The report draws on BCG’s Africa Women’s Voices Survey 2025, which surveyed around 3,000 women and men across six major African economies – South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco and Egypt – alongside data from the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2025 and Africa’s startup funding landscape.

The Setback in Numbers

Africa’s post-COVID economic recovery has been slow and uneven. Between 2021 and 2024, GDP per capita on the continent grew at just 1.2% annually, less than half the global average of 2.5%. With 70% of women concentrated in vulnerable, informal employment, they have disproportionately borne the brunt of this regression.

The survey findings paint a troubling picture beyond the economic data. Since 2023, attitudes toward gender equality have deteriorated across the region, and not only among men. Women themselves are now less likely to support equal pay, financial autonomy and equal access to education, pointing to a deepening of internalised discrimination. Concerns about gender-based violence (cited by 61% of women surveyed) and access to economic opportunities (36%) have both intensified.

“What makes this data particularly concerning is that the regression is not limited to structural barriers. When we see women, themselves becoming less likely to advocate for their own economic rights, it signals how deeply these setbacks are being felt at a social level,” said Zineb Sqalli, Managing Director and Partner at BCG and global lead for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment. “The window for intervention is narrowing.”

Digital Entrepreneurship: A Growing Lifeline

Against this backdrop, digital entrepreneurship is emerging as one of the most practical routes to economic inclusion for African women.

According to the BCG survey, 66% of women across the six countries aspire to run their own business, with that figure exceeding 80% in both Nigeria and Kenya.

One in five women surveyed already runs an online business, and two-thirds are considering starting one; outpacing men in digital business ambition.

The appeal is practical. Women who run their businesses from home, reduce their exposure to unsafe commutes and workplaces while managing household responsibilities.

Digital platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Jumia report that 40 to 50% of their sellers in African countries are women. In Uganda, mobile loans have lifted women entrepreneurs’ profits by 15% and their assets by 11% within just eight months.

The Funding Gap That Holds Women Back

Despite this potential, the financing environment for women-led businesses remains deeply unequal. Women-led startups attracted less than 1% of total venture capital funding in Africa in 2024, resulting in a $2.5 billion funding gap relative to male-founded startups over the past five years.

Women do receive approximately 52% of Africa’s grant funding, but an over-reliance on grants limits the development of scalable, investment-ready businesses.

The performance gap makes the funding gap harder to justify. Female-founded ventures generate twice the revenue per dollar invested and achieve 10% higher long-term growth than their male-led counterparts.

The barriers run across the entire investment chain: male-dominated evaluation teams, a perception that women-led startups are “too early” or “too risky,” fund timelines misaligned with how women-led businesses actually grow, and the fact that 46% of women founders do not know which investors to approach.

“Women entrepreneurs in Africa are building businesses that solve real problems in health, education, retail and agriculture – sectors that are deeply connected to community needs. They are outperforming on the metrics that matter. The issue is not the quality of their ventures; it is that the investment ecosystem was not built with them in mind,” said Vishakha Chopra, Project Leader in BCG’s Johannesburg office.

What Needs to Change

The report calls for a shift away from the conventional VC model toward financing approaches better matched to how women-led businesses actually operate.

Specific recommendations include offering smaller ticket sizes of $50,000 to $100,000 that align with early-stage dynamics, designing blended financing instruments such as convertible notes and revenue-based financing, and pairing capital with non-financial support including investor networks, financial education and accelerator partnerships.

Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) are identified as critical enablers, with the report urging them to deploy first-loss capital, channel grants toward gender-lens VC funds, and partner with local financial institutions to expand debt access for women entrepreneurs.

The report notes that governments also have a huge role to play. 45% of women surveyed lack regular internet access, mainly due to cost. Addressing connectivity affordability is, the authors argue, as important as addressing the funding gap itself.

To read the full report, use this link.

Jamal focuses on principle investors and private equity (PIPE), social impact, and climate and sustainability work.

He has experience with clients across the development finance space, commercial banks, institutional investors, private equity, and catalytic impact investors.

In his new role Jamal will focus on supporting financial institutions and investors to attain sustainable success, long-term returns, and measurable impact.

His focus will be on addressing financing gaps across Africa while meeting the continent’s climate, sustainability, and social impact goals.

Before BCG, Jamal worked for Dalberg Global Development Advisors, a strategy and policy advisory firm dedicated to global development and innovation. Jamal holds a master’s degree in economics from McGill University and a bachelor’s degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from the University of Oxford.

