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Seipati Mokhuoa is the Founder of SAWIL and Regional Director/Partner at Board Academy Africa. She is a formidable and influential thought leader on issues of gender equality, transformation and diversity in the workplace. She has extensive experience in implementing meaningful opportunities with great focus on women who are prospective senior managers and executives. A consummate professional with more than 15 years working experience, a decade of which was in various leadership roles in a leading pan-African investment, savings, insurance, and banking group. We had a Q&A session with Seipati to capture her amazing journey as a business leader and entrepreneur. Please enjoy the read. Hello Seipati and thank you for participating in this Q&A interview session. Please give us some insight into your background and your entrepreneurial journey to date? Seipati: I am a seasoned professional with more than a decade of experience in the Financial Services industry, eight years of which were in various leadership roles. I spent the first three years of my career in the banking sector. In 2009, I was head-hunted by one of South Africa's leading Insurance and Investment companies where I would spend eight years specialising, providing leadership and developing the Personal Finance Advice and Wealth Management Division. A formidable and influential thought leader on issues of gender equality, transformation, and diversity in the workplace – is how I see myself. I have extensive experience in implementing meaningful strategies and opportunities with great focus on women and youth across Africa. With great determination in 2014, I founded two companies: Strategic African Women In Leadership (SAWIL), and HenDal Holdings (named after my sons: Henry and Dalitso) which now houses (HD Afrika: HD Media, HD Innovation Hub, HD Freelancers, HD Market, HD Flight Rentals, and HD Events). Before I left the Financial Services sector in November 2018 to focus on the growth and demands of SAWIL and Hendal Holdings, I was Area General Manager overseeing the company’s administrative duties in three Provinces; Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West in South Africa. A major part of my role involved leading and directing a diverse team of 11 Managers, over 120 Financial Advisers and eight admin staff members. Being the first woman and African to hold these positions in these regions was a great feat for me. This environment, due to its untransformed and male dominated legacy, propelled me to self-introspect. I had to think on my feet and find creative and productive solutions to introduce diversity and inclusion initiatives. As an entrepreneur and business leader, what would you say has been your key drivers and motivators? Seipati: I am driven by two things only: purpose and impact. I do not do anything unless it's going to change and transform lives. What key challenges have you faced as a business leader and entrepreneur? Additionally, how have you navigated or capitalised on these? Seipati: I have not had challenges as an entrepreneur, only lessons. I am extremely fortunate to have spent over a decade in the corporate sector before fully transitioning to entrepreneurship. I have also had the opportunity to watch and learn from my late dad, an avid businessman, who unfortunately made many mistakes that I vowed not to repeat. Having landed my first leadership role at the age of 24, looking after teams of people who were twice and sometimes three times my age, taught me a lot. I also had great mentors and senior leaders who invested in me, which most entrepreneurs do not have. Key characteristics such as tenacity, agility, and discipline come in handy in the entrepreneurship space, and I am fortunate to have had the right set of circumstances to learn these in my previous roles in the corporate sector. Has your entrepreneurial journey been influenced by any current or past business leaders, and how? Seipati: Oprah Winfrey's illustrious journey has been my compass in relentlessly and unapologetically pursuing my true north. I have several businesswomen and men, both locally and internationally, that I look up to. However, in terms of direct influence, I would have to say my mentor Chief (Kgosi) Lediga, who is the founder, former Chief Executive and Chairman of Legae Securities (Pty) Ltd, the first Black owner-managed stockbroking firm in the South African stock market. He has walked the journey with me from my last year in Varsity up to today. There is a not a career decision I consider or make without consulting with him. Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc., is also a significant influence. I read his book in December 2018, a month after I finally left the corporate sector. Two people who are significantly close to me but do not know each other had read his book: Shoe Dog, and both kept insisting that there were several similarities between his entrepreneurship style and mine. And they were not wrong. How much support have you received during your entrepreneurial journey? Seipati: I am quite fortunate to have a solid global network of successful entrepreneurs, making it relatively easy to get support when needed. As they say: "your network is your net-worth". What advice do you have for female entrepreneurs, especially those in Africa? Seipati: Do not underestimate the power of networking! Connecting with the right people for the right reasons will take you far in life. Lastly, do not be shy to ask for help; successful and secure people are usually readily available and quite keen on assisting noble people. You originally founded SAWIL and it has grown into one of Africa’s biggest networks for female business leaders. Where did the idea for SAWIL come from and what was the inspiration behind it? Seipati: Being the only woman and sometimes the only young Black person in the boardroom in my twenties always left a bitter taste in my mouth. Also, in both the companies I worked for, I was always part of the Employment Equity Committees. Subsequently, I was privy to the statistics from an overall companies' perspective and strategy. In a country where most of the population is Black, it didn't sit well with me that the stats did not resemble the country's demographics in these organisations. Thus, it slowly became my mission to influence, challenge and change the status quo directly. That is, in a nutshell, how SAWIL came to being. Since you left your role as CEO of SAWIL on February 2021, what have you been up to in the business and entrepreneurial ecosystem? If you have started any new enterprise or continued with an old one, please identify these and their value propositions. Seipati: The Executive Chairperson role is surprisingly just as demanding. The expansion to the rest of Africa and the Diaspora requires that I remain hands-on until the entire vision and strategy is in motion. I have also taken over an additional role (Regional Director for Africa) with Board Academy, a European-based company that specialises in board training and placements. Together with the CEO, Guido Happe, we have since established its subsidiary: Board Academy Africa, which aims to bridge the gap between Europe and Africa by sourcing, training, and placing board directors in the two continents. HD Afrika, especially the innovation hub, also keeps me terribly busy with the latest ventures, acquisitions and collaboration with our UAE based network. Our upcoming Impact Invest Forum - Africa Edition, co-founded with Innovate4Good, has been one of the most fulfilling projects to put together for the continent. With our first edition gaining the support of big players in the investment and startup space such as African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), AfricInvest, Africa Development Bank Group, African Energy Chamber, Abu Dhabi Global Market, C3, Grosvenor Capital, Stratecis and our media partner Startup Africa Magazine, it is sure to be an impactful project that we hope to host annually from now on. We have come to the end of the interview and would like to thank you Seipati, for taking the time out to participate in this Q&A session. We wish you all the best and hope to have you back at some point in the future. Seipati: Thank you so much for having me, I really appreciate the platform and the work that you are doing. Wishing you all the absolute best as well. This article is Sponsored by BYP Network and organisation dedicated to changing the black narrative globally. BYP Network connect black professionals with each other and corporate organisations. They are championing the drive for diversity employment globally. You can subscribe to their newsletter at BYP Network (byp-network.com), Signup with their network at BYP Network | Sign up (byp-network.com) to connect with other black professionals across the globe. If you are looking for work, please visit their job board at Connecting black professionals and students with careers at global companies (byp-network.com) Lastly, you can access their educational events at BYP Network | Events (byp-network.com)

