Capital must be available. And competitively priced.
African institutions cannot compete while paying substantially more for capital or remaining disconnected from major pools of global savings.
That is why we built Global Markets Singapore.
What will it take to
make Africa competitive?
Africa talks constantly about growth. We should talk much more about competitiveness.
Can an African business produce, finance and sell as efficiently as its competitor elsewhere?
Can our institutions make decisions quickly?
Can entrepreneurs get capital?
Can goods cross borders efficiently?
Can businesses obtain reliable energy at a competitive price?
Those questions matter because:
Growth is an outcome. Competitiveness is what makes it durable.
DWM focuses on the things that determine whether African businesses and institutions can compete:
Capital. Markets. Trade. Energy. Institutions. Skills. Entrepreneurship. Technology. Governance.
We don’t pretend to work on all of them. We concentrate our operating businesses on three.
Institutions must work.
Capital alone changes very little if institutions lack the people, technical capability and judgement to deploy it well.
That is why we built the Banking Academy.
Talent must become enterprise.
Africa has no shortage of talented young people. Far too few get the opportunity, capital, networks and support to build enduring businesses.
That is why DWM partnered with iiAfrica to create Pivot Africa.
Ideas are useful only if they change something.
DWM develops ideas about African competitiveness. Then we test them. Sometimes that means writing or research. Sometimes it means bringing institutions together. Sometimes it means creating a programme, partnership or company.
The objective is not to produce more commentary about Africa. It is to build things that make Africa more competitive.