“Africa faces substantial financing gaps in commercial and socio-economic needs,” said Jamal. “We need public and private capital to come together to address this. BCG offers unique expertise across development and commercial finance to help meet these challenges, and I am excited to join and build on this work.”

Tolu Oyekan, managing director and partner and Office Leader at BCG Nigeria said about the appointment:

“Adding Aly-Khan to our leadership team bolsters our local expertise and aligns with the potential we see within Nigeria and in Africa. At BCG, our vision is to work with our clients to contribute meaningfully and unlock the potential of Africa.”

BCG also announced additional appointments in the region: Jacqueline Foster-Mutungu as Managing Director and Partner in Johannesburg, South Africa; and Nabil Mikou and Badr Choufari as Managing Directors and Partners in Casablanca, Morocco.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

• Founded in 1963, and with offices in over 50 countries, BCG’s diverse, global team comprising of 30 000 plus people bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that provide clients with management consulting solutions.
• Through its transformational approach aimed at helping all stakeholders, BCG empowers organisations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage and drive positive societal impact.
• BCG is well established in Africa, with offices in: Cairo, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Lagos, and Nairobi, bringing together a team of nearly 600 collaborators.

Two new reports from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in collaboration with Elevandi, highlight how to further advance financial inclusion on the continent and explore advancing the FinTech industry and unlocking its full potential in the years to come.

The first report, Driving Financial Inclusion in Africa, unpacks the growth of financial inclusion in Africa since M-PESA was founded in Kenya in 2007.

While some large economies (South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana) have made significant progress in financial inclusion, there is still a long way to go and significant opportunity which supports the continuous high investment in African FinTechs.

“The first wave of FinTechs, driven by mobile money and payment solutions have already enabled a step change in financial inclusion and trust in digital solutions. A second wave of FinTechs with a wider product offering can now leverage the platforms created to access a broader population and further accelerate financial inclusion,” says Caio Anteghini, partner at BCG, Johannesburg.

The report also explains the different business models that FinTechs can thrive in, in this context, and while many of them are disrupting the financial sector, there are several opportunities for collaboration between incumbent players and FinTechs. Forty percent of African FinTechs are focused on digitally enabling existing financial institutions instead of competing against them.

Driving further financial inclusion 

The report suggests that payments and lending will be the drivers of further financial inclusion, and the key areas of investments in the coming years.

Payments FinTechs were the first movers representing 45% of companies pre-2013. This segment is yet to reach its full potential by continuing to solve for critical African pain points such as financial inclusion and the high cost of transactions.

Lending will join forces with growth centered around microfinance, a great enabler of financial inclusion.

Local businesses need basic credit for day-to-day activities and capital investments but often don’t have the tools or credentials to go through traditional channels. For FinTechs, it makes sense to focus on this small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment due to the sizes of loans, broader scale, and financial transparency. One example of successful microlending is JUMO World, which is building banking infrastructure with a focus on assessing the credit worthiness of SMEs.

The report finds that FinTechs enabling financial institutions (41% of active firms) receive more funding on average (49%) than those that adopt disruptive business models (59% of active firms receive 51% of funding), indicating a shift in the ecosystem.

Additionally, the report proposes four winning strategies for FinTechs and the appropriate support governments could provide to enable them to flourish. FinTechs providing specific services via existing platforms, distributing a fully-fledged solution via existing platforms, creating a new platform starting in niche segments, and B2B solutions could lead to the next wave of growth for incumbents and new entrants.

“Policymakers can be a huge catalyst to the FinTech industry by developing the infrastructure and favourable regulatory environment,” says Pat Patel, Executive Director of Elevandi. When it comes to specific applications for improving financial inclusion, they can further support advancements by acting in four areas: Awareness campaigns to increase literacy, institutional support and investment, and launching data-sharing platforms to lay the foundation for platforms. Unlocking funding will also aid advancements in financial inclusion.

On top of the infrastructure created in the first wave, greater adoption of smartphones, better connectivity, and cloud adoption in front-running countries will be instrumental to the second wave of growth.

Unlocking potential and funding

In the second report, Unlocking the FinTech Potential in Africa, BCG and Elevandi examine the benefits that FinTech has brought to Africa and the business models that FinTechs and investors need to create to scale up activities.

Almost half of the 1 000 FinTechs in Africa were founded in the past six years. Cumulatively, they have raised about $6-billion in equity financing since 2000, with investment growing at an incredible compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 57% versus 27% for the rest of the globe.

