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Jonathan Gray: shaping investment opportunities for the Middle East

1 August 2017 Comments (0) Leaders

Jonathan Gray

Jonathan Gray is currently heading several businesses within various industries through ventures such as Beauchamp Estates France, JG Events and First Idea Ltd.

A bona fide entrepreneur

Jonathan Gray’s business life started early in 1997 at the age of 16 after a chance encounter with a Buena Vista International executive during the Cannes Film festival. A few years on he would create several companies within various industries. Most notably in his early career stands JG events, a successful international event company specialising in luxury private and corporate events in the South of France.

A few years later, in 2004, he participated to the launch of the exclusive global concierge company Quintessentially, which he spearheaded from 2005 and sold in 2009.

Simultaneously, he launched his own estate agency in 2005 and then closed a business opportunity in 2007 with powerhouse London broker Beauchamp Estates, a main player in the premium property market focusing on a select range of exclusive quality properties. Together they launched the exclusive French branch of Beauchamp Estates in Cannes. Within six years, Beauchamp Estates France multiplied its turnover fivefold.

First Idea, a firm specialized in the Middle East region

With his track record and after having developed a strong and influent network of ultra high net worth individuals, Jonathan Gray decided to transition towards more personal passions such as strategic and investment consultancy.

Thus was born the strategic consulting firm First Idea Ltd. First Idea was the opportunity for Jonathan to develop the concept he had in mind. First Idea selects investment opportunities aligned with the principles of the positive economy by focusing efforts in identifying corporate or institutional entities willing to address societal and economic change.

Far from being a run of the mill investment boutique, First Idea strives to be both a laboratory of positive ideas for clients and an aggregator of talents, aiming to design new levers of economic, social, societal and cultural developments and respond to the challenges of tomorrow’s world through creative, innovative and bespoke solutions.

More concretely, First Idea is a firm specialized in the Middle East region. It assists its clients in reshaping the economy for a post-oil order through the deployment and implementation of hallmark Vision 2030 programs developed in most Gulf countries. Within this frame, First Idea raises awareness about the giant and numerous investment opportunities such national plans offer to worldwide business leaders & companies, with a special focus on French business circles.

First idea’s efforts focus on positive sectors. Indeed, Jonathan Gray is an idea man, devising solutions (ideas, innovation or policies) to positively impact the Gulf’s economy and society as a whole by creating sustainable foundations for flourishing and innovative ecosystems.

Therefore, First Idea aims at facilitating Vision 2030’s successes, at helping answer Middle East’s most critical challenges, with a strong focus on Food security & safety (Agritech), Water security (Watertech), Green construction, Carbon sinks, Carbon valuation, EcoTourism.

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Africa gets its first smartphone manufacturing facility in Nigeria

20 July 2017 Comments (0) Featured

While mobile phone penetration has been rapidly increasing throughout Africa for several years, until now, all the smartphones sold on the continent were imported from overseas. However, as AfriOne opens up its first smartphone production factory on the continent, the hope is that the flourishing technology can provide greater employment opportunities for the next generation.

The First in Africa

Mobile phones have become an integral part of life for many people, and the proliferation across Africa has increased rapidly in recent years. In Nigeria, the market penetration has surged and investments in the telecoms sector skyrocketed by 6400% in the past 4 years. With such growth, it is no surprise that Africa’s first smartphone production unit has found its home in Nigeria.

The company AfriOne has established the factory in Nigeria’s Lagos Free Zone with an initial investment of $10 million. The plant will begin producing 120,000 units per month; however the company is confident that the facility will eventually produce as many as 300,000 products per month.

The new range of smartphones will cost between $92 and $108 and are aimed at Nigeria’s middle income consumers. AfriOne’s parent company, Contec Global, intends to open up a second production unit as it continues its expansion.

The investment seeks to capitalize on the huge expansion in e-commerce within the region. E-commerce is predicted to account for 10% of all retail sales in Nigeria by 2025, and consultant group McKinsey estimates it could be producing $75 billion in annual revenue by this time.

