Newsletters

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Newsletter QIV 2011
One of our investors, a frequent China traveler, recently visited Ghana for the first time and was amazed with what he saw. Other than expected, he saw many similarities in terms of economic activity, development and technology providing big opportunities to “close the gap”. Of course, he could not overlook the number of Chinese people coming to Ghana and their involvement in public works like road building. Clearly, there are also big differences between the two countries -or should we say regions or even continents?- in terms of politics, labor morale and culture, but the investors’ first reaction is typical for many. Africa no longer is the “lost continent”, but is increasingly being regarded as a true emerging market, with Ghana leading the pack with its average 6-7% annual growth.
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Newsletter QII 2011
2011 has started off pretty “dualistically”, where on the on hand, we successfully closed and (partially) disbursed 3 transactions in the first half year and expect to close at least 2 more in the six months to come. On the other hand however, we had to accept a significant depreciation of our investment in FEFII. Although the latter is a disappointment, we see FEFII management taking significant actions and we hope and believe they are on the right track. With our current pace of realizing investments, we may be fully invested somewhere in 2012.
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Newsletter QIV 2010
The second half of 2010 was a busy period, with many highlights, but also some disappointments. The “highs” obviously first of all relate to the signing of 3 Term sheets in July 2010 and an additional two in December 2010. We worked hard to close at least 2 of these before year end, but unfortunately we lost one (Omega) and still are working on closing the other 4 projects. More about this below. In November we had our second investors trip which was we believe, again a successful and intriguing event. Also, we received our first return in the form of interest payments on the loan to Oasis Capital. Even though the amount is modest we are proud to have achieved this milestone !
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Newsletter QII 2010
The first two quarters of 2010 have been a very active period for SOVEC. Since fall last year, Sander is in Ghana almost every five weeks. This has not only resulted in a boosted pipeline, but also helped us progressing the various projects. In January we officially closed the investment in Oasis Capital, in combination with the co-investment agreement with Ebankese Fund. We further have several very interesting projects in our project pipeline of which we hope to close four by the end of this year. The co-operation, communication and working spirit with our local partners is very good.
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Newsletter QIV 2009
2009 was a turbulent year but we are looking with enthusiasm and confidence at an exciting 2010! Our fund-raising efforts have resulted in the second closing of SOVEC Fund in the first half of 2009. Considering the then prevailing economic conditions, we regard this as a big success. Since the second closing, we were able to focus our attention mostly on increasing the number of viable investments in our pipeline and consequently, realizing co-investments. In this second half of 2009, we have travelled to Ghana twice and additionally organised the first SOVEC Investors Trip.
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Newsletter QII 2009
In July we were in Ghana again, for the second FEFII Board Meeting and to visit (new) companies. The Board Meeting took place only days after president Obama had enlightened Ghana with his short and unexpected visit. The mere fact that Mr Obama so clearly expressed his preference for Ghana above Kenya, where his father was born, or for that matter Nigeria, one of the biggest economies in Africa, sparked the Ghanaian people with pride and confidence. 
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Newsletter QIV 2008
With the Western world in such turmoil, it is quite interesting to see how Africa is doing today and is expected to perform in the near future. Just back from another trip to Ghana, a prudent conclusion might be that Ghana is still doing well and seems to be quite confident about its future. It will certainly experience negative effects of the financial crisis in the West, but optimism and economic activity seem to dominate. The recent discovery of significant oil reserves in Ghana’s territorial waters of course helps, but the fundamental statistics confirm that the country, as others in Africa, is developing positively with an annual growth in GDP of some 6%. But declining payments from emigrants to their relatives in Ghana, accounting for a major part of the country’s income, may create a negative impact on consumer
spending and could be the first direct result of the financial crisis in the West.
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