At the same time, the African FinTech ecosystem is still nascent, with approximately 80% of rounds since 2018 at seed- or angel-level maturity. “This shows that the African market is already an attractive ecosystem to new entrants capturing a share of the unserved or underserved segment. However, to continue attracting new entrants, FinTechs must be able to scale across Africa, and not solely exist in siloed markets,” adds Patel.

Few FinTechs have been able to do so in the continent, where just 4% have reached series C funding or beyond, versus 11% for the rest of the world. The report suggests that investors and FinTechs need to address three key challenges to attract funding – identify an economically viable model that caters to African-specific challenges and is affordable, can scale beyond its home market given relatively small market sizes, and mitigates risks inherent to the developing continent.

Current FinTechs are heavily centred in Africa’s largest economies, with approximately 63% of all companies located in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt and nearly 80% of funding flowing into these markets.

To successfully move across borders, these companies will need to invest in understanding regulation, procure the appropriate licenses, likely adapt their business model, and develop a team on the ground to successfully execute their value proposition in the new market.

“FinTechs have been playing an important role in driving financial inclusion and economic development in their home countries. With the development of digital infrastructure and policy clarity and harmonisation, they will be able to extend their impact both in their home country and cross-border, and benefit even more people across the continent,” says Anteghini.

This growth does depend on key changes as FinTechs and investors face several hurdles, including high costs and different regulations in each jurisdiction. The report highlights five areas in particular that require attention: digital infrastructure, policy harmonisation, policy clarity, developing local capital markets and growing the local talent pool.

In recent years, the war for talent has intensified and Africa is struggling as some of its top talent has moved overseas tempted by higher salaries. At the same time, attracting foreign talent is difficult due to long, stringent visa procedures and lower liveability scores. It is crucial to reverse these trends, however, as the African education system is likely to only produce 50% of the skilled workers it requires. FinTechs have demonstrated their ability to succeed throughout the first stages of a company life cycle, but further scalability is unfeasible with current supply.

The high unbanked and underbanked population, accelerating mobile and internet penetration, and an increasing need for financial inclusion across the region present a great opportunity for FinTech companies. If policymakers can foster the right environment for FinTechs to grow and financial inclusion to expand, it will ultimately foster long-term financial inclusion, efficiency, and quality of life, which will turn into taxes, economic growth, and capacity to reinvest.

Download the reports here.

[Featured Image Credit]

The reason for this message of conscious recycling habits by individuals, organisations and governments is not far-fetched, as every corner of the city could do with an improvement in waste management. One of the suggestions, which remains prominent in conversations about climate change, is the need to reduce carbon emissions in the planet’s atmosphere.

Pledging to the cause, over 130 countries have vowed to reduce carbon emission to zero by the year 2050.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in a report titled, ‘Education as a catalyst for climate progress’, cited proper education as a major factor in ensuring a sharp drop in carbon emission.

It noted that education, or what it described as “climate literacy“, was key to driving awareness among individuals across the globe. Through this education, people could learn “green skills” that would help nations make a “just transition” to sustainable economies.

BCG, in its report, advocates for the centering of education in discussions about climate change, as it holds tremendous power in re-tooling the minds of individuals and collective groups to help speed up the attainment of climate goals, as “there is no time to waste”, the report said.

Climate Literacy

Individual behavioural changes also play a major role in the push for climate justice. What to eat. What to drink. What mode of travel to choose. These play vital roles in either drastically bringing down global temperature levels or spiking it further.

Early education, especially of students who can become agents of change in their respective communities, will go a long way in ensuring that the message of the extant dangers is widely communicated. These young ones will serve as educators to their relatives, spurring a “multiplier effect”.

To cover this knowledge gap, the report suggests a robust awareness drive spearheaded by educators, governments and educational institutions, with a view to devising educational frameworks that put on the front burner the message of climate change.

Giving practical examples, the report cited countries such as Italy and New Zealand, with Mexico soon joining the ranks, taking the message of climate change to schools by incorporating climate literacy into their curriculums.

In other countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, educational institutions are being encouraged to choose environmentally friendly infrastructure, with the hope that the message will spread to a macro level.

The report brings to focus the point that as countries transition to greener systems, there would be a need to pay attention to workers in the existing “brown” system. It projects that nearly 77 million jobs face redundancy if employees in sectors that would take serious hits during the transition phase are not paid any attention.

To forestall this grim outlook, the report offers those workers need to be reskilled to be armed with the needed knowledge to enable them make occupational transitions along changing times, so as not to be left behind and undermine the work done. 

