Af Jes Colding,
tilknyttet MyC4
En ny investeringsplatform på Internettet, MyC4, åbner nu mulighed for at investere direkte i afrikanske mikro-entreprenører.
På www.myc4.com kan man investere i projekter med løbetider mellem 6 og 36 måneder og en ROI på typisk mellem 8 og 15 procent.
Risikoen ved at investere kan minimeres ved at sprede sine investeringer ud på mange forskellige projekter og erfaringsmæssigt ligger defaultgraden (ikke-tilbagebetalingsraten) på under 3 pct. inden for micro-finance markedet. På MyC4 har der siden starten i juli i år ikke være nogen default overhovedet.
De godt 2.100 investorer, som allerede i dag var valgt at investere igennem MyC4, har forskellige motiver for at investere.
Nogle investerer først og fremmest ud fra et personligt ønske om at støtte afrikanske iværksættere og dermed bygge en bæredygtig fremtid for Afrika. Andre motiveres først og fremmest af de attraktive afkast, man kan opnå.
På Myc4 afhænger renten af projektet og investeringslandet og i praksis fastlægges den som følge af udbud og efterspørgsel ved en hollandsk auktion som det vejede gennemsnit af de mange forskellige bud.
Udover enkeltpersoner investerer virksomheder, foreninger og fonde på MyC4 – oftest større beløb igennem Club+15, hvor man minimum investerer 15.000 euro.
Mange af disse investorer gør brug af platformens Autobid-funktion, hvor der automatisk investeres i projekter, som matcher de parametre, som investoren definerer på platformen: land, investeringsstørrelse, rentekrav, sektor etc.
Mange firmaer har også valgt at bruge MyC4 i deres Corporate Social Responsibilty politik ved aktivt at inddrage medarbejderne i processen – i form af investeringskonkurrencer, medarbejderarbejderkonti o.l.
Projekterne kommer indtil videre fra Uganda, Elfenbenskysten og Kenya og har alle gennemgået en grundig due dilligence udført af MyC4s netværk af lokale ”providere” og selve den fysiske håndtering af pengene foretages af lokale Micro Finance Institutes (MFI).
I løbet af 2008 vil MyC4 udvide aktiviteterne til 5-10 nye europæiske og afrikanske lande.
For at blive investor på MyC4 skal man gå ind på myc4.com og oprette sig som bruger samt overføre penge til sin MyC4 konto via kreditkort (Paypal) eller ordinær bankoverførsel – så kan man begynde at investere.
Under ”Home” på hjemmesiden findes små animationer, som både viser principperne bag MyC4 og trin for trin illustrerer, hvordan man opretter en konto, overfører midler og kommer i gang med at investere.
Her en længere og mere indgående version på engelsk for de ekstra interesserede:
Eradicate Poverty through Business: MyC4 is an online platform connecting people and capital into growing sustainable businesses in Africa in support of the United Nations 2015 Millennium Development Goals and Global Compact.
Now YOU can eradicate poverty in Africa through business with MyC4
There is a growing global consensus that we can reach the Millennium Development Goals only if business is part of the solution.
This quote from Kofi Annan in 2006 is particularly true when it comes to Africa. It has been estimated that the African continent will need 131 years to achieve the UN 2015 Millennium Development Goals if we continue to rely on traditional ways of fighting poverty.
Recently Bill Clinton has echoed Annans statement by stressing in his new book the important role of business and profits in the efforts to achieve a sustainable solution for Africa.
This realization has moved development and aid organisations worldwide to increase focus on Africa – including Danida in Denmark. However, for individuals in the affluent part of the world wanting to help by supporting sustainable business solutions in Africa there has been no easy, direct or convenient way to make this difference. Until now !
Half a year ago two Danish entrepreneurs, Mads Kjær and Tim Vang, took the first step towards realizing their long-standing dream, when their online platform, MyC4, hit the Internet in a closed Beta version.
