The Best of 2016

The RENEW team wishes you all a happy New Year! As 2017 is newly minted and we look to the future, the RENEW team would like to take a moment and reflect on some of our favorite (and most popular) thought-content pieces of 2016:

This is an analysis of the current state and future state of private equity in the East Africa region, as well as the country of Ethiopia. This content piece examines the regional trends from the previous seven years, looks at the prospects of growth in private equity investment in Ethiopia, and explains how the rise of the global impact investor plays an integral role in this investment.

RENEW experienced some exciting growth this year by expanding our team, including Justin Reesor, our Operations Manager. In his introductory blog, Justin tells the story of his journey to RENEW, which started as a promise he made to himself during a college cross-cultural trip to South Africa to ‘Never Forget Africa’. Read Justin’s inspiring blog, and don't forget to check out Tristan Pelham-Webb or Prasoon Raghuwanshi’s equally compelling personal stories as well.

The World Bank published its 2015 Enterprise Survey on Ethiopia, which outlines some very interesting information about the biggest obstacles private sector companies face in Ethiopia. The RENEW team compiled 10 key takeaways, focusing our analysis on the outliers – indicators that differed significantly in Ethiopia compared to the general region of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Some of the findings may come as a surprise so be sure to read more.

2016 kicked off with an exciting start! In mid-February, RENEW hosted an Econ-Tourism Trip for members of the Impact Angel Network from San Francisco, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. The group met with many Ethiopian entrepreneurs, from both RENEW’s portfolio and investment pipeline, and visited a number of businesses in and around Addis Ababa. Read more about their experience and consider joining us this upcoming February 2017 for our annual Econ-Tourism trip!

Impact investing is gaining popularity across all generations, and none more so than with millennials, who are expected to inherit some $59 trillion in the coming decades. In this content piece, the RENEW team takes a closer look at what UHNW millennials value most, as well as the interactions between millennials, their parents and their advisors.Read more or tune into RENEW's Investing On The Frontier podcast on millennials.