Again, climate justice will create opportunities for a more inclusive economy, so long as governments take the right steps in carrying along every member of its working population.

BCG’s Call to Action

For the transition to be a just one, governments and educational bodies need to approach climate change from a wider perspective and ramp up climate literacy. One way this can be done is to tap into the benefits that lie in using data to estimate the skills needed in a green economy and gear its educational systems to delivering individuals capable of providing relevant skills.

According to the report, every member of the society, coordinated by governments, need to sit at the table to discuss the way forward for a rapid transition and doubly slow down the rate of global warming.

At the root of climate literacy is girl and women education. These demographics were identified as the bedrock of improved climate conditions. The report clearly defined the relationship between the education of girls and women and bettering climate action.

It said that “women are often closest to many of the key levers for climate-related behavioural changes, such as in water usage, farming techniques, and cooking and heating habits.”

The transformative power of education cannot and should not be ignored, as it bears its weight on the future of climate actions globally. Education and economic opportunities empower individuals to take actions that will positively impact the movement to change the narrative around global climate conditions.

This growth comes as the crypto winter is prompting capital to focus on more viable blockchain use cases.

The projected growth in tokenization of assets is driven by demand from a wide range of investors for greater access to private markets.

Tokenization and fractionalization of assets lower barriers to investment in private markets by sharply reducing minimum lot sizes.

Assets being fractionalized and tokenized on platforms such as ADDX can reduce minimum investment sizes from millions of dollars to just thousands of dollars. Previously investments of this kind were only available to institutions.

Tokenized investments can also be effectively ‘borderless’, allowing investors around the world to invest in markets they were previously unable to access.

Asset tokenization refers to the creation of tokens on a blockchain to represent an asset, in order to facilitate more efficient transactions.

Historically, many of the world’s assets have been held in illiquid formats, with past studies estimating the share of illiquid assets at more than 50% of overall assets.

Illiquid assets face challenges such as imperfect price discovery and trading discounts compared to liquid assets, the report said.

Tokenization creates liquidity by making it easier for the assets to be distributed and traded among investors.

The report by BCG and ADDX lists five indications that asset tokenization may be on the cusp of wide global adoption:

• increased trading volume in tokenized assets
• strengthening stakeholder sentiment across many countries
• recognition among monetary authorities and regulators
• more asset classes being tokenized
• a growing pool of active developer talent in the blockchain space

Major institutions have already begun to tokenize private funds on ADDX’s platform. Partners Group listed its Global Value SICAV Fund on the platform in September 2021, while Hamilton Lane’s Global Private Assets Fund launched on the platform in March 2022.

Globally, growth in tokenized assets is expected in real estate, equities, bonds and investment funds, as well as less traditional assets such as car fleets and patents.

With a 50-fold increase predicted between 2022 and 2030, from US$310 billion to US$16.1 trillion, tokenized assets are expected to make up 10% of global GDP by the end of the decade.

While the concept of asset fractionalization has been around for some time, its impact has hitherto been felt mainly in the public markets, with structures such as fractional shares, ETFs and public REITs.

In recent years, there has been a significant pivot with the emergence of asset tokenization players that apply blockchain technology to private markets and alternative assets.

Titled “Relevance of on-chain asset tokenization in ‘crypto winter’”, the report published today was authored by Sumit Kumar, Rajaram Suresh, Bernhard Kronfellner, and Aaditya Kaul from global management consultancy firm BCG and Darius Liu from private market exchange ADDX.

Figure 1: Business Opportunity of Asset Tokenization (2022 to 2030):

In anticipation of a more widespread acceptance of asset tokenization, the report makes several recommendations to current and potential stakeholders. For example, financial institutions might consider finding ways to pilot and deploy asset tokenization projects by upgrading existing business models, rather than looking to replace them.

Developers could design standard architectures and protocols to ensure an easier, more seamless ‘on-ramp’ to the tokenization world.

Companies should also work to improve financial literacy among clients to help them understand tokenization as well as the underlying asset classes it provides access to.

Regulators could establish sandboxes to promote innovation and set clear rules around tokenization, while monitoring how tokenization might impact investor and consumer protection and market integrity, the report said.

Sumit Kumar, Managing Director and Partner, BCG South East Asia, said: “The crypto winter has tightened the purse strings for the overall blockchain sector. Some Web3 companies will be adversely impacted. But projects that can demonstrate inherent value, scalability and the potential to enhance the traditional financial ecosystem could actually benefit against this new backdrop.