The 20,000 square foot production facility includes a Research & Development (R&D) department and testing laboratories. Mr. Sahih Berry, AfriOne’s Founder and CEO, said that the company has a goal to “democratize technology, by offering affordable innovations through our product offerings and removing barriers deterring the large scale adoption of advanced technology in Nigeria.”

By Nigerians, For Nigerians

The unveiling of a facility such as AfriOne’s new smartphone production unit offers immediate job opportunities as well as the obvious increase in options for the Nigerian consumer. AfriOne’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Sandeep Natu, told the press that the factory will initially employ around 500 people. Both the company and government officials are hopeful that the long term benefits of the operation will be more far-reaching.

Contec Global’s Managing Director, Mr. Roheen Berry, said that the company is dedicated to increasing opportunities for young Nigerians through a policy of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Mr. Berry explained that the facility will have various training programs for young men and women working at AfriOne, and added, “We are tangibly investing in Nigeria’s future through AfriOne, while providing a valuable skill set to its workforce that will facilitate continued innovation in Nigeria’s emerging, dynamic and robust market.”

The Nigerian government believes that the venture will not only create immediate employment opportunities, but will help foster a culture of innovation and technology within Lagos that could lead to greater long term growth. Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode, announced the plant’s opening at a press conference in which he expressed hope that this would lead to the city of Lagos create a 24-hour economy.

Mr. Ambode also discussed AfriOne’s commitment to working with a local college, Lagos State Polytechnic, for the maintenance and repair of mobile devices. He said, “The collaboration with Afrione will be of immense benefits to these students and the State.”

The factory promises to offer these students practical experience within the field of telecommunications and mobile technology, thus spreading the potential impact on future job creation far beyond the direct employment within the plant.

Lagos State Government already had a youth training initiative in place, known as the Empowerment Trust Fund, and Mr. Ambode believes that, “AfriOne’s collaboration will complement efforts by the Lagos State government in ensuring that these youths are empowered.”

Nigeria currently has around 154 million mobile phone users, and e-commerce and mobile banking are both rapidly growing sectors within the West African nation. As these markets continue to grow and attract investment, a domestic center for the production of the medium needed to access these fields may seem long overdue. AfriOne assured press that the phones would use cutting edge technology and would come with popular African apps for banking and farming already installed.

AfriOne will be looking to expand its production base quickly, and the local government hopes that further development provides an ongoing boost to economic growth and employment.

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First Female Head of UN Economic Commission for Africa: Vera Songwe

15 July 2017 Comments (0) Featured, Leaders

Announced in April by UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, Dr. Vera Songwe has become the first woman ever to head the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, UNECA is one of the UN’s five regional commissions, and was established in 1958 to encourage economic cooperation among the nations of the African continent. A prestigious position by itself, Songwe has also acquired the rank of Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations.  

Beating more than 70 candidates for the role, Songwe, aged 48, takes over the reins of the organization at a critical time, following the departure of Dr. Carlos Lopes of Guinea-Bissau, who stepped down from the organization in September, last year. Labelled as one of 25 African’s ‘to follow,’ by the Financial Times in 2015, the UN reported that her longstanding track record of policy advice and results orientated implementation in the region, as well as, her demonstrated strong and clear strategic vision for the continent, is what lead to the decision.

Track Record in Economics

Before her appointment, Songwe was serving as the International Finance Corporation’s Regional Director, covering West and Central Africa. Between 2012 and 2015 she was the World Bank’s Country Director for Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania. Before that, she held the post of Advisor to the Managing Director of the World Bank for Africa, Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia. She is also currently a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Global Development African Growth Initiative, since 2011.

Starting her professional journey as a Young Professional at the World Bank in 1998, Songwe worked in the Middle East and North Africa region covering Morocco and Tunisia in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management unit (PREM). Later she joined the East Asia and Pacific region PREM unit where she held several roles, such as, Regional PRSP Coordinator, Country Sector Coordinator and Senior Economist for the Philippines. She has also worked in Mongolia and Cambodia for the World Bank.