Great things always come out of Africa and FinChatBot is another splendid example of this. Founded by French entrepreneurs Antoine Paillusseau and Romain Diaz, in South Africa, FinChatBot is an AI driven FinTech marvel that automates customer experiences for financial services through performance-driven digital solutions. We had the pleasure of interviewing Cofounder Antoine, who talked about his entrepreneurial journey and the value proposition of FinChatBot. Hello Antoine. Please give us an overview of your background, initial career aspirations, and how you got into entrepreneurship? Antoine: I come from a business background with experience in sales, I then started my first business in 2014 on the lead generation side. I was sold leads to the financial services industry and realised how complex it was to get the transparency needed in order to monitor sales and feedback from the customer experience end. With this insight and further market analysis, we developed and launched FinChatBot. How much of your background and environment influenced your entrepreneurial journey? Antoine: My experience in Business Strategy, Sales Management and Venture building across both Africa and Europe has influenced my entrepreneurial journey. I am passionate about creating innovative solutions as well as constantly conceptualising new ways to improve on my suite of products, I am also committed to enabling entrepreneurial talent in Africa. How much support have you received through your entrepreneurial journey? Antoine: I have received a lot of support during my journey. I am extremely grateful for every opportunity which has increased the growth of the business. We were part of an incubator called Far Ventures based in Cape Town that assisted us with building the minimum viable product (MVP) to get traction on our first clients. We then went on to raise an angel round of funding that really helped us as a team to build the right product. What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders that are looking to launch or scale their business? Antoine: I believe if you are passionate about your idea/vision you should take the risk. Find employees who are hard working but who are excited about the dream and willing to make it become a reality. Where did the idea for FinChatBot come from and how did you validate its demand? Antoine: FinChatBot is a FinTech Startup, founded in Cape Town, South Africa. It was co-founded by two passionate French Entrepreneurs, Antoine & Romain to help financial service providers acquire & retain customers using AI-powered conversations. We recognised that call centres are increasingly under pressure, inefficient, saturated and expensive. Often not delivering the intended results in terms of sales conversion and customer satisfaction. Thus we dedicated FinChatBot to the goal of bringing people closer to financial services with an interactive and fun experience, while enabling financial service providers to enhance customer experience and maximise business performance by saving time and money. What is the operating business model, value proposition and target market of FinChatBot? Antoine: Our business model is based on both SAAS and a performance fee. We are not just a software provider to our clients but a fully integrated partner. We fully manage the solution and work closely with clients to optimise performance over the long-term. How was FinChatBot initially funded? Antoine: We were part of an incubator called Far Ventures based in Cape Town that assisted us with building the minimum viable product (MVP) to get traction on our first clients. AI is at the core of FinChatBot’s value proposition. What would you say are the pros and cons of using AI technology? Antoine: Customers have increased their use of self-service during the pandemic. According to a survey conducted by Salesforce, 65% Of customers prefer self-service for simple matters. In addition, 83% Of customers expect to interact with someone immediately when they contact a company. The increased demand for customer service isn’t being met with increased resources as businesses take a hard look at their budgets amid economic uncertainty. Conversational agents help automate 80% of customer queries so call center agents can focus on more complex queries. As an example, a popular tactic for relieving agents of high-volume, low-complexity cases is deflecting them to an AI-powered chatbot in the first place. What key challenges has FinChatBot faced since its launch and how have you navigated these? Antoine: There were not many challenges. The team quickly adapted to working remotely, and we used tools like Slack, Zoom and Google Hangouts to communicate. We have been fortunate enough to expand the team and grow during this pandemic. The need for conversational AI solutions has increased drastically over the past year. How many people does FinChatBot employ in Africa and what is your geographical reach within Africa? Antoine: 23 employees in South Africa. We have employees in Johannesburg and Cape Town. What are FinChatBot’s future plans for expansion if any? Antoine: We started FinChatBot in South Africa but have since expanded the business to Portugal, France and the UK. We are also looking to expand further into Europe as well as into West Africa. We have come to the end of the interview, and would like to thank you for participating in this Q&A session. Antoine: Thank you

On the global seen, big tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Sony are feeling the impact of what is called “Chip shortage”. Put simply, Chip shortage occurs when the global demand for semiconductor chips exceeds the existing supply capacity. One of the factors contributing to Chips Shortage is a reduction in supply of the raw materials used to create these microchips. One of such raw materials is called Tantalum. Tantalum is a rare and crucial component used in creating next gen semiconductors. Its properties allow electronics manufacturers to produce chips of increasingly greater information densities. It is estimated that Africa produces more than 70% of the worlds supply of Tantalum. Like the Blood diamonds of Sierra Leone, Tantalum is classed as a conflict resource in Africa. Tantalum mining has been growing in significance over the past decade in Africa. Chinese investment in natural resource has helped open new mines in Africa and create infrastructure that has enabled them to be more productive. Many companies on the continent work as subcontractors to many global firms operating in their countries, which include Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), who are the major players in the world supply of semiconductors. Two major mining operators in Africa, Vedanta and Anglo American provide almost all of the raw materials needed for the tantalum industry. Both companies operate mines in Southern Africa: Vedanta’s Luleå Titanium Mine, located in northern Sweden and Anglo American’s Ekati Mine in Northern Canada. Tantalum is also a vital component for the global automotive industry, accounting for half of the world's tantalum production. The automotive sector uses more than 50% of the global tantalum consumption. Shortage of Tantalum The shortage of Tantalum is attributed to significant supply growth in the Asia Pacific region. This growth is attributed to demand from the smartphone industry, which is by far the largest electronics industry in the world. According to TechRadar, during the first half of 2018, the global smartphone market saw 2 million more smartphones being sold than in the first half of 2017. Despite the very rapid increase, the demand for smartphones has not been able to keep up with the rapid supply growth. To compound things further, one of the largest single source of tantalum ore, the Kombat mine in Northern Namibia, closed down in 2015, sending global prices to astronomical levels. Ethical production of Tantalum in Africa The mining sector in Africa has enormous potential, but is fraught with challenges and ethical dilemmas. For decades, cheap supplies of tantalum derived from mines under the control of rebel groups based in the north-eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have flowed into the supply chain of Tantalum. Among these groups profiting from this trade are Hutu militia associated with the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The processing of raw materials to create finished goods in the industrialised world is linked to the availability of high quality and cheap raw materials, such as raw materials needed for the electronics industry, like Tantalum. As long as organisations within the tantalum supply chain, especially those upstream keeps quiet, they are also complicit in crimes committed by these rebel groups. All five African countries supplying tantalum in large quantities to the global market - Uganda, Botswana, DRC, Namibia, and Zambia - are also among the world’s poorest countries. For instance, Botswana is Africa’s second smallest economy after Mauritius. Upstream organisations such as Apple, Samsung and Sony that use Tantalum in their manufacturing process can alleviate poverty in these African countries, by establishing manufacturing hubs in these countries. Safety and logistics, can no longer be an excuse presented by these organisations. If they train and use the local work force in these African countries, they would easily address most of these issues or excuses. These organisations only seem to care about getting high quality raw materials through the supply chain for cheap, without thinking about how the initial raw materials were sourced.