“Our analysis shows asset tokenization projects could emerge strongly. They are more likely to demonstrate viability in this capital-constrained environment and are therefore better positioned to attract the attention of investors, who continue to have a significant store of dry powder to deploy.

“This report projects that even using a conservative methodology, asset tokenization would be a US$16.1 trillion business opportunity by 2030. In a best-case scenario, that estimate goes up to US$68 trillion.”

Oi-Yee Choo, CEO, ADDX, said: “Asset prices can only rise to their true economic value if the barriers to investor participation and ownership transfer can be lowered. For years, the technology for overcoming those barriers was expensive and therefore available only on public exchanges. Blockchain changes the game because it can be applied cost effectively to private markets and alternative assets, where investors are fewer in number, albeit wealthier, and products are more bespoke.

“The result should set our hearts racing: assets can be liquid for both public and private markets. The potential economic benefits are considerable. Recognizing assets for what they are truly worth should translate into more investments and better capital allocation, which will in turn generate economic growth and jobs. The real winner here is the real economy.”

Africa – and South Africa – is disproportionately exposed to the risks posed by climate change. Increased climate volatility, rising water scarcity and the occurrence of extreme events such as droughts and floods will have a devastating effect on local livelihoods and regional food systems.

The devastating impact of climate change on farmers’ productivity and recent floods in Lagos, Nigeria bear testament to this.

“Both Climate and Africa are priorities for BCG globally, and that is why we are launching our Centre for Climate & Just Transition in Africa, with the purpose of unlocking the full potential of Africa to advance climate action and a Just Transition,” said Lucas Chaumontet, Managing Director and Partner at BCG, Johannesburg.  

The Centre will work to address the impact of climate change and accelerate progress toward net-zero while ensuring a Just Transition by focusing on three key priorities:

1. Co-creating an aligned national and continental climate fact base to help alignment, decision, and cooperation among key stakeholders
2. Mobilising forces to build and scale globally competitive green industries to improve the economic context, which is critical to achieve a Just Transition
3. Developing critical capabilities within the public and private sectors to drive local leadership and ownership in African countries in this journey 

“Nigeria’s economic development has been impeded by poor power supply for many years due to several factors, not least the degradation and under-capacity of the power infrastructure in the country. However, the passage of the Nigerian Electricity Bill 2022, which empowers states to generate electricity and licence investors to install mini-grids, renewables and power plants, is a key ingredient for a just transition to net zero whilst addressing the urgent need for energy access,” said Oluseun Solanke-Ebhojie, Partner and Associate Director, BCG Nigeria.
“We believe that when the electricity bill becomes law and is properly implemented, it will go a long way in strengthening the power sector and accelerating access to electricity for all Nigerians.”

“Through the Centre, global and local experts from the public and private sectors and across the sustainability spectrum will engage, share knowledge and be able to access a vast library of relevant tools to achieve these aims. By bringing together a full suite of mitigation, adaptation and just transition capabilities to a broad set of industries and governments across the continent we will be able to accelerate impact in the climate space,” said Chaumontet. 

Our Centre has already more than 50 core members across Africa, and is led by a passionate team, with responsibilities across countries and topics. The leadership team is all based in Africa and the vast majority are Africans, consistently with our ambition to unlock the full potential of Africa.

Enabling the transition through creativity, innovation and collaboration

“Achieving this will require creativity, innovation, and collaboration, and we will continue to partner with governments, leading companies and civil society to help reach these climate and sustainability goals”, said Chaumontet. 

Partnerships are key in this journey. In South Africa, for example, BCG has partnered with the National Business Initiative (NBI) to develop decarbonisation and Just Transition pathways for key sectors of the economy. 

In the rest of Africa including Nigeria, BCG has partnered with the UNGC to establish the African Business Leaders Coalition to advance sustainable growth, uphold the UN 10 principles and promote ESG.

Last year, BCG was chosen as the exclusive consultancy partner to the Conference of Parties (COP), supporting the UK Presidency as the official hosts of COP26, to deliver this important global event.

BCG’s support for COP26 complements its long-standing support for the global climate agenda through partnerships with the World Economic Forum, UN High Level Climate Champions, successive COP Presidencies, SBTi (Science Based Targets Initiative), CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), Breakthrough Energy Catalyst (where BCG is a founding partner), and the First Movers Coalition.

