Thoughtful investment memos from William Digby. A periodic snapshot of what happened, what may happen, or other interesting marketplace musings for intelligent investors globally. Weekly, since 2012.
Trading companies like baseball cards.
Jumia - the Nigerian founded online retailer that has aspirations to be the continental Amazon of the Nile - has settled on a three-forone trade - subsidiary for portfolio company - with Frontier Digital Ventures'.
The Milost Monster!
Milost Global, an Africa-focused private equity firm with Manhattan marble bathrooms has announced it will start shaking the tin for a planned multi-billion-dollar fund, to be Christened the Isolo Fund I.
10k Bitcoin.
An E-sports betting startup named Unikrn recently raised US$31 million in an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The group collected 112,720 ‘ethers’ including 56,000 (roughly US$15.6 million) in a presale backed by the well-known investor Mark Cuban. Rahul Sood, chief executive of Unikrn, said that the company had sourced contributions from 112 countries, characterising them as mostly small purchasers.
Game of risk.
Djibouti - the pene-exclave superpower paradise.
Anyone familiar with the board game 'Risk' will understand the importance of foothold. The quiet stability of Djibouti within the volatile Horn of Africa has made the country of just 875,000 people a hub for the world’s superpowers. Camp Lemmonier, America’s only permanent military base in Africa, hosts 4,500 troops and contractors who conduct missions against al-Qaeda in Yemen and al- Shabab in Somalia.