Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Developing World
Using Computers to Explore the Universe
Cities in an Environmental Context
Fostering Innovations in Math and Science Teaching
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Ramatoulaye Diallo '98 |
Ramatoulaye Diallo '98 believes in the power of the private sector to drive economic growth in Africa. As a director with Advanced Finance & Investment Group LLC (AFIG), a private equity and fund management company founded in 2005 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Diallo is part of a small team of Africans with experience in private equity investment in developing countries and a focus on investing both capital and business know-how in African companies.
Private equity investing — in individual companies or mutual funds made up of companies that are not listed on the stock exchange — is a relatively new asset class, even in the United States, says Diallo. "Bringing private equity to emerging markets is very new, and in many ways Africa is the frontier," she says.
As an investment officer with Emerging Markets Partnership (EMP) based in Washington, D.C., Diallo was part of the investment management team of EMP's AIG African Infrastructure Fund focusing on the telecommunications, technology and media industries. "EMP was started in 1999-2000, but it is considered a pioneer in Africa," Diallo says. "A lot of the investments in Africa prior to that were made by the development finance institutions from the major G7 countries. As a result, there are few people with the experience of doing private equity investing in Africa. More importantly, a lot of the funds before ours have been run by foreigners."
Diallo says AFIG is one of only a handful of African fund management companies in the market at this time. Currently, AFIG is in the process of raising the Atlantic Coast Regional Fund, a $100 million regional fund focused on 28 countries on or near the African coast of the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to Angola. "What also makes us unique is that we are not just focused on investing money," says Diallo, who is based in AFIG's office in Johannesburg. "We are also supporting companies with business expertise."
In so doing, AFIG intends to overcome traditional hindrances to attracting investors to Africa. "Many African companies have been built by the bootstraps and have not yet been exposed to best practices," Diallo explains. "Often when we identify a company in Africa that might be a good investment target, we first have to get involved in helping the company develop the structure, governance and reporting practices that will make it suitable for an international private equity fund like ours."
Breakthrough Opportunities
After working for EMP, Diallo earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She then moved to Johannesburg to join her fiancé, Simdul Shagaya, a media entrepreneur she met at Harvard. She credits Shagaya with giving her the courage and inspiration to move back to Africa .
In Johannesburg, Diallo worked as founding managing director for Endeavor South Africa, the local arm of a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that identifies entrepreneurs with high growth potential in emerging markets around the world and supports them with mentorship, training and access to capital markets.
"At Endeavor S.A., we built a portfolio of 17 companies in just over two years," Diallo says. "For example, Endeavor selected a company that developed biometric identification technology solutions for banks in emerging markets. Endeavor introduced the company to people who advised them on their business plan and helped them enter the Nigerian market. As a result, they landed several large banks as clients. That is the kind of breakthrough that young companies are looking for."
Diallo began her career in the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley, New York, as a member of the mergers and acquisitions group, advising clients in the financial services industry in the United States, Europe and Latin America. As a mathematics and economics major at Bryn Mawr, she served an internship at Goldman Sachs through Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, which introduces minority students to finance. Diallo, who was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal, earned an international baccalaureate degree from the United World College of the American West.
Debt Relief
When asked about the respective roles of private sector leadership and of debt relief to economic development in Africa, Diallo says, "I think of what we are doing as the experience of life on the continent: people getting up every day and pushing forward."
In contrast, Diallo says, "Debt relief seems a bit remote from the concrete issues on the ground. As a concept, it is great. If it translates to countries having resources to put toward education and creating the legal and economic framework for people to create businesses, then it's a great link. But I'm afraid it may not be such a straight road from one to the other."
As for the role of women in the African economy, Diallo says, "Women are extremely involved as micro-entrepreneurs. You also see women in positions of leadership in government and business, but as you move up the pyramid, the fewer there are. In the companies of the size we are looking at there are not many women entrepreneurs, but I don't think that is an African problem per se."
Diallo says it is exciting to be part of Africa 's long-term process of economic development. "You see people and companies develop. You see them grow and change. You are a part of the positive energy that I am feeling across Africa — people who get up every day and contribute a tiny bit to the bigger picture."
Dorothy Wright contributes news and feature articles on science, technology, engineering and general-interest topics to a variety of publications, including Civil Engineering and Engineering News Record .