This is despite the many imposing challenges traditional retail face in Africa, including the expansion of modern retail, the nascent rise of e-commerce, and changes in consumer behaviour that were accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report ‘The Future of Traditional Retail in Africa’ reveals that despite the advance in supermarkets, convenience stores, and other modern formats, African consumers on average continue to buy more than 70% of their food, beverages, and personal care products from the continent’s more than 2.5 million small, independent shops.

In BCG’s study of more than 4,500 small retailers in five of the biggest African markets: Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa, it has become evident that the traditional retail sector will remain at the core of African commerce in all but a handful of nations, such as South Africa, and that there is strong momentum for change in the traditional retail experience.

“The willingness of traditional retailers to diversify, and embrace digital solutions coupled with the growing interest of investors to provide digital solutions show they will find opportunities to grow and remain the cornerstones of African economies in the future,” said, Stefano Niavas, Managing Partner in BCG Nigeria, and co-author of the report.

The report noted that modern retail remains very fragmented and is led by international hypermarket brands. Modern chains are struggling to expand due to currency devaluation, underdeveloped and inefficient transportation infrastructure, poor logistics capabilities, inadequate electrical power, and other complex challenges.

More importantly, the digital maturity of shop proprietors is also substantially higher than the national average.

The level of financial inclusion varies widely across the region and is generally in line with the general population. While 85% of Kenyan shop managers have a bank account, only 40% of their counterparts in Nigeria have one.

High numbers of African retailers also reported that they feel under pressure from modern retailers. In response to such challenges, traditional shops are diversifying well beyond daily essentials, such as fresh and packaged foods and home cleaning and personal hygiene products. Many small retailers now sell telecom products, such as prepaid cards and SIM cards.

New Digital Solutions

Several digital technology providers are addressing inefficient distribution systems that often force retailers to close their shops for several hours so they can go purchase goods from wholesalers.

The Nigerian B2B digital marketplace Alerzo, for example, enables more than 100,000 users—90% of whom are women—to purchase inventory directly from manufacturers, receive and make cashless payments, and better track their revenues.

Digital marketplace in Nigeria such as Alerzo also facilitates a portfolio of digital services, including airtime purchases, bill payments, and peer-to-peer transfers. In the long run, such platforms aim to provide super apps with a large selection of services.

This would enable them to totally digitize traditional retailers and integrate them into the formal economy. Start-ups are also providing working capital and financial management systems to help traditional retailers grow and run their businesses more efficiently; however, they must overcome a lack of awareness and training among retailers.

The Future of Retail in Africa

The study found that traditional retailers will continue to dominate. But to thrive, they must modernize by offering new services and leveraging opportunities offered by digital solutions.

Niavas added, “Based on our analysis, many small retailers are already aware of the evolving retail landscape and are ready to improve their business premises, quality of products and expand across the country.”

Based on current trends, the modern retail sector in Nigeria, even though it is growing fast,  is likely to remain small, and still may not account for more than 5% of retail sales by 2030. Due to structural problems in Nigeria mentioned earlier, foreign investors are likely to remain hesitant about entering the market.

Given the central role that traditional shops will continue to play in Africa’s retail landscape, there will be a number of opportunities for various players in the ecosystem as the environment evolves.

Investment funds can find opportunities to provide capital and management expertise that will enable local modern retail chains to scale up in new cities.

An active start-up ecosystem is interested in providing digital solutions that will solidify the role of traditional retail in Africa and enable the sector to become the commercial interface across the continent.

Digital solutions can help manufacturers of fast-moving consumer foods improve their control over go-to-market strategies and provide data to better understand retailers.

Banks and telecom providers can achieve growth by developing new business models and offers that are adapted to traditional retailers’ needs.

Read more about the report here.

No doubt, climate change mitigation, along with adaptation and resilience, is crucial. Efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 will be essential, as will efforts to prepare for the consequences of climate change and to minimize the resulting harm.

Applying advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to climate challenges provides a vital way to make meaningful change at this critical moment.

According to a new report from the AI for the Planet Alliance, produced in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and BCG GAMMA, 87% of public- and private-sector leaders who oversee climate and AI topics believe that AI is a valuable asset in the fight against climate change.

The report, titled How AI Can Be a Powerful Tool in the Fight Against Climate Change, is being released today.

Based on survey results from over 1,000 executives with decision-making authority on AI or climate-change initiatives, the report finds that roughly 40% of organizations can envision using AI for their own climate efforts.

However, even among these experts, there is widespread agreement that significant barriers to broad adoption remain in place: 78% of respondents cite insufficient AI expertise as an obstacle to using AI in their climate change efforts, 77% cite limited availability of AI solutions as a roadblock, and 67% point to a lack of confidence in AI-related data and analysis.