Born in 1968, Songwe earned a PhD in Mathematical Economics at the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics, as well as a Master of Arts in Law and Economics, and a Diploma of Profound Studies in Economic Sciences and Politics, from the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, in Belgium. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from the University of Michigan in the United States. Songwe has also published several papers on governance, fiscal policy, agriculture and commodity price volatility, and trade and new financial infrastructure.

In the Shadow of Lopes

With the departure of the charismatic, and sometimes combative, Carlos Lopes, Songwe arrives in an institution where her predecessor has left a large imprint. Joining the organization in 2012, Lopes has been credited with reshaping UNECA and raising it out of obscurity on the continent. According to The East African news outlet, Lopes championed the need for improved data and statistics for informed decision making. He was the first to call for debt cancellation for the Ebola-effected countries in Africa, and led a team to demonstrate the economic impact projections on Africa were highly exaggerated and part of a negative narrative. During his resignation, Lopes was also praised by colleagues for taking the relationship between the organization, its partners and member states, to a higher level, for beautifying the UNECA compound, leading UNECA to host big conferences impacting on Africa’s development and empowering employees and ensuring gender parity in the organization.

Songwe’s Vision

However, Songwe is not without her own talents and tenacity. With some 20 years at the World Bank, Songwe’s new duties of advising African governments on their development projects will be well within her grasp. Described by her colleagues as a hardworking and competent leader, she is on the selection committee for the Tony Elumelu Foundation, an annual program of training, funding and mentoring for the next generation of African entrepreneurs and the influential African Leadership Network. According to RFI, as the new Executive Secretary for UNECA, Songwe will give priority to innovative financing, agriculture, energy, and economic governance.

 

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South Sudan says oil production at 130,000 bpd

15 June 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Sudan is producing around 130,000 barrels of oil a day and wants to increase its refinery capacity to supply fuel to neighbouring countries, the petroleum minister said on Monday.

“We are focusing on four or five refineries so we can finally be able to sell to Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and Uganda,” Minister Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth told an African oil conference in Cape Town.

East Africa’s only mature oil producer, South Sudan is aiming to double oil output to 290,000 bpd in 2017/18 the finance minister said in January.

 

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Joe Brock)

 

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Kenyan shilling inclined toward depreciation as oil demand weighs

15 June 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) – The Kenyan shilling was broadly stable against the dollar on Monday, but some demand from oil and merchandise importers was seen giving the local currency a depreciation bias, traders said.

At 0757 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling 103.30/40 per dollar, compared with 103.25/45 at

 

(Reporting by John Ndiso; editing by Elias Biryabarema)

 

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South Africa’s private-sector activity little changed in May, PMI shows

14 June 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

JOHANNESBURG, June 5 (Reuters) – Private-sector activity in South Africa was little changed in May from April, remaining in positive territory, as new orders and output failed to register significant gains.

The Standard Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, was at 50.2 in May compared with 50.3 in April, still above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

“PMI remained above 50 for the ninth month running in May, signalling the longest sequence of overall improvement in operating conditions in five years,” Markit said in a statement.

The sub-index for new orders fell to 50.1 in May from 50.4 previously. Output rose slightly to 49.9 from 49.6.

South Africa’s economic outlook has been clouded by credit rating downgrades to “junk” by two of the three major rating agencies after President Jacob Zuma fired Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in late March.

A fall below investment-grade typically constricts funding and sharply raises borrowing costs.

 

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Egypt’s foreign reserves rise to $31.126 billion at end-May

4 June 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s foreign reserves jumped to $31.126 billion at the end of May from $28.641 billion at the end of April, boosted by last month’s Eurobond sale, the central bank said on Sunday.

Egypt, which has been struggling to revive its economy since a 2011 uprising, sold $3 billion of Eurobonds in May, twice as much as targeted.

That confirmed growing foreign appetite for the country’s debt as it follows through with economic reforms aimed at cutting a budget deficit and luring back investors.

