African Investments Dashboard – “DECLINED” status advice

Thank you for adding an opportunity to the African Investments Dashboard. We receive a large amount of submissions daily, and really appreciate the time and effort that business owners and entrepreneurs make when adding an investment proposition to our Dashboard. We are strong supporters of bringing investment into Africa and would like to assist companies and individuals seeking investment to the best of our abilities.

Internally when we receive a submission we review it to determine whether it is ready to be submitted to our network of institutional investors. Unfortunately, your project has been Declined since the quality of the submission does not meet our internal criteria for sharing with investors.

Internally these are some of the main reasons projects are Declined:

  1. The Proposal presents as an idea rather than an investor-ready proposition and we only accept proposals with compelling business and financial plans which are clearly and succinctly outlined in the submission
  2. The Proposal does not clearly show how investors will generate a return on their investment
  3. The Proposal does not include key financial data to indicate the earnings and growth potential of the of the business
  4. The Proposal does not include the traction of the project so far eg. have you secured key assets, have you built a prototype, have you conducted market research, have you established a customer base or have contracts in place
  5. The Proposal is not presented in a precise and clear manner
  6. The key personnel and/or company are not able to be verified through online searches
  7. The Project is not located in Africa

How to Create a Business Teaser

We understand that many entrepreneurs have no experience of attracting investment into their companies. Before resubmitting your proposal we strongly recommend that you Google “how to create a business teaser” and view as many of the results pages as possible as this will help you complete the investment submission.

You may like to amend your project details with reference to the guidelines below:

Snappy Headline

The headline should include the Project or Company Name and be short and catchy eg. “Solto Energy – Bringing Affordable Solar Energy to Rural Ghana”

The Executive Summary

Provide a clear, succinct description of your business proposition. You should include

  1. your business concept- what is your product?
  2. the opportunity – what is the problem you are solving?
  3. your traction – what progress have you made so far with this business?
  4. your business model – how will you generate revenues?
  5. the need for capital – what will the funds be used for?
  6. key financial forecast figures – how will investors get a good return on their capital?

The Executive Team

Investors place a lot of emphasis on the quality of the management and technical teams behind an investment proposition. Please use this space to briefly highlight the strengths and relevant experience of your key team members to demonstrate why investors should back you. Provide links to your website or to a professional Human Resources site (eg. LinkedIn or on the African Business Network at www.invest-in-africa.co).

Overview of Market

Provide a brief overview of the market size and any critical information on your competition

Overview of Financial Performance

Briefly outline the company’s historic financial performance, the projected financial performance and advise whether financial statements and a financial plan or feasibility study are available.

Proposed Investment Transaction

Clearly state

  1. how much capital you are seeking (in US dollars)
  2. the type of capital ie. debt or equity or other

Your opportunity can be edited on the Investment Dashboard by logging on and clicking on the opportunity record’s Edit/View Opportunity icon. Edit the fields as required then click on the Submit button and the project will be resubmitted to the team who will be in touch if there are any further clarifications needed.

Need help from an Advisor?

If you are unable to precisely articulate the information above, you may wish to engage the services of a financial advisor or consultant who can provide advice on the capital raising process and prepare the project/company information in a format suitable for investors. If you require assistance in locating an advisor in your region, please search our Africa Business Community. Use the drop-down selection boxes to find an advisor in your region. For example, select the Ghana as the Supplier’s Country and Corporate Advisory as the Business Service Required to find and contact a selection of Corporate Advisory firms in Ghana

Kindly refer to our Disclaimer and Privacy Policy for information on the terms of use of the AFSIC African Investments Dashboard.