“AI’s unique capacity to gather, complete, and interpret large, complex data sets means it can help stakeholders take a more informed and data-driven approach to combating carbon emissions and addressing climate risks,” said Hamid Maher, managing director and partner at BCG and BCG GAMMA, and a coauthor of the report. “However, most existing AI-related climate solutions are scattered, tend to be difficult to access, and lack the resources to scale. These shortcomings need to change.”

Uses of AI in Combating Climate Change

Global leaders can use AI to achieve their goals in multiple ways:

• Mitigation. One of the most critical uses of AI is in the measurement, reduction, and removal of emissions and greenhouse gas (GHG) effects. More than 60% of public- and private-sector leaders see the greatest business value for their organizations in the reduction and measurement of emissions. According to BCG, use of AI can drive reductions of 5% to 10% GHG emissions, or 2.6 to 5.3 gigatons of CO₂e if applied globally.

• Adaptation and Resilience. Adapting to climate change is a critical undertaking for policy makers and the public, as it boosts resilience to the effects of both long-term climate trends and extreme weather events. AI is well suited to help project climate-related hazards, whether by improving long-term projections of localized events such as sea-level rise or by upgrading early warning systems for extreme phenomena such as hurricanes or droughts.

• Fundamentals. AI can be used to support research and education efforts about climate change, helping stakeholders understand the risks and implications involved and encouraging them to share what they learn. These efforts support and magnify ongoing work toward mitigation and adaptation and resilience.

Call for Solutions – Need for Meaningful Support

A multitude of critical uses for AI exist in the climate change arena, but any successful AI solution must be user-friendly and readily accessible.

It must offer tangible benefits to the user and provide clear recommendations that are easy to act on. AI solutions therefore need much more meaningful support, including access to capital investment, decision makers, and trained practitioners.

“AI has strong promise to help solve the climate crisis, but AI alone is not enough. It depends on the will of decision makers to act and make necessary changes—supported in part by AI and other emerging technologies,” said Damien Gromier, founder of AI for the Planet and a coauthor of the report.

AI for the Planet has invited all interested parties to participate in its call for solutions, with proposals in any stage of maturity (if ready for a first pilot, at a minimum) and from any sector, whether private, public, academic, or nonprofit. Support for each solution chosen will be tailored to its needs and may range from customized commercial or technical support to investor relationships and network development.

How to apply:

To learn more about the call for solutions or to apply, see here.

Tolu Oyekan, Managing Partner and Head of BCG Nigeria, gave this advice while moderating a session on “Megacities: challenges and opportunities of unbridled urbanization“ at the Africa CEO Forum 2022 held recently in Cote D’Ivoire.

The BCG partner and the discussants identified different ways by which African governments could collaborate with the private sector to respond effectively to the expected population growth through affordable housing, green and smart solutions.

The critical stakeholders who spoke at the session include Emmanuel Nyirinkindi, Vice President of Cross-Cutting Solutions, International Finance Corporation (IFC); Amaury de Féligonde, Managing Partner, Okan Africa; Marco Aurelio De Assis, CEO, Group Vivendi Africa; Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt; and Kaba Niale, Cote D’Ivoire Minister of Planning and Development.

Citing United Nations prediction that African cities‘ population will double by 2050, Oyekan said the situation was likely to overwhelm the capacity of urban cities in the continent, which are already ill equipped to support existing residents.

Oyekan said, “Following the trend, issues such as migration and the potential continued pressure that could create come to the fore. For instance, a city like Lagos experiences about 80 to 100 new residents per day. There is issue of climate change- with the expectation that cities will experience climate refugees if non-urban areas are not able to adapt appropriately. It is therefore important for governments in collaboration with the private sector to think about increasing digitalization and the potential to create smarter African cities.”

He identified some of the urgent needs that would be required by the huge population as good housing, education, healthcare, food security, adding that physical infrastructure such as strong multi-modal transportation network and electricity are necessities.

According to him, an inclusive economic framework that enables all demographics – women, men, youth, elderly, disabled – to access jobs that enable dignity or support self-employment and entrepreneurship will be required.

He asked the panellists to particularly speak to the climate impact of the population surge and possible solutions to mitigate the impact.

The subject matter experts spoke extensively on the challenges and opportunities in a period of rampant urbanization, focusing on climate action, the development of clean energy, road network optimization and rapid construction of affordable housing.

Oyekan engaged the business and government leaders on the role of financial institutions in providing risk assessment and funding for sustainable infrastructure and clean energy projects in future African cities.