Written by David King (he/him/his) David is an HR Advocate: “ Learning and Development is what I love to do, it’s my core driver - challenging and disrupting my own thinking and re-learning; and empowering others to embrace Life Long Learning. Completed my service in the Corporate world, now as an escapee, I’m a free agent to make the world a better place 😊” I am a white heterosexual South African male, not your obvious poster person for Diversity and Inclusion, nonetheless I might just use this disadvantage to my advantage. I am not an expert. I am sharing my lived experience and my call to action, even though I’m going to get it wrong and stuff up (countless times). It’s going to get messy, but I’m committed. Definition: Ally, a person or group that gives help to another person or group (of Latin origin, meaning “to bind together” When I first came across the term allyship, it resonated immediately, I love nothing better than to be initially surprised by a new term and then to be challenged by this very term. Insights https://www.insights.com/products/insights-discovery/ and Enneagram https://www.integrative9.com/enneagram/ are 2 examples of assessments, which have given me much direction and clarity on my strengths; and how others see me (..more about that in my next article...hint hint Editor 😊) I learnt that I tend to avoid negativity, pain and struggle, as I am a fun-loving-enthusiastic- innovative-strategic-optimists. So, I knew I had to lean into the discomfort which I wished to avoid, as that is where I would shine and hopefully be able to make a difference. Discovering the quote, “Diversity is a fact, inclusion is a choice” finally entrenched the meaning of D&I for me, and then “Getting comfortable being uncomfortable” catapulted me on a mission to bring about awareness. As this is only the start of my formal awakening, I wish to share some of my learning from ‘experts’ further on their journey or those that have lived a discriminated experience (hint hint Editor…I’m feeling a part 2… 😊) Thank you to these and countless others that I will meet, watch, read and listen to along the way. Here are some that have impacted me to date: WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3D-5-2EqHI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmN1_Bsb0FE https://www.ted.com/talks/melinda_epler_3_ways_to_be_a_better_ally_in_the_workplace https://www.ted.com/talks/nita_mosby_tyler_want_a_more_just_world_be_an_unlikely_ally READ: https://theantioppressionnetwork.com/allyship/ https://www.newsweek.com/dear-white-people-empty-allyship-contributes-loss-black-lives-opinion-1586591 https://www.idealist.org/en/careers/allyship-at-work-actions Take the time to learn and absorb their message. I’m on journey to improve, to be challenged, to get better, to make progress. I will fail, and ask for forgiveness, and request a deeper understanding. Damn it, I’m going to it say…to make the world a better place 😊. “If you have some power, it’s your job to empower somebody else.” Thanks, Toni Morrison, for the call to action (Ally is a verb)! David King (he/him/his) HR Advocate and Ally Journey participant

Kenyan startup, Mazi Mobility, launches flagship electric motorcycle fleet backed by global Venture Builder Satgana The uptake of electric mobility is expected to increase globally, and with it comes a myriad of opportunities. Acting on this, Mazi Mobility, seeks to pursue an equitable and cleaner future through innovation. Nairobi-based Mazi Mobility, an Electric Vehicle (EV) Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) startup, launches today in response to the city’s highly fragmented public transport industry. Mazi is using motorcycles, locally known as ‘bodas’, to accelerate the transition to efficient, affordable and clean transport in the city. They have launched their flagship motorcycle, the Magnus 3000 (M3K) as a better alternative to petrol driven bodas. The startup is also introducing battery swapping stations that provide on-demand energy, reducing transportation costs by 50%. The MK3 offers a choice between a single and dual battery, capable of up to 70km and 140km of range, respectively. Mazi is taking a multi-stakeholder approach to drive the e-mobility sector forward. They are working with boda operators, technical institutions and manufacturers to ensure the successful implementation of their service. “Mazi is not just an EV company, we are advocates for a sustainable mass mobility change ”, says Jesse Forrester, Co-Founder and CEO at Mazi Mobility. He further adds that, “at Mazi, we believe that Africans should be able to move efficiently, and affordably across cities at less than the price of personal vehicle ownership while reducing CO2 emissions. What industry is better to see this change than the boda one? Mazi is taking a long approach to mobility, we don’t want to just have the same status quo but with electric vehicles. At Mazi we move people, data and things. Twende Kazi na Mazi!” Supporting Mazi on their journey is Satgana, a global Venture Builder on a mission to launch and fund responsible startups aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Over the past 4 months this collaboration has resulted in hands-on venture-building in an effort to help achieve SDG#8 (Decent work and Economic Growth), SDG#11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG#13 (Climate Action). Founder and CEO at Satgana, Romain Diaz, elaborated on the launch of their first portfolio venture saying, “The urgent need to decarbonize our economies places transportation at the cusp of a fundamental shift towards electric solutions, and mobility in Africa is ripe for disruption. As such, Satgana is beyond excited to be involved in the launch of Mazi and truly believes in the founding team’s ability to make it happen. Since day-1, we have been impressed by Jesse’s vision and execution capability. As a Venture Builder, we are humbled to be able to support Mazi in its mission to make urban transportation sustainable while empowering low-income drivers”. Satgana aims to build and invest into startups alongside purpose-driven entrepreneurs, wherever they are, by using innovation-led and market-based approaches to solve the greatest social and environmental challenges of our time. And alongside Mazi, they hope to write a new chapter in the history of e-mobility in Africa. Mazi will be offering demo rides to the general public starting on the 17th of May. END Note to editor Please contact Jesse Forrester, the Co-Founder & CEO from Mazi Mobility on jesse@mazimobility.com or +254 713 230264 for interview requests, or for any other questions. Additional Resources Website: https://www.mazimobility.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mazimobility/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mazimobility/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mazimobility Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mazimobility/ Download media resources: Mazi Mobility Media About Mazi Mazi is a Kenyan Mobility as a Service (MaaS) company leveraging clean energy to re-imagine mobility by implementing electric motorbikes. Our mission is to serve e-mobility operators with reliable and affordable on-demand energy. In the long run, Mazi’s vision is to drive the transformation to smart, efficient, clean and shared transportation in the developing world.

