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Venture Capital Can Work Despite Economic Slowdowns - Dr. Ola Brown

Private Equity	1523 VIEWS
Private Equity
1523 VIEWS

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 / 07.00AM / Ottoabasi Abasiekong for WebTV / Header Image Credit: WebTV

As recent economic indicators demonstrate the possibility of another global economic recession, manufacturers have taken heed of imminent inventory build ups and sales decline as the global economy shifts gear from a projected growth rate of +2.5% in 2020 by the World Bank to a more modest expectation of +1.8% by Proshare Research.

Against this background the Venture Capital (VC) industry is well-positioned to provide investment funds to emerging economies, according to Dr. Ola Brown, Director, Greentree Investment Company & Founder, Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company. Dr Brown made these comments while speaking with WebTV on the impact venture capital funds can have in a growing economy and her experience providing VC funds to different companies in healthcare, fintech and logistics.

Dr. Brown noted that 2019 was a good year for venture capitalists, with Nigerian taking in US$663.24m, the highest amount of Venture Capital money secured by a country in 2019 according to WeeTracker - African Venture Capital Report 2019. She bemoaned the fact that not much is being said about investors and entrepreneurs benefitting from such capital inflows.

Dr. Brown noted that investors need to step up to the plate with innovative ideas that could be turned into sustainable business ventures. She insisted that investors need to continuously seek to know how they can secure profitable deals regardless of businesses volatility characterized by many unpredictable government policies stifling growth. Bearing this in mind, Brown advocated for more VC companies to support brilliant entrepreneurial concepts on the African continent.

According to her, it was the private enterprise and the support of rich entrepreneurs like Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford that helped to develop a robust United States of America economy.

Speaking further she said Greentree Investment Company in the past five years had focused on supporting start-ups and companies in the fintech, health and health-tech and software industries.

She was of the view that Nigeria has come to a stage where it needs more industrialists like Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who can support the growth, stabilization and development of the economy.

In this light, Dr. Ola Brown - a Venture Capital Investor is championing conversations around Venture Capital in Africa.

As a Director of the Greentree Investment Company, and Founder of Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company, Brown is passionate about helping other young entrepreneurs grow while reducing poverty rates on the African continent, she believes that with the right mindsets and focused venture funds, good quality healthcare in Africa could become more accessible and affordable.

To shed more light on the Venture Capital Financing Landscape, Dr. Brown will be hosting Investors and Entrepreneurs on Friday, March 13, 2020 to a discussion on Venture Capital Financing in Africa.

Focus of the conversation will include:

Understanding How Venture Capital Works
Learning from the stories of Successful VC interventions in Africa
Accessing Venture Capital Finance in Africa
Preparing the Venture Capital Memo/Plan
Building A VC Success Story/Partnership

To join the conversation, watch the Live stream via the @WebTVNG Youtube Channel, Twitter Handle and Facebook Page - WebTV Nigeria and ask any question on VC Financing using the hashtags #VentureCapitalAfrica #ConversationswithDrOla

Greentree Investment Company is a leading VC company in Nigeria and was established in 2015 to provide funds for start-up enterprises in Nigeria with success stories such as Paystack, Zikolo, mdaasglobal, Precurio, Riby, to mention a few.

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