BCG’s diverse team of experts bring deep industry and functional insights as well as a range of perspectives to topical industry issues.

The ACF 2022 was a platform for international organisations, policy makers and business executives to connect and brainstorm on growth strategies for the continent.

A new report from BCG, titled A New Era for Fuel Retailers, explores a fuel retail landscape that is evolving at a faster-than-predicted pace and the strategies fuel retailers must implement to survive and thrive in the face of monumental threats.

The fuel industry has long been facing disruptive forces, and these have only accelerated since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: electric vehicles (EVs) and alternative fuels have gained significant traction, mobility usage and attitudes have evolved, and customer behavior has changed dramatically.

According to the report, which is based on a survey of 33 executives from 20 leading global retailers, operators with robust retail businesses found that in-store sales and online offers during the pandemic offset sharp declines in gasoline and diesel sales volumes.

More recently, as geopolitical uncertainty and volatility have placed upward pressure on oil prices, many operators have realized that retail is a matter of business resiliency.

As such, some 70% of leading fuel retailers are planning to expand their network in the coming years.

Oluseun Solanke, Partner and Associate Director at BCG Nigeria, said, “The latest innovations in mobility and renewable power technology is encouraging stakeholders in the Nigeria’s energy and automotive industries to develop and deploy solar-powered electric charging ports and expand gas stations in response to the growing fleet of electric and gas-powered vehicles.

“These initiatives, which are part of the pilot project of National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), will open more opportunities for investors to boost profitability and decarbonise the environment; encourage retail stations to expand their offerings and automobile technicians to upgrade their skills, when deployed at scale.

“Beyond extracting the most value from their traditional core business, fuel retailers’ survival depends on investing beyond the pump,” said Mirko Rubeis, a Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG and a coauthor of the report. “They need to make ambitious moves into new digital businesses while also adapting the service station to support EV and other alternatives fuels, capitalize on their existing real estate, and zero in on sustainable mobility.”

Leading Trends in the Fuel Retail Landscape

In the past few years, five trends in the fuel retail industry stand out:

• Alternative fuels are no longer optional. Sales of EVs are rising—in some regions, even outpacing those of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. BCG projects that by 2030, more than 50% of new light-duty vehicle sales in the US will be EVs. Demand for biofuels is also increasing, and regional partnerships in Europe, China, and the US are being created to enable the mass market rollout of hydrogen-fueled heavy-duty transportation (e.g., long-haul trucks; buses). As a result, 95% of fuel retailers are either already offering or planning to offer EV charging, and 55% are offering or planning to offer alternative fuels. (See the exhibit.)

• Advancing mobility forms are changing usage patterns. The pace of technological development in advanced mobility will change the kind of vehicles—and the type of customers—that show up at the service station. The pool is diversifying from purely self-driven vehicles to autonomous fleets and from ICE-only to EVs.
• COVID-19 has changed consumer behavior. Convenience store (C-store) sales in the US are increasing among those fuel retailers that have adapted their offerings to meet rising consumer expectations around convenience. 65% of the fuel retailers surveyed now plan to invest more in their C-stores to enhance the customer experience and improve site efficiencies.
• Digital technologies are expanding retailers’ capabilities. Around 60% of fuel retailers are using big data analytics to customize their offerings within and beyond the service station. Digital technologies have also enabled individual stations to use dynamic pricing—an important tool for keeping margins high during COVID when volumes plummeted.
• Sustainability is taking root. Regulators are adopting more stringent measures to control CO₂ emissions, and price parity between alternatives and fossil gasoline is becoming a reality. More EVs are becoming available at prices comparable to ICE vehicles, while in some regions renewable diesel is approaching the same price point as petroleum-derived diesel.

An Agenda for Action

These developments point to the need for fuel retailers to reorient themselves: away from fossil fuel and toward alternatives, and away from the vehicle and toward the customer.

The opportunities for growth are significant if retailers pursue four strategic avenues:

• Rethinking their future network for a world in which hydrocarbon fuels no longer dominate
• Reimagining the station as a mobility and convenience hub
• Revamping their loyalty and personalization programs
• Driving new growth areas beyond the service station

“The possibilities for fuel retailers are numerous, but time is in short supply,” said Stuart Groves, a managing director and partner at BCG and a coauthor of the report. “Retailers that embrace these imperatives, seriously and swiftly, will not only retain their relevance in the low-carbon economy, but can also look forward to an expansive future.”

Download the publication here.