In the digital age, buying and selling of shares can be done by anyone who knows their way around a computer, has an internet connection and access to an online trading platform like Robinhood, Plus500 or Trading 212. Companies like Robinhood took online trading a step further by introducing zero commission trading. This attracted alot of retail investors, also known as non professional investors, because it meant they didn't have pay a commission when they sold or bought shares on a trading platform. Hence, the risk of associated with trading commissions were eliminated but the Systematic risks associated with trading remained. Why are we talking about shares and trading? Put simply, most retail investors don't know the true worth of a company before buying their shares. Instead they rely only on historic trends of share prices and other factors to inform their decision to buy or sell a shares. While a lot of retail traders have made money this way, recent events like the alleged market manipulation of GameStop shares have shown that there are many cases when share prices don’t reflect the true value of a company. There are two common techniques of calculating the value of a company. The first, is called market capitalisation, where a company's value is determined by multiplying the company's outstanding shares by the unit market price of its share. For example, if a company has a 100 outstanding shares and the current market price of each share is $2, the company's market capitalisation value is [100*2] = $200. The second technique of calculating the value of a company is called the Net Asset Value method. This technique is more pragmatic because it relies on actual accounting numbers. To calculate the company's value with this technique, you will need to the company's balance sheet as shown below. Identify their net assets and their net liability from the balance sheet. Then subtract the net liabilities from the net assets to calculate how much equity there is in the company. That becomes the company’s value. For example, if the balance sheet shows a net asset of $2000 and net liability of $1200. Equity = Asset - Liability = $800. Therefore the company is valued at $800. When using the Market Capitalisation technique, you need to remember that the share market might take time to reflect the true value of a company. The speed at which share prices fluctuate makes it difficult to rely on such data as an indicator of a company’s worth. Meaning share prices could easily be over valued or under valued in the space of 5 mins. So, how do you know if a share price is over valued or under valued? The answer lies in using a base line indicator called Intrinsic share value. Unlike your normal share value which is subject to market fluctuations , intrinsic share value is derived from the company’s balance sheet and calculated outstanding shares. To calculate the Intrinsic share value, you will need to calculate the company’s equity, and the number of outstanding shares in the company. Intrinsic share value = (Net Asset - Net Liability)/ No. of outstanding shares Once you have calculated your intrinsic share value, you compare this share value to the market share price. If your share price is higher than your Intrinsic share value, that means the share price is over valued, so don’t buy, rather sell your your shares because you know the price is inflated and will come down sooner rather than later. If the market share price is lower than the Intrinsic share value, then that means the share price is undervalued. So it is a good time for you to buy more shares while it’s cheaper because you know the share price will eventually go up to reflect it’s true value. For example, you calculated the Intrinsic share value to be $3.8 per share but the market share price Is $6. Your decision should be “don’t buy” because the market price will eventually come down to the intrinsic share value and you will lose money. But if the market share price was $2 per share, your decision would be to buy more shares because you know the share price will go up to match the Intrinsic share value eventually. There are scenarios where the market share price is equal to the intrinsic share value. In such a scenario your decision could be “do nothing“. That is, don’t buy or sell. The downside of using the Net Asset Value approach to determine the value of a company's shares. The NAV approach utilises the company's balance sheet to estimate the value of a company and its corresponding shares. Balance sheets are notoriously poor at capturing the value of a company's intangible assets. When calculating the value of a company, never make the mistake of ignoring the value of intangible assets within the company. Intangible assets such as organisational knowledge, skillset, brand recognition, goodwill, trademarks, copyrights and intellectual properties are extremely difficult to capture on a balance sheet but also represent a large portion of the company's value. Another intangible asset that is difficult to calculate on the balance sheet, is the present value of potential future cash flow. This is cash flow your company's has the potential to generate. As you can imagine, estimating a potential cash flow rather than a certain cash flow is quite theoretical and subject to alot of assumptions and inaccuracies The table below is a good example of how poor estimations of intangible assets under the Net Asset Value approach can lead to the undervaluing of a company. This data was collected on the 16th of April 2019 from Yahoo! Finance, and shows the Book Value (balance sheet) and Market Capitalisation Value (based on share price) of four companies. Based on this table, as of April the 16th 2019, Amazon was valued in the financial market at $907.77 billion but on Amazon's balance sheet, it was valued at only $43.55 billion. So where did the deficit value of $864.22 go to? The answer lies with the value of intangible assets captured on Amazon's balance sheets. While Amazon’s Market Capitalisation might be overvalued, the Net Asset Value of Amazon based on its balance sheet is definitely inaccurate, as we all know Amazon is valued more that $43.55 billion. As of the 26th of August 2020, Amazon was valued at $1.7 trillion. To conclude, always ensure that intangible assets are properly valued on your balance sheet and calculate the Intrinsic value of a large share investment before buying It. For short term trading you might get away with not knowing what the Intrinsic value of a share is, but for investment portfolios and long term trading, always check the Intrinsic share value to determine if the share price is over value or undervalued.

In recent weeks, the football community and numerous governments officials came together to reject the planned European Super League (ESL). The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson likened the European Super League to a cartel, and said the government will do all it can to prevent it from going forward. To sum up the united stance against the planned European Super League, the governing body for football in Europe, UEFA, issued the following statements saying: "UEFA, the English Football Association and the Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and LaLiga, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A have learned that a few English, Spanish and Italian clubs may be planning to announce their creation of a closed, so-called Super League. "If this were to happen, we wish to reiterate that we – UEFA, the English FA, RFEF, FIGC, the Premier League, LaLiga, Lega Serie A, but also FIFA and all our member associations - will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever. "We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening. Football is based on open competitions and sporting merit; it cannot be any other way. "As previously announced by FIFA and the six Federations, the clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams." Football fans globally, wore shirts donning the slogan "Football is for us". Owners of some of the respective football clubs that had agreed to participate in the European Super League, issued apologies to their fans who accused them of killing football, and being greedy. Some football clubs like Real Madrid FC and Barcelona FC still haven't expressed any desire to withdraw from the European Super League, and believe it can still go forward. If the European Super League would have gone ahead, it would have started at the same time as domestic leagues in Europe. According the European Super League's website, the proposed competition would have been between 20 top clubs. It would have comprised of 15 founders and 5 annual qualifiers. This articles looks at the other side of the story, when all the noise comes down and people have a clear head to be objective in their thought process. Football is entertainment to fans but it is business to club owners. More specifically, it is investment, one they expect returns on. Let's say Pepsi is your favourite drink. When you buy a bottle of Pepsi, do you think about how much money was invested into producing that drink? I am guessing the answer is no. A football club can be likened to a bottle of Pepsi, and the person who loves drinking Pepsi can be likened to a football fan. Football fans don't get to see how club owners adapt their business models to ensure a football club remains a sustainable business, and delivers value. Football fans are focused on watching their club play and compete. They love the drama and the entertainment associated with supporting a football club, even if the football club isn't winning. On the other hand, football fans won't bother themselves with how a club generates revenue, or if they register a profit or loss at the end of a financial period. The Business Case for European Super League The COVID 19 pandemic severely impacted the football industry with majority of football clubs in EU registering a financial loss at the end of 2019/2020. For example, Liverpool FC posted a Turnover of £489,860,000 in 2020, and £533,022,000 in 2019. But they also posted Administrative expenses of £496,872,000 in 2020, and £484,409,000 in 2019. In plain English, Liverpool FC posted an operating loss of £70,245,000 in 2020, and an operating profit of £572,000 in 2019. While Administrative expenses increased by 3% between 2019 and 2020, their revenue generated decreased by 8% between 2019 and 2020. This is a financial trend you will find across most football clubs in Europe. The table below highlights the financial impact COVID 19 had on five top football clubs in Europe. All of these clubs initially agreed to participate in the European Super League, and you can see why. Real Madrid was the only football club, out of these five, to post any profit in 2019/2020. To be clear, Real Madrid didn’t make millions in net profit, it only made £272,000. Man City was hit the most, registering a loss of £126,014,000 in the 2019/2020 financial period. All these football clubs incurred losses in millions of pounds. Any normal business losing millions in pounds will try to adapt and change their business model to survive. We are in a pandemic, it is clear the European Super League was an endeavour by club owners to protect their investment. By protecting their investment they are protecting the football club. So how sustainable is an investment in a football club, and how much flexibility does a club‘s ownership have, when modifying their business model to deliver value, both for owner and fan alike? With the massive backlash from football fans about the European Super League, one can safely assume that club owners now know, there is a limit to which they can modify their business model to remain financially sustainable, without incurring the wrath of football fans. The success of a football club no matter its business model, will always be based on keeping the football fans happy, as they are the end users. Lets explore the different element of what drives success in a football club. Success Pyramid for Football Clubs Football has been so successful because of the passion and support of its fans, and the rivalry created through the competition. Our researched highlighted that a football club's fan base, their return on club owner's investment, and the amount of trophies won, all play a part in judging how successful a football club is. These three requirements for judging a football club’s success, do not operate in silos. In short, they operate as a pyramid, with the fan base acting as its foundation. Fan Base When a club's fan base is unhappy, it could impact their revenue. The fans bring in revenue by purchasing club season tickets and merchandise. Fans are also one of the main reasons why football clubs attract sponsors. It is a no brainer, if you want your football club to be successful, you have to keep your fan base happy, and build on it. This explains why owners of football clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City were quick to apologise to fans about joining the European Super League. Return on