by Kiara Ashanti
Even in an economic downturn many people are starting their own businesses. While most Americans are preoccupied with maintaining stable salaries and health benefits, these brave souls are risking all in pursuit of their dreams. After a decade of success on Wall Street, Teresa Clarke, Chairman and CEO of africa.com, has joined their ranks. Like most entrepreneurs, she is positive that she will be successful and, given her background, that belief is warranted. We sat down with Ms. Clarke to explore her vision for africa.com
Teresa, give us an idea about your background prior to starting africa.com.
I joined the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs after earning law and business degrees from Harvard University. I worked in the investment banking division for six years before leaving to serve as managing director of Abt Associates South Africa, a public policy consulting firm. In 2004, I returned to Goldman Sachs to play a key role in launching the firm’s Global Markets Institute. I was also the manager of the GS Africa Aspen Program, a leadership development project for emerging public and private sector African leaders created in cooperation with the Aspen Institute. I resigned from Goldman Sachs on the day that africa.com launched, February 12, 2010. I was a managing director in the investment division at that time.
Have you spent most of your career on the business side of investing?
Although I was an investment banker at Goldman for 12 years, I’ve had a lot of experience in Africa, a place that I came to love after a trip in the mid-90’s. I moved to South Africa for five years where I led Abt Associates. I also taught corporate finance in the MBA program at Wits Business School. Concerned about filling the pipeline with future leaders in South Africa, I founded the Student Sponsorship Programme (ssp.org.za) to provide academically talented, but economically disadvantaged, South African students with scholarships and support to attend private schools. I am extraordinarily proud that, so far, more than 600 students have been granted scholarships which are valued at more than $10 million.
I have been recognized by the South African government for my work with SSP and in 2008 I received the Freedom Day Award from the South African Consulate. Finance has never been far from my heart, however. I have also been featured in “Africa Investment Horizons,” a documentary on investment opportunities in Africa by BBC award winning film producer Carol Pinneau.
Many of the best domain names were snatched up pretty early, how were you able to secure africa.com?
From the beginning, I had an interest in the internet. I went to South Africa just as apartheid was ending. A company that owned africa.com approached me and I acquired the domain from them.
How is what you’re doing in the re-launch different from what the previous owners were doing?For many years the site had been dark, even while I owned it. My vision is for africa.com to become the premier portal for information about Africa. Most people only look up Africa when they are thinking about going on a safari. But Africa is also a rich continent with great economic potential and an equally rich cultural life.
The International Monetary Fund estimates Africa will grow by 4.8 percent in 2010 and 2011, a higher rate of growth than Brazil, Russia, Mexico and Eastern Europe. Africa.com will help business leaders find and assess investment opportunities in the 53 countries. We will provide the best information about investment opportunities throughout the continent. Africa.com will also provide travel advisories, news and be the best source of information about music and art – culture generally. I want Africa.com to become the one-stop shop for information on all 53 countries in Africa.
What was the motivation to move from a lucrative company for which you had worked ten years, and concentrate on this venture?
I was successful in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. I know I will be successful as the CEO of africa.com. This is an exciting time on the continent. As I said, economies there are growing rapidly. This summer, the FIFA World Cup will focus the attention of all soccer fans on South Africa and, at the same time, business and media thought leaders will gather there. This is a perfect time for africa.com to help the world know and understand the countries of the continent, as well as the amazing people who live and work there.
What are you putting in place to generate traffic to the site? Will you be selling advertising?
If you google Africa, you will find 300 million sites. We believe that Africa.com will soon become the most visited site because we are providing the most comprehensive content. We will be working with different partners. TripAdvisor.com and Lonely Planet are two of our partners. TripAdvisor.com will allow visitors to book trips to Africa right from the site. We are going to take advantage of the newest technologies on the Internet. Video is key right now. Most Africans reach the Internet with video cell phones, not PCs. So our platform has to be set up for that type of use. We have more than 200 videos on the site, specially curated by our africa.com staff. There is advertising on africa.com, of course, and so much more. Africa.com will also be providing highly respected reports on political rights in Africa and investment opportunities. We will be following the 14 stock exchanges in Africa. Many people don’t know that Africa has any stock exchanges. As a portal of information we will show there is more to Africa than the negative images that appear in the news.
Will you at some point showcase video content that is created by users that visit Africa?
We want to offer videos of the highest quality, but africa.com is eager to interact with our visitors in many ways. Right now we are asking visitors to our internet radio program, Africa TOP 20, to vote on their favorite song each week. We will soon be asking visitors to recommend activities for tourists. We want visitors to africa.com to feel that it is their site.
With 53 different countries how are you going to source all the information?
The highly regarded NGOs Freedom House and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation are already providing information about the political and human rights situations in each country. Capital market content will come from LiquidAfrica, a boutique investment bank with offices in Johannesburg and London. Beyond partners like Freedom House, users from around the world as well as in Africa will be able to connect person to person. Real-time information and a sense of community can be developed on africa.com as well.
To view a related article, check out TAP’s “Investing in Africa” story.
