Cover Story: Bullish on Africa

Larry Seruma, founder of Nile Capital at Princeton Forrestal Village, lists the following as some of his favorite companies:


MTN Group. Based in South Africa, MTN Group operates cell phone systems all over Africa and in several countries in Europe and Asia. The company posted revenues of $12 billion last year, and operated 34 million smart phones. The company recently reported a vast growth in smartphone and data usage.

MTN Group was founded in 1994. The mobile network also operates in Iran, Syria, and Sudan, which are being sanctioned by the U.S. and E.U. MTN Group stock has gone up 38 percent in the last year.

Dangote Cement. This Lagos-based cement company is the largest company traded on the Nigerian stock exchange, with revenues of $1.8 billion a year. It produced 10 million metric tons of cement in 2012, making it Nigeria’s largest cement manufacturer, with plans for rapid expansion.

The company has spent billions on new factories and expansion into new markets over the last year. This company is emblematic of Seruma’s belief that African infrastructure is a good bet. Dangote stock has risen 53 percent over the past year.

Kenya Commercial Bank. This bank, with its headquarters in Nairobi, is one of the country’s largest commercial banks, with assets of more than $2.6 billion. Though small by American standards, this is enough to make it a major player in the region.

Kenya Commercial Bank stock has gone up 13 percent over the last year.