IN THE VALLEY 10. How to grow Africa's creative economy ? | Victor Williams, Laureen Kouassi-Olsson & Lethabo Sithole in the valley
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Disclaimer : This episode is for informational and entertainment purposes only, no content of the conversation should be considered as investment advice.
This episode is powered by the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA).
5 BIG IDEAS DISCUSSED IN THE VALLEY WITH LEADING INVESTORS IN THE AFRICAN CREATIVE ECONOMY: VICTOR WILLIAMS, LAUREEN KOUASSI-OLSSON & LETHABO SITHOLE
1. "Africa is one of the richest regions in the world in terms of craftsmanship"
Laureen Kouassi-Olsson explains that she founded the investment company Birimian Ventures to support the value creation emanating from the talent and "know-how" within Africa's fashion and luxury industries. She spells out her reasoning behind what financial instruments can be put in place to generate economic returns from local craftsmanship.
2. "Sport has historically on the African continent been under indexed from an economic contribution perspective"
Victor Williams dives into NBA Africa's ambition to build a strong commercial proposition for sports across the continent. This proposition is an all-encompassing canva that looks into fan and community-level engagement as well as economic value creation through a bespoke professional basketball league (Basketball Arica League).
3. "There's a need for market access and ease of trading on the continent"
Lethabo Sithole makes a strong call for the necessity to streamline the regulations to facilitate the move of goods and products across different countries and regions. She also highlights the value of intellectual property for creatives and how stronger intellectual property regulations would allow creatives to increase the cost of their products.
4. "We are still lacking a certain level of infrastructure for our live / entertainment industries to thrive."
Victor Williams calls on governments and the private sector's collaboration for the development of more arenas for live events and sports competitions to take place. The development of more arenas would allow for more countries to become host to these events and rip economic returns through sponsorship or through tourism.
5. "Luxury brands need a lot of capital to remain sustainable to upscale which is in direct opposition with the private equity model."
Laureen speaks to the level of capital that has to be leveraged for brands such as Dior, Chanel and Louis Vuitton to have remained relevant throughout the fashion ages. She notes that this level of investment into one structure is in direct opposition with the private equity model of distributing capital across several assets to mitigate risk. To her, the classical private equity model needs to be adapted to the luxury, fashion and creative industries.