Africa: too big to ignore
Africa is hugely diverse.
It is also the world’s second largest – and second most populous – continent: one into which the USA2, China, India, Brazil and the UK taken together, could be comfortably accommodated.
2. Contiguous US (excluding Alaska, Hawaii).
What is our vision?
To fulfil its potential, Africa needs:
- investment in infrastructure to support inter- and intra-regional trade
- good governance
- customer-centric, innovative, inclusive financial services.
Although sub-Saharan Africa is seeing broad-based economic growth and locally-driven innovation on the one hand, there is a retreat of multi-national banking groups and a lack of access to capital, liquidity and funding by local and regional banks on the other.
“Atlas Mara is the embodiment of our vision. We plan to be a positive disruptive force in sub-Saharan African.”
To us, this provides a clear opportunity to create a financial services group to participate in industry consolidation and serve as a catalyst for stimulating and accelerating economic growth. It involves leap-frogging outdated business models through effectively harnessing technology, offering enhanced products and services to both retail and corporate customers, as well as ensuring strong governance, risk management, processes and systems.
Before focusing on Atlas Mara and the achievements so far, as well as the road ahead, we would like to outline the reasons for our optimism about sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, we describe the promising prospects for growth and diversity that mark it out from other developing economies.
To read the full overview, download 'Why Africa?' as a PDF.
