Tsola Barrow

A Continent of Ambition, Searching for Endurance

Across Africa, new ventures appear every day – from factories and logistics firms to start-ups and creative enterprises. Each begins with the same conviction: to solve problems, create jobs, and grow. The continent hums with energy and imagination.

Yet many of these ventures fade before their promise is realised. Some stall after early success; fragile systems undo others – volatile exchange rates, costly financing, unpredictable markets. The problem is not ambition but architecture. Too many are built to survive, not to last.

Earlier this year, The Economist captured this paradox: Africa has “too many businesses, too little business.” The observation was sharp but incomplete. The continent does not suffer from too much entrepreneurship; it suffers from too few enterprises designed to grow in ways that also strengthen the systems around them.

A new generation of companies is showing that reliability is not an accident — it is design. At EverCorp, we call this Shared Value by Design: building companies whose success strengthens the ecosystems that sustain them. The task now is clear—to build businesses designed to endure, and to reinforce the systems that sustain them.

When Ambition Outpaces Architecture

The data tell a familiar story: Africa’s ambition often outpaces the systems built to sustain it. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up over 90 per cent of African businesses and provide about 80 per cent of jobs, according to the African Development Bank. Yet they contribute less than 40 per cent of GDP, according to the World Bank. Entrepreneurship thrives, but few firms mature into institutions that anchor long-term growth.

The IFC estimates Africa’s small-business financing gap at 331 billion US dollars. Formal registration of small businesses is often costly and complex, leaving roughly 85 per cent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s workforce in the informal economy. Without records or predictable regulation, even strong ventures struggle to secure investment.

A few cross the line from promise to permanence. McKinsey found that fewer than 400 African companies earn over a billion dollars annually. The figure matters less for its size than for what it reveals: an ecosystem rich in energy but short on structure.

China offers a more instructive comparison. In the 1990s, millions of township enterprises powered local economies but remained fragmented and undercapitalised. The turning point came with special economic zones (SEZs) linked to infrastructure, credit windows, and industrial clusters. Today, China hosts over 2,000 industrial clusters, each benefiting from shared logistics, skilled labour, and targeted incentives. This coordination of policy and finance turned scattered enterprises into enduring industries.

The lesson is design, not rivalry. Coordination turns activity into stability. Kenya illustrates this today: the Industrial Transformation Programme and mandatory ESG disclosure rules on the Nairobi Securities Exchange have channelled sustainable finance into projects such as Acorn’s Climate Bonds-certified green bond. 

Nigeria is moving in the same direction, committing to mandatory ESG reporting through the adoption of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards—required for public-interest entities by 2028 and for other private companies by 2030. If implemented effectively, this framework could strengthen transparency and enhance shared value by aligning business performance with environmental and social accountability.

Responsibility Drives Performance

Africa’s next growth story will come from companies that embed purpose into performance. Profit and purpose are not rivals; when engineered deliberately, they strengthen one another.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) once filled this role through donations and community projects. Yet when resources tighten, CSR budgets are among the first to be scrutinised or scaled back, especially when their link to core business value is weak. Shared Value by Design argues for a different approach: linking a company’s social impact ambitions directly to competitiveness. The idea is simple but demanding — a business should grow stronger by improving the systems that sustain it.

When that alignment works, impact compounds. Stronger supply chains create resilient communities; resilient communities create stable demand. Affordable insurance expands financial security while growing customer bases. Local manufacturing reduces import costs while creating jobs. Cleaner logistics, powered increasingly by gas as a lower-emission transition fuel, reduce both environmental impact and operating costs.

This is strategy, not sentiment. It builds trust, reduces risk, and attracts patient capital. The IFC notes that companies integrating strong environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards manage risk better and attract investment. The OECD finds that effective corporate-governance frameworks strengthen market confidence and reduce the cost of capital. The PwC Voice of the Consumer Survey 2024 reports that 85 per cent of consumers feel the effects of climate change and are willing to pay more for sustainable products. Responsibility is no longer a moral add-on; it’s a market advantage.

Putting Shared Value to Work

At EverCorp, this philosophy already shapes how each portfolio operates. The goal: to align financial performance with environmental and social resilience so that what strengthens one strengthens all.

Across our group, we are deepening the connections between portfolios, leveraging shared capabilities and lessons to advance sustainability across insurance, energy, and consumer platforms.

Through emPLE Insurance, shared value informs how we design and underwrite products. Our policies reward clients who demonstrate sustainable practices, reflecting a belief that responsible business behaviour reduces long-term risk and improves resilience.

In our food and beverage portfolio, ongoing work at the Champion Breweries facility in Akwa Ibom State reflects this same principle. The brewery is transitioning toward greater reliance on solar—lowering carbon intensity, improving energy reliability, and reducing operating costs. A complementary water-cycle project is also being developed to enhance local resource efficiency. 

Such initiatives may temper short-term returns, but they strengthen the systems that sustain growth. They show that lasting strength comes from building with others in mind, not from growing alone.

The Design Rules of Endurance

Design must be measurable and repeatable, not abstract. At EverCorp, five principles guide how we embed shared value—a model any company can adapt.

Fix real frictions: Growth starts where systems fail. Solving inefficiencies in logistics, payments, or credit creates commercial and social returns.

Align profit with reliability: Trust underpins scale. Reliable service earns loyalty, strengthens brands, and lowers borrowing costs.

Price externalities in: Waste and pollution are hidden losses. UNIDO’s cleaner-production programme shows that factories adopting resource-efficient practices report double-digit savings and lower emissions. For example, 15–20 per cent cuts in energy costs in India and over US$500,000 in annual savings across Kenyan cases. 

Govern with data: We track ESG and business KPIs monthly, consolidate quarterly, and report annually. Transparency turns intent into credibility. Over three-quarters of investors now rank disclosure quality among their top priorities, according to PwC and KPMG.

Meet global standards, act locally: Frameworks such as the IFC Performance Standards, UN Global Compact, and UN Guiding Principles provide structure but must fit local realities.

To embed this discipline across our group, we are pursuing B Corp certification, a global standard measuring how companies serve employees, customers, communities, and the environment. For us, it is not branding; it is a framework for accountability and continual improvement.

When businesses are built this way, impact is not a by-product. It is the plan.

Endurance as the New Ambition

Africa’s next growth story will be defined less by how many companies start and more by how many build systems that last. The future belongs to firms that endure by enabling the ecosystems around them to thrive. Every decision should leave something standing: stronger supply chains, stronger communities, stronger institutions. Profit matters; endurance with purpose defines impact.

Companies that invest in reliability and trust create stability beyond their balance sheets. They enable households to plan, investors to commit, and communities to grow. These are the quiet foundations of prosperity.

At EverCorp, we aim to help lead this conversation across Africa—to make shared value the common language of business, not a niche.

Africa does not lack visionaries; it needs builders who stay. The measure of success will not be how long companies survive, but how deeply they strengthen the systems around them. Profit sustains enterprise. Shared value sustains progress.

Barrow is Chief Strategy & Shared Value Officer, EverCorp.

Tsola Barrow