investment Hate them or love them, the owners of a football club, enable the club's success. They invest millions of dollars into these football clubs, at their own risk, and are responsible for ensuring the club remains financially sustainable. If the owners of football clubs don’t get a return on their investment, it impacts the club‘s performance negatively. Without a return on investment, club owners can't reinvest profit into the football club. They end up selling their best players to either cover operating expenses or to get a return on investment. This ultimately impacts the clubs performance. The clubs that joined the European Super League clearly did so to protect their return on investment, which had been significantly impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic. Trophies Looking at the pyramid above, one might wrongly assume that trophies are least important when it comes to a football club’s success. You would be absolutely wrong. Football clubs are like any other business. Businesses come in all sizes and so do football clubs. For example, it would be a business folly to treat Liverpool FC the same way you will treat Swansea FC. Liverpool FC's asset base is larger than that of Swansea FC, as such, their operating expenditure will be way larger, comprising of higher player wage bills and overhead costs. In reality, the success pyramid of a big club like Manchester United would look much different to that of a smaller club like Crystal Palace FC, as shown in the diagrams below. The diagrams below show, a bigger focus is given to trophies by bigger football clubs when compared to smaller football clubs. Big football clubs are called big, because of the trophies they wins and the size of its fan base. Football Pundits and Fans calling for club owners to leave Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool FC have all enjoyed the benefits of having a new club owner infused billions of dollars into these clubs. Without argument, you can clearly point to the return on investment, both in trophies won and revenue generated. So it comes as a surprise that football pundits and fans are asking for these club owners to leave because they agreed to participate in the European Super League. Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool defender summed it up on his Skysport’s column when he said: “There’s nothing left for Liverpool’s owners in what they’re doing and what they’re hanging on for. I actually think the situation with Liverpool’s owners right now is I don’t see how they will continue. "They can’t just leave the club, because it’s a business, it’s worth a lot of money, but I don’t see a future of FSG at Liverpool anymore. You just think it will be worse for them the longer they hang in. These were the words of a well respected Skysports pundit. Jamie Carragher is great at his job but he is no business expert nor are the fans clamouring for their club owners to sell and leave. Were the owners of these clubs really wrong in wanting to reduce the risk associated with their investment? Or were they wrong to protect their return on investment? When answering these questions, look at it from a business perspective not as a football fan. Objectively speaking, the approach taken by the European Super League was greedy and wrong, but the business case was justified. Football as a whole needs to adapt its business model to mitigate the impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic on revenue generated. A unified approach would have worked What the European Super League should have done was to cut FIFA and UEFA into a piece of the pie, in terms of revenue generated. Even in football, there is the godfather mentality, and the European Super League need to kiss the rings of FIFA and UEFA, to have any chance of succeeding. The European Super League should also have engaged with the Football Associations to assure them of how the competition would benefit them and the football clubs not participating in the competition. That takes us to the question of too much football. Football pundits such as Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have pointed out that there is the risk, football clubs participating in the European Super League would stop prioritising their domestic league. Football clubs are required to finish in certain positions at the end of a season, to both stay in their domestic league, and play in the UEFA Champions league. In the Premier League, clubs need to finish in a top four position to play in the UEFA Champions league. This has posed a big problem for clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs. Football clubs can earn more than $100 million in prize money, when they participate in the Champions league. So it is a big source of revenue for all the big clubs in Europe. The European Super League on the other hand, guarantees these so called big clubs, a permanent place in their competition. The pros are clear, these clubs get a guaranteed source of revenue, whether they finish top four in their domestic league, or not. The cons however, is that it may promote a lack of competition in the domestic football league. So how do you balance the benefits of financial sustainability against the risks of devaluing competitive football? You cooperative and you compromise. Recommendations Below are a few recommendations if the European Super League is ever going to proceed in the future: Clubs participating in the European Super League can definitely not participate in domestic cup competitions, because that will be too much football and they will field weakened teams, which will devalue the competition. Depending on how you look at it, this is more of an advantage than disadvantage. For example, when was the last time a team outside the top six in the Premier League, won the FA Cup or League Cup? Its been decades. If the big six are all out of domestic cup competitions, it gives other clubs the opportunity to win these competitions. But the Football association will lose ticket revenue generated from the fans of these big clubs; Clubs participating in the European Super League have to agree that they won't deprioritize their domestic league by fielding youth instead of their first teams; The European Super League shouldn't be seen as an alternative to the UEFA's Champions league competition. It should be a standalone competition on its own created to deliver financial sustainability to European football during this COVID 19 pandemic; The European Super League needs to work with FIFA, UEFA and Football Associations if they are ever going to proceed. None of these parties want their competitions to be devalued by a new competition, nor do they want to lose revenue. Any proposal from the European Super League has to take these two factors into consideration.

Last week, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. Justice was finally served for George Floyd, but he didn't sacrifice his life for the black community, it was taken from him, against his will. George Floyd's death, brought the black community together in a way it hasn’t been for decades. It fuelled the Black Lives Matter movement and brought to light once more, the social injustice being faced by the black community. The world knows the social injustice perpetuated against black people. They have always known, but chose to turn a blind eye. I remember instances in previous places of work where it was clear I was being targeted. No matter who you spoke to, everyone turned a blind eye. What hurt the most wasn't being discriminated against, it was the way members of the black and ethnic community reacted to it. They did nothing, they were concerned about their own jobs, their own wellbeing, and that is their prerogative. I am in full support of the Black Lives Matters movement, but we have been so concerned with the enemy outside that we fail to see the enemies within ourselves, and within our community. How truly united are the black community at the moment? Are we just milking the death of George Floyd, or do we really care about a united black community? I find it perturbing when I see members of the black community and organisations trying to build a social media presence and following, on the death of other black people. They repeat the same thing over and over again on social media, targeting the police and the white community, but to what end? They don’t proffer any solutions, all they do is say what we already know, which is, the black community are suffering from social injustice perpetuated by people who racially profiled us, stereotype us and kill us. If there is one thing to learn from the BLM movement, it’s that it isn't one organisation or a group of people, it is majority of the black community coming together to fight against racial injustice. So why can't we do the same in business, in entrepreneurship, in networking and everything else. Racism isn't the only problem in the black community. People are still dying of hunger and poverty in some parts of Africa. There are unemployment issues, especially in Africa where people have travel restrictions. This limits globalisation to remote communication in Africa. Look at UK and America, you have got gang related issues and unemployment issues impacting the black community there. It is easy to put the blame on racism and other forms of social injustice, but the biggest problem in the black community is a lack of cooperation and unity. We only seem to unite behind a cause, when someone dies and that really has to stop. Entrepreneurship can solve a lot of problems in the black community, especially in Africa. But if the black community can't unite to tackle these problems, then we will continue being classed as an ethnic minority, instead of being classed as an equal. Two things I would like the black community to address: People looking at the black community through the eyes and behaviours of one or more black people; Black people who allow corporate organisations take advantage of their reach and influence; People looking at the black community through the eyes and behaviours of one or more black people I was in a conversation with a former colleague and she said, "Who do you model yourself after, who do you aspires to be?" My response was simple, "No one". She continued, and said, "What about Barack Obama?" Again, I said "No one". I told her and I am telling you now, you don't have to aspire to be anyone else but yourself. People inspire me and may influence me, but I wish to be no one else. I do not wish to be seen through the eyes of Obama, or any other influential black man. Choose your own path, you don't need to copy someone else's nor do you need to reinvent the wheel. You do however need to choose your path and be judged on that choice, not someone else's. Black people who allow corporate organisations take advantage of their reach and influence It is now a trend, for corporate organisations to target member of the black community or networks in the black community, that have reach and influence within the black community. Some of these organisations genuinely want to help. They want to change their ways and biases, but some of them are only taking advantage of us as a public relations stunt. So we need to look past profit and popularity, we need to ensure these organisations have our best interests at heart, and that we are not just a numbers game to them, or a means to meet their diversity quota. I truly hope that one day the black community will understand that the only way forward is to work together. You can't do it on your own, collaborating with other networks or individuals in the black community might not generate you any revenue, but you will have a greater impact on the black community. It should not always be about getting that corporate sponsor or partner that pays. It does help, but working in unison with other members and networks in the black community will provide a larger and more sustainable impact on the black community. On that note, we plan on launching a platform called BOP Network, which stands for the Black Opportunity Network. It is a social enterprise focused on connecting the black community with entrepreneurial opportunities globally, such as Mentors, Investors, Jobs, Events, Accelerators, Incubators, Training and Learning materials, Venture Builders and Black professional networks. We have no intention of reinventing the wheel. We are going to partner with existing networks, organisations, business leaders and entrepreneurs, already offering these value propositions. We will create forums where you can connect with them and where they post opportunities for you to access. We intend to launch in August and we are currently building our website. But if you are interested in sharing your opportunities on our forum for the black community to access please contact us at admin@changeinafrica.com. Joining us as a partner is free, as we are not a profit driven platform. We just want to do our part and help our community, not by creating a new value proposition but by uniting existing ones.

