<h1 style="text-align:center;">Photos from Afghanistan</h1>Photos from our recent trips to Afghanistan:<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/Afghanistan_Collage_c5ac6e61c9.jpg"></figure>

Enjoy photos from our recent trips to Afghanistan.

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Photos from Afghanistan

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Afghanistan Portfolio Update</h1><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:100%;"><img src="/uploads/renew_banners_afghan_7_47313654ae.png"></figure>Afghanistan. ICT. SMEs. Herat. TFBSO. One hundred meetings later, the RENEW team has identified a portfolio of six good ICT SMES. Several are located in Herat. Several are based in Kabul with plans to expand to Herat. There is more happening in ICT in Afghanistan than one would expect. We have a number of investors interested in our new model, and we are excited to help formulate the first angel investment group for Afghanistan. &nbsp;

...the RENEW team has identified a portfolio of six good ICT SMES.

Afghanistan Portfolio Update

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Afghanistan: Looking Beyond the News</h1><figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/DSC_0012_1_0_0964633060.jpg"></figure>Herat is in the news more and more these days, and not for good reasons. But from where I sit, I have hope that these blips of bad news represent the darkness that comes before dawn. The stories that fuel my hope are in front of me every day as I go about my work here. I see the dawn coming in the form of business owners who are making it despite pretty significant odds, the university students that are going to school and starting businesses, people buying and selling goods everywhere, new manufacturing facilities going up in the nearby industrial park, semitrailers packed to the gills with goods swaying down the road to market. Despite 30 plus years of war, the economy is showing signs of growth.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/DSC_0188_2_cfd7bc533d.jpg"></figure>According to the <a href="http://www.aisa.org.af/">Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA)</a>, there was only one telephone landline per 1,000 people in 2002 and no Internet Service Providers (ISP). As of 2010, Afghanistan is leapfrogging over the lack of copper lines and there are 13.3 million cellular subscribers, serviced by five main GSM operators. Their towers now cover 80 percent of this mountainous country. The cost of activating a cellular phone has dropped from $200 to $25 dollars. What a story of how investment can change even a war torn landscape in less than 10 years.Local experts estimate that 20 to 25 percent of Herati’s now have laptop or desktop computers in their homes. Five years ago, the average person didn’t know about the Internet or have an email address, but that is all changing as Afghanistan comes online. There is opportunity everywhere I look...Who wants to be a part of Afghanistan’s next big ICT growth spurt? I know some great entrepreneurs looking for partners. Contact us at <a href="mailto:renew@renewcapital.com">renew@renewcapital.com</a> or follow us on Twitter @RENEWLLC to find out more. &nbsp;

Herat is in the news more and more these days, and not for good reasons.

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Afghanistan: Looking Beyond the News

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Case Study: Afghanistan</h1>PIONEERING A NEW MODEL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:100%;"><img src="/uploads/graphic_renew_afghanistan_web_d0529c4229.png"></figure>RENEW was hired by the U.S. Department of Defense to attract impact “angel” investors to Afghanistan. RENEW spent six months working in Afghanistan to build a vetted portfolio of investment opportunities for investors.We organized a group of angel investors in Washington, D.C. for a retreat to preview the portfolio, and then escorted them to Afghanistan to attend a “deal show” to meet with local entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs received pre-investment support from experienced financial analysts, training and coaching from investment professionals, and were then introduced to seasoned investors.The investor group is currently working with the U.S. government to set up an impact fund, and continue to explore other opportunities in Afghanistan. Key deliverables included:-A portfolio of vetted SME investments -An Afghanistan Angel Group -A matchmaking “deal show” in AfghanistanKey outcomes were that SMEs in RENEW’s portfolio received over $1M in investments from local and foreign investors.FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR PROJECTS IN AFGHANISTAN:<a href="https://www.renewcapital.com/newsroom/Afghanistan%20Looking%20Beyond%20the%20News" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Afghanistan: Looking Beyond the News</a><a href="https://www.renewcapital.com/newsroom/Photos%20from%20Afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Photos from Afghanistan</a> <a href="https://www.renewcapital.com/newsroom/No%20Guts%20No%20Glory" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">No Guts. No Glory.</a> <a href="https://www.renewcapital.com/newsroom/Afghanistan%20Portfolio%20Update">Visit RENEW's Afghanistan Blog Page</a>

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Case Study: Afghanistan

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Herat Phase 2...</h1>After a month back in the United States gauging interest among private investors, the RENEW team is returning to Herat to continue our work of finding and assessing high potential ICT businesses (SMEs). Our initial findings from the first month in Herat were good and we have several promising entrepreneurs who rose to the top as candidates for the project’s portfolio.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/DSC_0085_0_20c42932e3.jpg"></figure>Though Afghanistan is a stretch for some investors, our initial response from the U.S. and regional investors, whom we have approached, has been surprisingly positive. This illustrates the public's desire to get involved with development. It’s a monumental accomplishment to attract private investment for SMEs in Afghanistan, and the RENEW, IBM and The Clearing teams are working hard in both Afghanistan and the United States to achieve this goal.Things the Herat-based team is excited about:<ul><li>Participating in and encouraging the economic bustle of Herat City</li><li>Spending time with entrepreneurs and hearing their stories and visions</li><li>Rolling up our sleeves and diving into our due diligence process with the businesses</li><li>The strength of the RENEW team and the partnership with IBM, The Clearing and the Task Force</li><li>Our great security team</li><li>The depth, quality and potential impact of the project</li></ul>Things the team is not excited about:<ul><li>Kabul airport</li><li>Choppy internet</li></ul>

...the RENEW team is returning to Herat to continue our work with ICT businesses...