In November Egypt abandoned its currency peg of 8.8 per dollar and floated the pound, which then halved in value. It also raised its key interest rates by 300 basis points, helping Egypt to clinch a $12 billion International Monetary Fund programme.

Last month, the central bank raised its key interest rates by another 200 basis points after inflation reached a three-decade high.

The moves helped the country lure back foreign investors to its treasury sales. Foreign investors in Egyptian government securities rose to 136 billion Egyptian pounds ($7.52 billion) in May from 120 billion pounds a week earlier.

Last month’s Eurobond sale, which reached Egypt’s central bank on May 31, was the second such sale this year. Egypt had earlier raised $4 billion at a Eurobond sale in January that also exceeded expectations.

The steady climb in Egypt’s foreign reserves since it floated the pound brings them closer to pre-2011 levels of around $36 billion.

 

($1 = 18.0800 Egyptian pounds)

 

(Reporting by Eric Knecht and Arwa Gaballa; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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Fitch “very concerned” situation in South Africa not improving: union

17 May 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

By Mfuneko Toyana

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Fitch is very concerned that South Africa’s economic and political situation is not improving, the country’s second largest federation of trade unions said on Tuesday after it held talks with the ratings agency.

In April, Fitch cut South Africa’s debt to subinvestment, citing the recent cabinet reshuffle, when President Zuma fired his third finance minister in two years and which it feared would weaken standards of governance and public finances.

Firing Pravin Gordhan while he was abroad on an investor roadshow and the subsequent sovereign downgrade rattled local markets and investors worldwide.

The Federation of Unions of South Africa’s (FEDUSA) General Secretary Dennis George told Reuters that Fitch said it was also worried about the lack of progress in reforming state firms.

“They wanted to know how we see the future and what we see happening at the (ruling African National Congress) ANC elective conference in December,” said George, who was meant to be part of the contingent accompanying Gordhan overseas on the roadshow.

The ruling ANC elects its next leader, who will contest national polls in 2019. The cabinet purge that saw Gordhan removed is seen by analysts as part of a wider power-struggle between factions in the party jostling for top positions and control of state-owned entities (SOE).

“Fitch are very concerned about what is happening in the country and the fact that things are not getting better, they’re getting worse,’ George said.

“They also agreed with us that we can’t keep bailing out the state-owned companies,” he said.

Government guarantees to state firms are set to increase to nearly 500 billion rand ($38 billion) in 2017, about a quarter of the total debt, according to the treasury, which says the firms represent a significant risk to already stretched finances.

When Fitch downgraded the rating, it said the reshuffle was likely to “undermine progress in SOE governance”, raising the risk that the firms’ debt could migrate onto the government’s balance sheet.

Fitch was not immediately available for comment.

 

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

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South Africa to use procurement budget “strategically” to transform economy: Gigaba

16 May 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Monday the treasury would use its 500 billion rand ($40 billion) annual procurement budget to transform the economy and give more support to black-owned businesses.

“The strategic use of state procurement is an important lever to grow black business,” Gigaba told a business dinner in Johannesburg. “The state getting value for money is important but this aim should be considered in conjunction with our economic history.”

Gigaba, appointed after President Jacob Zuma sacked his predecessor, has backed Zuma’s aim of redistributing wealth to poor blacks but said this would not involve a shift away from the fiscal consolidation outlined in recent budgets.

 

(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Nigerian oil workers extend Exxon Mobil strike to Chevron, Agip and Shell

16 May 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Nigerian workers from an oil labour union have extended a strike to oil majors Chevron, Shell and Eni subsidiary Agip in protest over the sacking of members from Exxon Mobil Corp, the union’s general secretary said on Tuesday.

Lumumba Okugbara, of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), said union representatives would meet Exxon Mobil management on Tuesday for talks. Members of the union began a strike at Exxon Mobil last week.

 

(Reporting by Anamesere Igboeroteonwu; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Mark Potter)

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