Phumza Dyani is the a Chief Marketing and Sales Officer for Broadband Infraco. She has spent over 18 years in various roles in the ICT industry and is a partner in the Southern African region for the Regional Consortium of Experts for Development (RCD Africa). She has worked for the major Mobile Operators in the continent, such as MTN and Vodacom, and has operated across spheres in her career. She is currently employed as the Chief Marketing and Sales Officer for Broadband Infraco, an organisation with a mandate of connecting the rural and underserved communities of South Africa to enable universal access. She holds an MBA from Bond Australia and a myriad of other Global Leadership Qualifications. Let us never forget that women are at the cornerstone of society, women are not just in the kitchen anymore, they have been most of the Angels showing up during the Covid19 war in the most obscure corridors of society, at war to save lives. Why then, does this significance does not translate into harder conversations about equality, surely, we are not a society that says a female life is of less importance than a male life. Or is that what we are saying? One thing we have learnt to recognise as women is that our voices are so powerful and can create the change we want to see. What is important is to take the same messages shared in the International Womens’ Day platforms to our individual lives, our Corporates, organisations as well as Boards. We need to personalise them and to further interrogate things that are of concern to us which we say nothing about. We need to look at how our bodies respond to these and find a language for them to bring them to the fore. The time to be a bystander on issues affecting women is over. What affects another woman affects all of us and we need to bring the different perspectives, cultures,and context to these conversations. The more it is heard, whether through talks, writing, music, poetry, the more it makes a shift in the world that ‘Enough is Enough’. “Some women get erased a little at a time, some all at once. Some reappear. Every woman who appears wrestles with the forces that would have her dissappear. She struggles with the forces that would tell her story for her, or write her out of the story, the genealogy, the rights of man, the rule of law. The ability to tell your own story in words or images, is already a victory, already a revolt.” Rebecca Solnit, Men Explaining Things to Me. Continue to raise your Voice By raising our voice, we bring this into conscience what is acceptable and what is not. We need women lawyers to be more vocal, educate and assist the rest of us with what legislations and policies that need to change to support women. We need businesswomen to come up with ideas and solutions of how to better assist women become independent, creating businesses and earn their own keep. We need teachers to create curriculum that will assist us in progressing the education of women and men. The International Women’s Forum is advocating for Havard to introduce a curriculum on Gender Parity. Every woman is a potential Advocate for change, this work should not be left to just Activists or major Events. ‘I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own’ - Audre Lorde. Do not miss the opportunity to call things out Secondly, we need to speak whenever we see behaviours that perpetuate inequality around us. One day at our Exco, which is predominantly 80% male, we had a lady presenting a particularly important piece of work which was critical to establishing a Woman’s movement within the organisation. We had a young gentleman that had an interest in this document and kept on asking questions, which sounded helpful initially. As time went on, I became uncomfortable with the extent of the interrogation vs his reactions to others in the past. The tone and the way he did this was irking me, but I held back, deciding to see where this would end. At some point, it was just unbearable for me. I had to intervene and point out my unappreciation for the manner he was doing this. To my surprise, nobody in the room saw anything wrong with his approach except for me and the lady involved. This is where I could have left it off. I said, I am sorry, you may not see this antagonistic approach that is being used in these questions, but I see it and I feel it. As a Senior in this room and the only woman that can point this out, I cannot continue and say it is ok. It is not ok. There is a way to raise points and a way a person is made to feel like they are being cross questioned in a court of Law. I cannot sit by and not point that out. To my surprise, the Senior gentleman in the room acknowledged that there is a long way to go in learning as well as unlearning certain behaviours. He was open to learn. In hindsight, I reflect on the message I would have sent to this bright young lady who was courageous enough to stand and be a Chairperson of this Movement. It would have killed the energy of what we were attempting to form here. It would have marked that we are doing all of what we are doing for window-dressing and nothing would, infact, change. What she saw in action was the endorsement that we build these structures to drive not only change for us but for generations to come. That on its own requires us to be authentic and truthful. Recognise the contribution some men are making We must recognise the men that are showing fairness and supporting women either through behavior, actions and support that they too are playing a role in driving for a change. We need to encourage and educate them as to where they can do more. What we need to recognise is that the real fight is not against men but for equal treatment of women. In the celebrations, my consistent question was, ‘Where are the men and what are they choosing to challenge. Are they willing to challenge themselves to understand that this is a bigger war than themselves and what they contribute adds to the tapestry that is important for this time?’ President Biden’s composition of his team as well as the statements he made boldly placed his mouth where his money is at. It was a living action of inclusiveness and not just lip-service. We are forever grateful to the countries that have led this message and look to others to follow suit. Equal voice in decision making, more bold and intentional moves to make the change What we need to recognise more of, I quote from one of my most powerful interviews on my Podcast: She-Unleashed with Modesta Mahiga-Mbughuni: ‘A woman with power in her voice, that earns her own income and is able to influence things, is going to have a different conversation in her homestead and society, when compared to a woman who doesn’t, and feels she is at the mercy of her home and community’. It has never been more important to have deeper conversations on the types of movements we need to be part of to be effective. We need to lobby and vote for more women in influential positions to drive change. Women need to also, independently, seek for spaces of influence and not lose sight of the purpose they are there for. ‘Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.’ Nora Ephron Accountability for change I have been part of many Women development focused organisations and at times, it is a tragedy to see that there is an expectation for leadership to drive the change. Each one has a role to play in effecting change, however small their contribution may be. In the true words of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, We should all be feminists: ‘I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all my femaleness because I deserve to be.’ May we all arise to this noble calling knowing that our daughters are dependent on the actions we take to have a future where they are respected, treated as equals and allowed to thrive. Choose to Challenge ’I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life is a bitch. You have got to go out and kick ass’ Maya Angelou. Meghan Markle is an epitome of strength. She took on one of the most powerful institutions in the world by choosing to speak out, challenge, and let her voice be heard. You can do the same. Stay true to who you are ’You had power all along my dear’ Glinda the Good Witch The Wizard of Oz A powerful lesson for this time is that there is a great need for energetic female leadership, especially at these times where the world is calling for fair, inclusive recovery. We learned that we are perfect in our imperfections. The female leader needs to appear in her true strength of femininity, nurturing and being the unifier. Despite the world telling us we are not adequate, not strong enough, and not good enough, we are Perfect!