The objective of the platform was to connect people and capital into growing sustainable businesses in Africa. Inspiration from e-bay, Wikipedia and Mohamed Yunus Micro Finance Institutions merged into a transparent infrastructure on the Internet and soon turned out to be more than a distant dream when both investment opportunities and investors gathered around the initiative and consequently the platform, still in Beta, opened to the public investment on October 1st.
Since then investors have been stampeding to the platform and today more than 2.200 have signed up and invested in almost 400 business projects in Uganda, Ivory Coast and Kenya. 615.000 euro (4,6 mio. kr.) have been paid in and the range of business opportunities funded vary between 132 euro (1.000 kr.) and 20.000 euro (150.000 kr.).
In 2008 MyC4 will extend activities in Africa to Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and possibly South Africa and will start marketing towards investors outside Denmark also, e.g. in Norway, Sweden, Holland, Germany, UK and France with the intention to reach 25.000 investors and 12,5 mio. euro (100 mio. kr.).
This far, not a single project has defaultet and in many cases repayments of loan and interest are ahead of schedule. Over time, however, default cannot be entirely avoided but MyC4 expects to perform better than the traditional MFI sector where no more than 3 per cent default.
Also, investors on MyC4 can reduce their risk by spreading their investment portfolio on many different projects, so investing on MyC4 must be considered relatively low-risk.
All loans must bear an interest but the investor is free to choose his desired return between 2 and 50 per cent. It is a principle matter of MyC4 to emphasize that the platform is not about temporary charity but about sustainable businesses – both for the loan-taker, the investor and for MyC4.
The income for MyC4 is derived from a 2 per cent fee paid by the borrower – for the investor it is free to invest on MyC4.
The borrower has a maximum interest which he or she can pay. The final interest paid by the borrower is determined through a Dutch Auction where the lenders, who offer the lowest rates get to give the loan – in this way the borrower will often end up paying a lower rate than the maximum he or she stipulated.
The loan will not be paid out if the average interest is above the maximum. So far, all loans on the platform have been fully financed.
Investors come from many different backgrounds and have different motives to invest. Some have low expectations as they are primarily motivated by the social difference they make, others are hard-core investors seeking a market-competitive return on their investments. The beauty of MyC4 is that there is room and need for all types of investors !
Many different types of investors can use the MyC4 infrastructure: Private individuals, investment groups or communities, foundations, companies investing for ROI, companies investing as part of their proactive Corporate Social Responsibility policy (CSR), institutional investors, charity foundations and development organisations just to mention a few.
Also, importing or exporting companies can invest in companies or projects in their own supply chain so the ways to use the platform are numerous to a large extent up to the users imagination and initiative.
The projects in Africa are identified and screened by a net of MyC4 providers who are also dedicated to the principle of eradicating poverty through business. They can be Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), NGO or consultants specialised in coaching and training business entrepreneurs.
The loans are physically disbursed by and repayments made to established MFIs or banks. These local companies are paid for their services by the borrower and in this way MyC4 users are also supporting the growth of local businesses.
Due to the use of the Internet the interest rates offered to the African businesses must be the lowest in the market and therefore attract a large number of projects just through the word of mouth.
For example our largest provider in Uganda each Monday hosts 120-150 potential borrowers who have come to learn more about the loan procedure, so there is no doubt of MyC4s appeal in this end either.
MyC4 is also a platform to exchange knowledge between the users so academia in Africa and around the world are getting involved. At the moment most communication with business entrepreneurs must go through the providers as only few African businesses have computers or Internet access.
However, this situation is changing rapidly as the penetration of mobile phones grow and the physical broadband infrastructure is established in African in the coming years.
To become part of MyC4 go to myc4.com, see the small animations under “Home” and follow the instructions about how you sign up, transfer money to your MyC4 account and invest in business opportunities in Africa.
Or if you see other, exciting ways to make use for the platform feel free to contact us at [email protected] or mobile +45 40 80 22 40. During the month of December you can also give a MyC4 account as Christmas present to friends or family by visiting
www.myc4.com/Portal/WebForms/Content/DisplayContent.aspx?NameKey=MAIN_CHRISTMAS
