructure. Due to our vast experience and project work in Africa, we were recently invited to share relevant insights on the topic, “Opportunities in Africa’s rising digital economy”, at the Global DIGITAL FUTUREcongress Virtual on 25.02.2021.

Our presentation focused on the general growth drivers as well as the opportunities that exist in the thriving internet economy of Africa. We gave an overview of the tech scene on the continent which is an interesting market for German and European companies. One such insight was that Nigeria and Kenya have the largest tech sectors while Rwanda and Ethiopia are growth markets.

We were also able to share more tactical recommendations and insights that would guide prospective entrants into the market.

If you have any questions about the sector or would like to discuss more, please contact us at info@africon.de

Read previous SOTMs (Slides of the month) here.

Slide of the month (SOTM) March. Operational and upcoming railway lines in Nigeria

Slide of the month (SOTM) February. Import statistics of medical equipment in East African Community (EAC)

Slide of the month (SOTM) January. The market for commercial vehicles in Kenya

Slide of the month (SOTM) December. The food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing industry in Nigeria

Slide of the month (SOTM) November. The construction industry in Africa

 

Slide of the month (SOTM) March. Operational and upcoming railway lines in Nigeria

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Several African countries have ongoing and planned rail projects. Africa’s largest economy is developing the rail sector to improve the poor transport infrastructure. africon recently completed a project in the railway sector in Nigeria for one of our clients who manufactures rail components. The project aimed to give an overview of the industry in terms of ongoing and upcoming projects.

africon spent about 4 months meeting with key local decision-makers and experts in a very challenging market environment. The Nigerian railway network consists of 3,505 km narrow gauge lines and 364 km standard gauge lines. There are several operational lines with multiple ongoing inter-state and light rail projects across major cities in Nigeria. The figure below maps some of the operational lines which we covered in the course of the project. We also provided more invaluable insights & data and gave strategic recommendations about the sector to our client.

Below, you will also find some pictures that our team in Nigeria took.

If you have any questions about the sector or would like to discuss more, please contact us at info@africon.de

Read previous SOTMs (Slides of the month) here.

Slide of the month (SOTM) February. Import statistics of medical equipment in East African Community (EAC).

Slide of the month (SOTM) January. The market for commercial vehicles in Kenya

Slide of the month (SOTM) December. The food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing industry in Nigeria

Slide of the month (SOTM) November. The construction industry in Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) October. The meat & fish sector in Nigeria

 

africon selected as a knowledge partner for EMWA 2021

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africon has been liaising as a knowledge partner with different reputable trade fairs, conferences, and shows in our key sectors including automotive, mechanical engineering, chemicals, consumer goods & FMCG, and industrial goods, among others. To see some of our work in the trade fair sector, you can browse through our references page.

As a knowledge partner, our role is to provide information on the manufacturing sector in Africa. Having completed over 100 projects in Africa, we have collected insights and data that is vital to companies interested in the sector.

We are happy to partner with EMWA (Equipment & Manufacturing West Africa). The event brings together leading suppliers and manufacturers with a captive audience that has the express desire to source and secure productivity-enhancing solutions. They will be given the opportunity to network with 3,000+ business owners and senior decision-makers who are all looking for new innovative products and services to enhance and maximize the profit of their business, and set their business going in the right direction to success.

Event Details

Venue: Landmark Centre

Show dates & time: Tuesday, 27 April 2021: 10 am – 4 pm, Wednesday, 28 April 2021: 10 am – 4 pm, Thursday, 29 April 2021: 9 am – 3 pm

See more about attending and registering for the event here.

Exhibitor sign up 

 

Kwame Ankomah Gyamfi joins africon as a Business Analyst in Ghana.

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Based on our philosophy of “bridging potentials“, where we consult the management of global companies on their Africa strategy (beginning with their market entry until the local implementation), we have expanded our footprint in West Africa by hiring a Business Analyst from Ghana.

The africon vision is to create possibilities not only for international companies wanting to do business in Africa, but also for those in Africa wanting to expand within the continent, and internationally. Ghana has been in the spotlight and we are getting more companies from some of our key focus industries requesting strategy consulting and market research.

Kwame Ankomah Gyamfi, who is based in Accra, joined africon in February 2021. Before joining, Mr. Gyamfi consulted for impact-oriented stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem. He holds a master’s degree in Development Finance from the University of Ghana Business School. Kwame has already started supporting clients with in-depth local market research, entire market analysis, strategy development, partner identification, sales, and business development in Ghana. He is currently working on a project on consumer goods in Ghana.

“I am happy to join the dynamic team at africon, I look forward to this challenge of presenting Africa as the next frontier of growth to our clients”, Kwame says.

To see more of our team members, see our team page.

africon and Quantron AG join forces for eMobility in Africa

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eMobility has been a key topic in Africa with the rising need to electrify different modes of transportation. There is a large number of e-mobility innovations stemming from small and medium-sized companies in different countries in Africa.

africon has executed projects for clients in the eMobility sector and related fields like transport, automotive, and logistics. One recent notable liaison has been with Quantron AG, which is a key player in  the fields of eMobility, eEngineering, and eBattery. The company has been providing eMobility solutions to passenger and freight transport in Europe. They electrify new commercial vehicles  in a quiet and emission-free way. They also offer their own new electric utility vehicles.

africon and Quantron AG are joining forces to increase the representation of these solutions in Africa. We already see areas of application in the field and will be discussing them with the relevant stakeholders.

Learn more here 

Slide of the month (SOTM) February. Import statistics of medical equipment in East African Community (EAC).

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africon GmbH did an analysis of import statistics of medical equipment in East Africa for one of our clients in the sector. They were interested in understanding the supply and demand of hospital beds.

The findings were that the complex medical equipment market in EAC relies heavily on imports from various countries like China, Germany, and India. Kenya has the region’s biggest market followed by Tanzania and Uganda. According to sources, there also exists local manufacturing of standard hospital beds in EAC member states. However, our local research concluded that operating room beds are imported mostly from China and India due to lower prices from these sources. africon was therefore able to share the size of the market and provide recommendations as well as business connections for the client.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact us at info@africon.de

Read previous SOTMs (Slides of the month) here.

Slide of the month (SOTM) January. The market for commercial vehicles in Kenya

Slide of the month (SOTM) December. The food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing industry in Nigeria

Slide of the month (SOTM) November. The construction industry in Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) October. The meat & fish sector in Nigeria

Slide of the month (SOTM) September. The soft drinks market in Kenya