Gary de Vogel is the CEO of Hi-Tec South Africa. He is an ex-Deloitter and Alumni of Nyenrode Business University in The Netherlands. Hi-Tec is a leading global outdoor brand spanning 86 countries world wide with a unique and proud heritage. Founded in 1974 by Frank van Wezel, we proudly manufacture and distribute outdoor lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories I am sure you heard businesses say things like, "It’s the load shedding’s fault", "It’s because of the elections" or "its because of the pandemic". You will usually hear these excuses after a business experiences deteriorating sales over a number of months. Although this is greatly true, a true introspection will show that, companies have a comfort zone and are becoming complacent, especially in retaining existing customers or growing a new customer base. Income decreases while expenses are increasing, making the margin of achieving success hard. When you add to this cocktail, complacency in leadership, the drink just gets sour. Once complacency takes hold of your workplace, the business starts to give away growth and productivity, then competitors start picking off your customers. Employees leave because of lack of direction, a clear career path, and opportunity. As a retail company specialising in outdoor lifestyles, we have implemented several successful strategies to curb this problem which have added value. For example, sharing positivity and the business mission on a regular basis with employees, tackling poor performance head-on and encouraging a learning culture at work. During the first lockdown everybody took leave, but the whole management team was actually working double hours to be ahead of our competition. When we came out of lock down we were ahead of our competition. We had multiple new categories, new marketing strategy and a plan to mitigate expenses anywhere, except in marketing. The moral of this story is, don't complain during harsh economic circumstances. Rather, use that frustration as fuel to add new value to your business. Streamline your customer services, rethink product innovation, and plan new marketing strategies that are in line with the tough times. When others cut R&D or marketing spend, you invest as much as you can. It will be worth it. High double digit growth and improving your bottom line in current times can be your story to tell. Furthermore, you should focus internally, rather than setting sights on the big whales in your industry. It’s more likely, they are struggling with the same issues, you are struggling with. Stop looking at external parties, rather be on the alert for “growth hacking” companies, mostly led by millennials that go in with low margins to gain market share. When their market share increases, they negotiate a lower product cost on volume to regain margin. These companies usually pay low salaries but invest in a corporate culture of “possibility". Staff thrives on the idea of sharing in a piece of the pie, in the form of stock options. All available cash are invested in marketing and expanding the business. Usually growth is quite spectacular, despite a bottom line that does not match the fast expansions. Their success lies in the speed they implement new ideas. Whilst competitors are still discussing new products or services, they have already implemented them. Their decision-making levels are without hierarchies, and would rather make a mistake than have lengthy corporate decision lines to get something approved. How can you start getting in the right mindset? The answer is simple, ask the right questions. What are you doing today to avoid complacency tomorrow? Where can we add value for our customer or end-user? Seek for different point of views. Research new trends before they hit your industry. Implement short communication lines, this way you stay ahead, not having to await approval. Adapt, learn and be one step ahead. Don’t blame shift, but be awake while the rest are still sleeping. As Dr Robert H Schuller said: “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”.

Message from our CEO Before reading further we feel it is necessary you understand our view on killing and murder of any kind. We at do not and will never support killing or murder, whether it is done legally or illegally. We believe in solving problems through discourse but recognise that in certain situations this might not be feasible. As civilised people we need to work within the parameters of the law and ensure we understand the consequences of our actions, economically, socially and environmentally speaking. Take a second to think before you act, because that second might not only stop you from doing something you regret, it could also save the life of someone else. If history is something we should learn from, then violence will always beget violence and those who live by the sword usually die by it. The western world created the stereotype of the "Angry Black Man" but we don't have to feed into it. Taking the laws into your own hands and resulting to violence every time something doesn't go your way, only feeds into the stereotype of the "Angry Black Man". Africans and black people in general, are not wild animals, and we should not be painted so, just because of a few bad eggs. What is Jungle Justice Jungle justice also known as mob justice is a form of public vigilantism in Sub-Saharan Africa, most notably in Nigeria and Cameroon, where an alleged criminal is lynched by the public, beaten, humiliated and publicly executed. The forms of execution vary from stoning to death, to being burnt alive with a car tyre thrown over their head. In some cases they are severely beating and their skulls are bashed in, in other cases like the death of formal president Gaddafi, they are sexually assaulted and humiliated. The common excuse for this form of street justice is that the judiciary system and law enforcement bodies are so corrupt that they lose all credibility in the eyes of the people. Stats show that everyday at least one person in Africa faces torture or even death at the hands of irate citizens determined to be judge, jury and executioner. Cameroon and Nigeria are said to have the highest rate of jungle justice killings across Africa. Hauwa Yusuf a criminologist at the Kaduna state University in Nigeria, told DW that most jungle justice victims are innocent of the crimes for which they are accused and punished. He is quoted saying: A lot of innocent Africans have fallen victim to jungle justice," Yusuf said. In this article we are going to look at three cases of the barbaric practice of jungle justice in Africa. Please be warned that the vivid descriptions in this article are gruesome. All three examples used are from Nigeria, but Jungle justice is also an African issue. Bakassi Boys of Nigeria Bakassi boys were a vigilante group responsible for murdering hundreds of people across eastern Nigeria in the name of vigilantism. According to the Journal of Democracy and Development, Bakassi boys were created in 1998 by traders in the city of Aba, located in Abia state, Nigeria. These traders felt the need to protect themselves because Abia state police were not doing enough to reduce the number of robbery incidents in the city. While the rise of Bakassi boys helped reduce crime in the state, it came at significantly loss of life, as they left a death toll in their wake. They became stuff of folklore that kids told among themselves. For those who committed the slightest offensive, Bakassi boys became a nightmare they couldn’t wake up from. In a way, you could say the Bakassi boys created a brand for themselves, one that the country bought into. They dressed mostly in black clothing and wore red berets. They were known to use machetes but also brandished guns and wore visible charms made from cowries and feathers. They claimed their charms/Juju gave them powers to stop bullets from harming them and also helped them find criminals. Bakassi boys were also known to torture their victims, this included cutting off body parts while their victims were alive. Through their brutal and inhumane torture they would extract confessions from their victims. There was no way of verifying if these confessions were true, as anyone would say they are guilty of a crime to avoid being chopped into pieces. Once they had successfully extracted a confession, they would ensure their victims confess to the public before executing them in public viewing. They executed their victims mostly by beheading and by burning them. In some cases it was reported that they also cut the body parts of their victims into pieces and would spread these body parts across streets. Bakassi boys were the judge, jury and executioners of alleged criminals in eastern Nigeria. They did no investigation, there was nothing scientific about how they identified criminals. There was no evidence or a trial, just word of mouth accusations, hearsay and allegations which could not be substantiated with actual proof. The only reason crime reduced drastically in Abia state was because everyone thought Bakassi boys had powers that allowed them to detect and find criminals. The fear and brutality tactics used by Bakassi boys was so effective in reducing crime, that other eastern states in Nigeria invited them to rid their cities of