Interview with AFSIC MD, RUPERT McCAMMON

TT: What can I expect to experience when attending AFSIC?

RM: AFSIC, now in its 9th year, is believed to be the largest African investment event taking place annually outside Africa and has become one of the most important conduits of investment into Africa. AFSIC is entirely focused on bringing together Africa’s business leaders and Africa’s most interesting investment opportunities with the continent’s most important investors and dealmakers to facilitate new investment into Africa. As well as exceptional content and industry and country themed keynotes and panels, you will have the chance to engage in structured and unstructured networking of the highest quality. Supported and sponsored by some of the leading Africa-focused corporates, AFSIC 2022 will build upon the success of AFSIC 2021 as economies emerge from the pandemic constraints.  Some excellent new sponsors have joined AFSIC 2022 and these can be seen in our profile below.

TT: What sort of Networking Opportunities are there at AFSIC?

RM: Networking and focused business meetings are at the heart of business at AFSIC.

The AFSIC 2022 networking opportunities include:

• Matchmaking sessions facilitated through the sophisticated Event and Meeting App which goes live one month prior to the event

• Numerous sessions dedicated to informally meeting a wide range of representatives from investor groups including: DFI’s, Impact Investors, Private Equity Investors and Venture Capital Investors

• The return of the regularly sold-out Meet African Dealmakers event – this year to be jointly sponsored by British International Investment (formerly CDC) and Proparco

• Country Sessions and mini country investment summits focused on the fastest growing African economies with informal networking at the end of each session

• Various evening social functions hosted by our partners and sponsors

TT: What sort of speakers and panel events can I expect to see on the Agenda of AFSIC 2022?

Our content is broken down into Industry Streams and this year these will include Advancing Agriculture, Building Africa, Banking on Africa, Fintech Innovation, Power Africa, Sustainable Growth and Informed Investing in parallel to country-focused investment summits and quick-fire sessions highlighting exceptional projects. Our speakers are from a wide pool of exceptional African business leaders who are looking to promote their Africa-focused company from an investment perspective as well as some of the leading institutional investors and dealmakers focused on driving investment into Africa. We have to date confirmed over 150 and our first draft agenda will be live May 1st.

TT: Which sponsors and partners are on board for AFSIC this year?

RM: In 2022 AFSIC welcomes British International Investment, Moody’s, Afrasia, BVI Finance, Norsad Capital, FSD Africa, UK Aid, Fitch Ratings, Executives in Africa, Divercity Urban Property Fund, Jersey Finance, Intrasia Group, Verdant Capital, ICECAP, Innpact and Skaleet on board as sponsors and negotiations are still ongoing with many other exceptional companies who see the value of the association with AFSIC in October and the all year round exposure via the digital platforms. Our excellent media and other partners are also critical to raising the profile of both our sponsors and the conference itself.  

TT:How will the event work as a hybrid event and what can I expect with my digital ticket?

RM: AFSIC this year is a physical event primarily with digital access for those unable or unwilling to travel. This builds upon the success of AFSIC 2021 when we realised we would widen our footprint by offering a digital ticket to those unable to attend in person. All content will be streamed live on the event platform and digital delegates will be able to access this as well as take advantage of the exceptional networking and meeting ability of the platform. 

TT: What sort of Digital Presence and Reach does AFSIC have?

RM: AFSIC has exceptional digital reach. We have a network of over 120 000 mailable contacts including institutional investors, investment bankers & financial intermediaries, African business leaders, providers and executives. The Group’s 3 websites capture 7 million impressions annually with impressive SEO ranking for over 1500 keywords relating to business, trade and investment in Africa.

TT: Can you tell us a bit more about the Digital platforms?

RM: AFSIC boasts three award-winning digital dashboards focused on capturing business, trade and investments opportunities across all African countries and all business sectors. The Africa Business Community provides a vast network of African businesses, global businesses, government agencies and service providers. Our sophisticated matching algorithm ranks and matches business opportunities and “calls for business” posted on our Africa Business Opportunities Dashboard, allowing interested parties to connect through this free and open access platform. We also have our closed AFSIC African Investments Dashboard which is catered to matching institutional investors and African companies seeking capital with investor-ready documents.

TT: What sort of traction can I expect to get from investors when I post a business opportunity on the Business Opportunities dashboard?

RM: In 2021 over 2 million personalised business matching emails were sent and our database sees 20 000 new contacts added annually, all with an interest in business, trade and investment opportunities across Africa and all business sectors. Our AFSIC African Investments Dashboard has a network of 30 000 investors. Our recommendation is that all business opportunity owners make their descriptions as detailed and clear as possible to appear attractive to interested parties and investors.

TT: How does the Business Opportunities Dashboard differ from the AFSIC African Investments Dashboard?

RM: Our Africa Business Opportunities Dashboard offers free registration, access and connections for all users using automated matching algorithms and individually customised e-communication strategies. The AFSIC African Investments Dashboard is a closed dashboard only viewable by registered investors and uploads are only available for high-quality projects seeking equity, debt or hybrid investment capital. We also offer additional bespoke introduction services for our AFSIC African Investments Dashboard clients.

For more information visit our website www.afsic.net or contact