Herat Phase 2...

<h1 style="text-align:center;">No Guts. No Glory.</h1> Dust burns our eyes as we survey the city of Herat, Afghanistan from the rooftop of our hotel (<a href="https://renewcapital.com/new-strategy/afghanistan">read about the project</a>). The streets below are humming with signs of a country coming back to life after 30 years of war. Shopkeepers hawking products, motorcycles weaving in and out of heavy traffic, couriers moving good from shop to shop, and cafes peppered with shrewd businessmen working deals with soft voices. &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/DSC_0051_e748cc3590.jpg"></figure>For over five years the RENEW team has been implementing market-based strategies to accelerate the development of economies in emerging markets. Our role to connect investors to businesses opportunities in the developing world is growing in demand as investors and philanthropists alike seek to create greater impact from their capital.Promising small- to medium-size enterprises (SMEs), ripe for investment, exist in countries all over the world like Uganda, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Mozambique, and many other countries. Yet, despite their amazing ability to exist in some of the most challenging business conditions imaginable, their growth often stalls at a critical point in their life cycle. Why? When many entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Europe get a loan from a local bank, access to affordable growth capital for SMEs in developing countries is almost impossible to find.Entrepreneurs running SMEs struggle to get the collateral needed to qualify for an affordable bank loan needed to buy equipment, floor space, land or other capital assets to expand their operations. As a result, they stay small. And this is why many developing economies have a distorted economic pyramid; at the top are large infrastructure projects financed by foreign governments (roads, dams, trade zones), and at the bottom are micro-businesses getting small loans from micro-finance organizations (artisanal shops, small farmers, etc.) In the middle, the numbers of SMEs are proportionately fewer. This "missing middle” is where RENEW sets out to engage the global investment community.SMEs are becoming known for their ability to accelerate and stabilize the growth of an economy, as they have in China (<a href="http://www.economist.com/node/18332610">Read Bamboo Capitalism</a>).RENEW finds these SMEs and connects them to investors. Our goal is to make investing in a business in Uganda as straightforward to a person in Minneapolis as buying their second home – of course, adding an amazing experience in a far away place that home buying doesn’t offer.RENEW and our partners at IBM and The Clearing have recently been asked by the U.S. Government to help stimulate the middle market of Afghanistan using the same market-based model we have used in many countries across Africa.After being on the ground here, it’s amazing what stories are NOT being told about Afghanistan in the international media. We hope you stay connected with us as we continue to work here and in other regions of the world. We also want to thank you for your continued support. Please follow us as we document our progress in Afghanistan. &nbsp;

Dust burns our eyes as we survey the city of Herat, Afghanistan...

No Guts. No Glory.

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Video Blog from the Citadel</h1> Here is a first hand report on the ICT SME space in Herat, Afghanistan.<figure class="media"><oembed url="https://youtu.be/9u2aC8abLig"></oembed></figure>

View a first hand report from Afghanistan.

Video Blog from the Citadel

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Are U.S. Investors and Companies Listening? Africa is a Good Buy.</h1> Several of the world's fastest growing markets are where? You guessed it: Africa. This factor along with a <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/african-opportunities-catch-investors-eyes/article1912111/">growing base of consumers with disposable income, improving infrastructure and a host of other factors</a> (like incredible natural resources)have made the continent tantalizing for several American giants like Walmart. But Walmart's move to acquire Massmart in South Africa is being met with some opposition according to a recent article in <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/18185732?story_id=18185732&amp;fsrc=rss">The Economist</a>. Only time will tell exactly what impact the retailer will have, but we can take one lesson: If Walmart thinks Africa is a good buy, perhaps the rest of us should listen.China is another player we should be listening to. Like it or not, they've had it figured out for a long time. A recent article on FT.com included the following facts and figures on Africa/China trade:<ol><li>1. 89 percent of exports from Africa to China in 2009 were oil, minerals and other raw materials.</li><li>2. The value of exports from Africa to China grew from $4.2bn in 2000 to $38bn in 2009.</li><li>3. Africa imports from China are about equal to exports and include footwear, furniture, lighting, textiles, electronic toys and pharmaceuticals.</li></ol>

Several of the world's fastest growing markets are where?

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Are U.S. Investors and Companies Listening? Africa is a Good Buy.

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Looking to Rwanda</h1> While the US offers many reasons to be thankful and celebrate this holiday season, most agree that the country is not without its share of worries and wonderment. Stimulating the economy weighs heavily this shopping season as U.S. leaders look for solutions. One writer suggests the U.S. look to Rwanda, where the ease of starting a business ranks equal with America according to the World Bank's 2011 rankings.Equal? Yes.Rwanda has enacted a host of incentives and regulatory provisions to keep their projected 7% growth going strong in the new year.Beyond the opportunity to invest and engage the economies of East Africa, maybe the U.S. should look to learn from them too.