Many of Africa's wealthiest individuals built their wealth by acquiring traditional industries rather than starting new businesses.
Approximately 80% of Africa's billionaires made their wealth in sectors like cement, manufacturing, logistics, retail, mining, oil, and banking, as opposed to technology.
Top companies in Africa are primarily dominated by traditional industries such as banks, energy, logistics, mining, and retail, with tech companies being the exception.
The majority of Africa's informal sector also relies on traditional businesses like market stalls, small-scale farming, family-run logistics, and local manufacturing.
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) is a pragmatic approach where businesses are acquired and then scaled with capital, capacity, and modern management.
ETA addresses the economic risk of succession planning by acquiring small-to-medium-sized businesses in industries like manufacturing, logistics, food processing, B2B services, and construction.
ETA combines innovation with existing industries to build real balance sheets and compound wealth.
The next phase of wealth creation in Africa is seen to come from leveraging traditional economies rather than leapfrogging them.
By investing in profitable traditional industries and modernizing them, Africa aims to absorb innovation into existing sectors for sustained growth.