Africa Foresight Group (AFG), the first and largest network of freelance management consultants in Africa, has announced that they have raised over US$700,000 in a seed round, led by Consonance Investment Managers and GFH Holdings.
Over the years, leading companies, investment funds and development partners across the continent and beyond hire AFG teams to make the right strategic decisions and achieve sustainable success.
Female led and African-owned, the African talent network was founded in 2016 by Yasmin Kumi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Founder of Africa Foresight Group and operates as a platform that offers consulting services to clients.
Ms. Kumi is a Ghanaian-German senior business consultant with extensive working experience in the consumer goods and financial services sector, the research of family business groups and agriculture in African markets. She is a Harambean (’16) and has also the appointed Executive Director of the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance, the leading network for young talented entrepreneurs from Africa.
Prior to founding AFG, Yasmin worked as a senior consultant for McKinsey & Company for 5 years advising clients in Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa in the consumer goods and banking industry. She also led the monitoring division of an agricultural development project of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Accra that promoted the integration of the cashew nut value chain in West Africa.
AFG has more than 100 consultants — “foresighters” — in its network and completed more than 140 engagements for leading companies, investment funds, and development partners since inception. AFG experts and consultants work in industries that create real added value for the African continent, including agribusiness, FMCG, and finance.
The company is run by a 15-people full-time team based in Ghana and Nigeria, but has strong representation of network members across African markets, such as Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.
“We are on a quest to build the largest talent network in Africa to elevate the people and businesses of our continent,” said Yasmin Kumi, the visionary founder AFG. She added that “it has been a journey of three years to get here and we are excited for what lies ahead. I am proud that a majority of our capital comes from Africa-based investors who believe in the importance of what we do full-heartedly. We are a business that can drive both significant impact for Africa’s private sector and financial return for our shareholders.”
Consonance Investment Managers is a known and leading early stage and growth investment firm in Africa known for its systematic investment approach to drive prosperity across the continent.
“At Consonance Investment Managers, we believe that improving the productivity of Africa’s human capital and enabling their collaboration will allow Africa’s businesses to flourish and this is critical for the well-being of the continent. We therefore believe strongly in AFG’s vision of building the largest managed marketplace of freelance talent in Africa to bridge the talent gap,” explains Mobolaji Adeoye, Managing Director at Consonance Investment Managers.
Adeoye further added that “AFG ticked attributes we look out for, including a strong women-led management team solving critical problems in a scalable way and a 3-year track record in their sector. We are proud to support their vision and journey.”
GFH Holdings is the family office of a leading West African family that runs a number of highly successful businesses across the energy, real estate and retail sectors in Ghana and Nigeria. As a long-term client of AFG, the Founder of GFH Holdings has experienced first-hand why the work AFG is so desperately needed to help transform more African businesses. The family office is particularly passionate to fund founders who have a scalable vision and coherent long-term strategy.