crime. For a moment it was like taking a page out of a Batman movie. Nigeria as a whole was enthralled and enamoured by the Bakassi boy brand and bought into the idea of them being a superhero vigilante group powered by black magic, sorcery and Juju. It was so bad that Nollywood, Nigeria’s version of Hollywood, created a series of movies called “Issakaba“ to reenact the alleged heroic tales of Bakassi Boys. Unfortunately, like most cases of jungle justice, Bakassi boys probably killed more innocent people than guilty ones. Guilty or not, the law is put in place to ensure no one person is judge, jury and executioner. In recent times, due to pressure from groups like Amnesty International and the international community, the Nigerian government started clamping down on vigilant activities committed by Bakassi boys. For example, in July 2018, the Nigerian Supreme Court affirmed the death penalty imposed on three members of Bakassi Boys in 2006. In their appeal, they claimed they only committed the murders because they were incited by the Abia state government. The Supreme Court dismissed their appeal citing it lacked any merit. In present day, the Bakassi boys have now successfully rebranded themselves into the Anambra State Vigilante Service, Imo State Vigilante Service and Abia State Vigilante Service. These three incarnations of Bakassi boys don’t have the same authority or leeway as they use to before. They are also being closely monitored by the Nigerian authorities, who will not hesitate to take punitive action, if required, or so they alleged. Aluu Four Lynching This example of jungle justice was one of the most brutal stories I had ever read. I still cry for the four kids that were murdered that day. It reminded me of Africa’s dark side, which still exist, till today. The lives of four promising university students were snuffed out by a lynching mob, all because the community thought they were thieves. Chiadika Biringa, Lloyd Toku Mike, Tekena Erikena and Ugonna Obuzor were friends, occasional roommates and students of University of Port Harcourt. Ugonna was owed an undisclosed amount of money by a man named Bright. Bright didn’t pay the money back, so Ugonna went looking for him in a community called Aluu. He sought help from his cousin Lloyd, childhood and longtime friend Tekena and roommate Chiadika. Together, all four of them embarked on a journey of no return. When the four students arrived at Bright’s lodging, it was at about midnight. Unconfirmed reports state that one or more of the students might have had a weapon on them to threaten Bright into settling his debt. An argument apparently ensued over the money and a fight broke out. Bright’s neighbor heard the noise and started screaming, claiming that the students were there to steal laptops and mobile phones. The Aluu community had previously been plagued by armed thieves, so they setup a vigilante group to protect themselves as they had lost confidence in the police. When the vigilante group was alerted by the shouting, they thought the students were robbers trying to steal from the community. Before the Vigilante group arrived at the scene, an angry mobs had already started chasing the four students through the streets with stick and other weapons. When they caught the students, they stripped them naked, beat them up and tortured them till they were almost unconscious. Apparently, there were police officers at the seen, who stood by and did nothing while this crazy mob, dragged these students through the mud, had concrete slabs dropped on their heads and car tires filled with petrol wrapped around their necks before burning them. The murders were filmed with a mobile phone and uploaded unto the internet. ENDSARS protest The ENDSARs protest in Nigeria made global media headlines. On the 20th of October 2020, Nigerian security operatives allegedly opened fire on peaceful protester at Lekki Toll Gate, killing protesters. The official death toll at the end of this protest was 51 Civilians, 11 policemen and 7 soldiers. Without putting categories on lives, 69 people, 69 human beings, 69 Nigerians lost their lives during this protest. While the media locally and internationally reported on the Lekki toll gate killings, nobody covered the vigilante killings that happened across Nigeria. Two police officers were murdered in Ebonyi State by alleged protesters. One of them according to Premium Times Nigeria, had his genitals cut off. Seven police officers were lynched and killed by rioters in Lagos, while trying to protect public property. They left behind wives and kids The Oyo State police commander reported in December 2020, that Jungle justice killing increased in Oyo state after the ENDSARs protest. He announced that two civilians were burnt alive, while a third escaped. Conclusion To be absolutely clear, jungle justice is not a problem for Nigeria alone, it is an African problem. This is further exacerbated by the inadequate forensic knowledge in African countries. African security forces need to rebuild trust with their local community. They need to assure them that they are reliable and effective. Still, there is no excuse for any civilIan in Africa to make themselves, judge, jury and executioner. Even if your local police force is unreliable, taking the life of another should never an option.

The growth and expansion of Stripe has been so fast that it would take your breath away. In the span of 10 years, Stripe has acquired nine organizations as part of their expansion plan. Their most recent acquisition was Paystack, an African Fintech company, which was acquired for $200 million in October 2020. In total, Crunchbase reports that Stripe has invested in 31 companies to date, been through 15 funding rounds and has 13 lead investors. It came as no surprise when The Wall Street Journal reported Stripe was now valued at $95 billion, after their latest funding round raised $600 million. Although, i would love to understand how they came to that valuation. In comparison, PayPal which is a household name globally, has a current market capitalisation of $304 billion, which is 141% higher than their market capitalisation in 2019. PayPal has historically restricted some African countries from receiving payments on their platform. They recently confirmed a partnership with Flutterwave, another Fintech company in Africa. Through this partnership agreement, African businesses can now send and receive money via Flutterwave's PayPal integration. It should also be noted that PayPal has acquired 21 companies to date and none of them are from Africa. When it comes to business expansion strategies such as acquisitions and partnerships, it is always a question of risk versus reward. PayPal's partnership agreement with Flutterwave will not exactly increase their customer base in Africa substantially, but it will generate a small revenue stream from the partnership agreement. Flutterwave, on the other hand, comes out on top in this partnership with PayPal. They now offer a stronger value proposition to their existing customer base and will potentially get a portion of PayPal's existing customer base in Africa. That will obviously be a bummer for PayPal. Historically, large organisations have acquired smaller organisations in emerging and uncertain markets to reduce their exposure risk. To put it quaintly, larger organisations use smaller startups as guinea pigs to test uncertain and emerging markets before acquiring them. This is considered a shrewd expansion strategy because the big organisations don't take on any financial risks or resource requirements, to launch a new business in an uncertain market. They sit back and wait, till market demand and returns are proven, then they acquire the startup, who did all the leg work. Microsoft is a great example of a company that expanded through acquisitions. Since Microsoft's IPO on March 13, 1986, they have subsequently acquired 235 other companies. Some big names are Skype, GitHub and Linkedin. Stripe's acquisition of Paystack for $200 million has sent a clear message globally, that Africa has a sustainable Fintech market. That said, it also puts alot of pressure on Paystack to perform. The success or failure of Paystack will definitely set a precedent in the African Fintech market, so we are all rooting for Paystack to succeed. As for PayPal's partnership with Flutterwave, i won't hold my breath. If PayPal's expansion plans in Africa weren't risk averse, they would easily dominate the African market with their brand. For some reason PayPal are being cautious with their expansion plans in Africa, and are instead looking for partnerships rather than acquisitions. In a way, that bodes well for Africa, because we want competition to drive prices down and deliver better value for end users. PayPal is a big fintech player, why are they hesitant to acquire businesses in Africa, or invest in equity in other African Fintech startups? Stripe took the risk on Paystack, why can't PayPal do the same? Their expansion strategy in Africa is based around partnerships but shrouded in risk aversion. I dare say they still are not fully convinced about the sustainability of the African Fintech market. Sometimes you've just got to take a leap of faith. If you don't, someone else will, at least Stripe as shown that.