While working with the top investment and financial institutions around the world, MBA student Kelechi Okereke has had many opportunities to study the changing trends in African business growth and prosperity. He has spent time in his family’s native land of Nigeria, as well as London, Dubai, and his birthplace of the United States. Throughout his professional and educational travels he has explored the emerging markets in Africa, discovering which industries and nations are leading the pack on the continent.
- The mining and metals industry within Africa is one of the most successful in the region. Two companies with significant South African operations, BHP Billiton and Anglo American, are proving that they represent the nation’s top professional field. Others who are making an impact in mining and metals include Kumba Iron Ore, Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum, and Anglogold Ashanti.
- Consumer goods is an industry which is also showing continued promise within Africa. Companies such as SAB Miller, Nigerian Breweries, Steinhoff International, and Nestle Nigeria are paving the way for other consumer goods companies to break into the market. Tiger Brands, an international company with a profitable sector in South Africa, is opening doors for their market, as are the East African Breweries out of Kenya.
- The banking and financial services industry, one that Kelechi Okereke follows closely, is another growing market in Africa. Leading the trends in the field are companies like FirstRand, Standard Bank Group, Absa Group, and Nedcor. The Attijariwafa Bank of Morocco is in the top twenty-five of all African businesses.
Kelechi Okereke 