Zambia is a developing country and it achieved middle-income status in 2011. Through the first decade of the 21st century,the economy of Zambia was one of the fastest growing economies in Africa and its capital,Lusaka the fastest growing city in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Zambia's economic performance has stalled in recent years due to declining copper prices,significant fiscal deficits,and energy shortages.
Venture capital is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups,early-stage,and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which have demonstrated high growth. Venture capital firms or funds invest in these early-stage companies in exchange for equity,or an ownership stake. Venture capitalists take on the risk of financing risky start-ups in the hopes that some of the companies they support will become successful. Because startups face high uncertainty,VC investments have high rates of failure. The start-ups are usually based on an innovative technology or business model and they are usually from high technology industries,such as information technology (IT),clean technology or biotechnology.
Manvinder "Vindi" Singh Banga is an Indian businessman. He is a senior partner at the private equity fund Clayton,Dubilier &Rice.
Roelof F. Botha is a South African actuary,venture capitalist and company director.
Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Indian billionaire businessman and philanthropist.He is the founder and chairperson of Bharti Enterprises,which has diversified interests in telecom,insurance,real estate,education,malls,hospitality,Agri and food besides other ventures. Bharti Airtel,the group's flagship company is one of the world's largest and India's largest telecom company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa with a customer base of over 399 million. Bharti Airtel clocked revenues of over US$14.75 billion in FY2016. In 2023 he was ranked the 10th richest person in India by Forbes,with an estimated net worth of US$14.8 billion.
Hakainde Hichilema is a Zambian businessman,farmer,and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006,2008,2011,2015 and 2016,he won the 2021 presidential election with 59.02% of the vote. He has led the United Party for National Development since 2006 following the death of the party founder Anderson Mazoka.
Bharti Airtel Limited,commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel,is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa,as well as the Channel Islands. Currently,Airtel provides 4G and LTE Advanced services all over India and 5G service in selected cities. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband,and voice services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its Voice Over LTE technology across all Indian telecom circles. It is the second largest mobile network operator in India and the second largest mobile network operator in the world. Airtel was named India's 2nd most valuable brand in the first ever Brandz ranking by Millward Brown and WPP plc.
Karen Richardson is an American executive. Her 30-year career in the software business includes positions in several companies.
Alan Patricof is an American investor who founded the venture capital firm Alan Patricof Associates in 1969. For five years,starting in 2001,he stepped back from day-to-day management of his firm to foster entrepreneurship in the developing world. Patricof returned to found Greycroft in 2006,which by 2022 had $3 billion under management. He’s been a member of numerous boards and commissions in three Administrations. Patricof is now co-founder and chairman of Primetime Partners.
William Samson Kalema,is a Ugandan chemical engineer,business consultant and entrepreneur,who serves as the managing partner of BDO East Africa,"a professional firm that offers audit,accounting,tax and business advisory services to private and public sector clients",in the countries of the East African Community and Ethiopia.
James W. Breyer is an American venture capitalist,founder and chief executive officer of Breyer Capital,an investment and venture philanthropy firm,and a former managing partner at Accel Partners,a venture capital firm. Breyer has invested in over 40 companies that have gone public or completed a merger,with some of these investments,including Facebook,earning over 100 times cost and many others over 25 times cost. On the Forbes 2021 list of the 400 richest Americans,he was ranked #389,with a net worth of US$2.9 billion.
Klaus Hommels is a German venture capitalist. He focuses on early and growth-stage investments and has founded his own venture capital fund by the name of Lakestar,through which he has been investing mainly in digital businesses. He has been invested in Facebook,Skype and Xing;other examples are Klarna and Revolut.
Robert E. Grady is an American venture capitalist,private equity investor,and former public official. He has worked at such leading investment firms as Robertson Stephens,The Carlyle Group,and Summit Partners,and for a number of elected officials,including former President George H. W. Bush and New Jersey Governors Tom Kean and Chris Christie.
Scott Harris Lenet is an American venture capitalist and entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of two venture capital firms:the corporate venture capital firm Touchdown Ventures and the seed stage venture capital firm DFJ Frontier.
Rajeev V. Date is an American businessman,attorney,and venture capital investor who served as Deputy Director and Special Advisor for the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He had previously served in a variety of leadership positions at the Bureau,including several months as the startup agency's leader,as the Special Advisor to the United States Secretary of the Treasury. He is credited with guiding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's early strategic,operational,and policy initiatives.
An operating partner is a title used by venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms to describe a role dedicated to working with privately held companies to increase value. The role was created by large-capitalization private equity groups when the importance of driving corporate change to add value increased as sellers became more sophisticated and financial engineering less central to private equity investments in the 2000s. Firms with operating partners argue that value creation potential is better achieved by a fully dedicated partner than relying solely upon external consultants. The operating partner role has evolved into a full-time position drawing a combination of salary,performance bonus,and carried interest similar to an investment partner.
Jonathan Milton Nelson is an American businessman and investor. He is the founder of Providence Equity Partners,a global private equity firm based in Providence,Rhode Island,which manages funds with over US$45 billion in commitments. As of January 2022,Nelson's net worth as estimated by Forbes is 2.2 billion dollars.
Edgar Chagwa Lungu is a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 25 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata,Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence. Following Sata's death in October 2014,Lungu was adopted as the candidate of the Patriotic Front in a Convention of the Patriotic Front in Kabwe,for the January 2015 presidential by-election,which was to determine who would serve out the remainder of Sata's term. In the election,he narrowly defeated opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema and took office on 25 January 2015.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is a company that was formed in 2014 from the merger of SABMiller plc,The Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments beverage bottling operations in Southern and East Africa.
David Steele Bohigian is an American businessman and government official who served as the acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation,the former development finance institution of the United States government. Bohigian previously served as the corporation's executive vice president. He was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote in August 2017 under the Donald Trump administration. He also served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance under President George W. Bush. Bohigian is also an investor,venture capitalist,and has graduated from law school.
