Two Lawyers Offer Situation-focused Solutions For Investors In Africa

August 27, 2014 Niyi Aderibigbe Advisor Network, Investing

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VENTURES AFRICA – Steven De Backer and Olivier Binyingo, founders of Afriwise, a new consulting firm in Johannesburg, South Africa are ready to employ their vast experience across the continent in offering situation and local environment-focused solutions for willing investors.
“Sub Saharan Africa is now perceived to be one of the world’s greatest opportunities for corporate expansion. At the same time not all the countries are moving at the same pace and Africa remains a diverse and complex continent, with different countries presenting different challenges and obstacles,” the investment advisory firm noted.
De Backer explained that the founders worked for years to develop a system of adopting a collaborative consulting model for Africa.

Two lawyers offer innovative solution-focused solutions for African investors

“Africa is not a country but a continent, home to 54 very different countries,” stated De Backer, who noted that clients are beginning to
understand the importance of collaborating with people who have on-the-ground expertise and understands the local business climate. As a result, various advisory firms are adopting different models to try to cater for that need, but De Backer said their traditional strategies no longer worked.
“These traditional models are too rigorous for African markets; what you want is flexibility and the ability to partner with the right individuals for each assignment,” he noted, which gave rise to the concept of the Afriwise community.
Binyingo also noted that traditional solutions hardly work in African markets. He therefore stressed the need for creativity and flexibility when country specific challenges are being tackled.
“We plan to be quite disruptive to the traditional consulting model,” adds Binyingo. “We are dramatically increasing access to local expertise for clients active in Sub Saharan Africa, in the most affordable and yet integrated way,” he said.
Building on years of legal practice on the continent, the founders will through Afriwise consult provide “one point of contact for private and public organizations that need legal, tax, transaction, risk and management consulting services in Sub Saharan Africa”, collaborating with experts in the required field to deliver solutions that work.