Introduction: Rainbow of Hope for Africa’s future.
You are probably asking why I decided to write this book, when you can find so many business books with similar titles and research about foreign investments. My main reason is to share my Passion with you and how does Africa play a part on it.
Why My Passion?
One day an American Documentary filmmaker was visiting Fogo Island, in the Cape Verde Islands, where I was born, and on a casual dinner meeting with some of US Embassy members in Cape Verde accompanying his crew, which a group of musicians from New Orleans USA where also part of, he asked me a simple question that touched my soul. The question came out basically how a normal conversation starts from trying to learn from someone you have just met. So he asked me: “What’s your passion?”
Normally you expect people to ask you about you and what do you do, among other stupid questions just to keep the conversation flowing. But this guy was just to the point: “What’s your passion?” It really struck me deep down in my Soul.
You are probably asking why?
Because I love what I do but this simple question made me question if what I do is really what I want to do, after all the setback I have experienced so far in my crazy business life experiences around the world (Cape Verde, Dubai, Paris, Mauritius, South Africa, Morocco, Zambia, USA).
You may be asking yourself now what exactly do I do?
Well. My passion is to Create Companies in Africa (structuring the idea, building the business model, architecture a plan to make it move forward, and design crazy financial engineering to help it attract capital to make it a reality) that no one else have the balls to set up because it seems impossible at first.
Like Peter Thiel brilliantly said it on his book Zero to One, if you are building something that already exists and you are not creating anything new. It is easier to copy a model than to develop something new.
Following my Passion with my Vision to help develop Africa when it comes to investment, I decided back in 2006, to set up a Foreign Direct Investment consultancy company in Cape Verde Islands, named Capital Consulting to help foreign investors invest initially in Cape Verde Islands and today all across Africa.
Why focus on Africa?
Throughout this book you will get to know some amazing facts about Africa that you probably never heard off, some exciting ones and some not at all, that you will probably end up saying you would never invest in a continent with some many issues.
I consider myself a son of Africa, but an end product of the world. I was born in a small country, named Cape Verde islands, which is part of West Africa. Cape Verde Islands is one of the few countries in Africa that are an example of Democracy, and has never seen wars and instability.
I am blessed enough to have amazing parents whom gave me and my brothers a great education and sacrificed so we could go study in Universities in Europe. Like a raw commodity from Africa such as cocoa that is exported to Europe to become a fine and exquisite chocolate in Switzerland.
I am also blessed that my parents always supported us since kids to have access to the best of technology of their time (well, PCs running on 2MB of space, which today is unthinkable) and to fly every year to USA and Europe on vacation to experience new cultures.
Having grown up in multicultural environments, I learned quickly how differently people can see the world. So beside all of the problems Africa face today, according to my perspective of the World and of Africa, to me Africa it’s still one of the most exciting places to do business and promote Foreign Direct Investment.
Like my father once told me: “Roses are beautiful but they also have spikes.”
Africa is blessed with abundant land, water and energy sources and with a young and increasingly better educated population. Such abundance, when combined with capital investment, can generate prosperity.
I have great hopes for Africa because I know the generation I belong (millennials) will be the changing force Africa needs to become a Great continent.
We are now in 2017 and the ride has been tremendously inspiring, and beside all my business setbacks in Africa I am still inspired about the future for myself, my family and for Africa.
Like Uschi Schreiber, wrote on her LinkedIn page today, as I write these pages to you, we are “living in a world in transition – from a model of business and society we know to one that still needs to be defined. We live in a world with a significant trust deficit. The uneven distribution of the benefits of globalization and the accelerating pace of innovation have disrupted people’s confidence in those in leadership roles; local, national and global institutions and the media. However, trust is an important ingredient for social stability, investment and growth.”
She is talking about Blockchain technology that as she puts it she believes “Blockchain has the potential to help restore trust and create stronger ecosystems among investors. It offers a way to ensure transparency, limit fraud and corruption, improve efficiency and maximize economic benefits to a broader section of society by creating a record of ownership that compels the consent of all buyers and stakeholders.”
Trust! A simple word that captures everything you need to understand about business and Foreign Investment. Trust makes the world moves forward. Not Money. Money is just the instrument to make things happen. Without Trust there is no Peace of mind for no one. The investment world works the same way. If investors do not trust a destination is safe for investment they won’t invest their funds in that market.
So, the basic rule of foreign investment beside safe investment destination, incentives and all the “bla bla bla” that countries tend to show that they are more attractive than others is that Money will flow to where there is Trust and less stress for the investor.
Since we are in a world that is sharing everything throughout this book I will share insights, views, ideas, and statements from renowned world leaders, entrepreneurs, billionaires, politicians, musicians, successful people, and brilliant minds.
Subjects such as Foreign Investment in Africa, Economy, Economic Development, Business, Human Rights, Investment Opportunities, Leadership, Innovation, Governance, Corruption, Hope, and the Future of Africa, are mentioned among the various chapters of the book.
In a nutshell, throughout this book I will share with you my experiences, various industries data, Africa facts, my views and renowned financial institutions views and reports data, so you can see for yourself that beside all the mess that the world is in now, and the perspective that the media shows you today about Africa, that there is still see a Rainbow of Hope for Africa’s future.
Rainbow of Hope for Africa’s Future 