Transcript
Introduction
Patrick
My guest this week is George Rzepecki, the Founder and Managing Partner of Raba, an Africa-focused investment firm. George is making investments across Africa in early-stage companies. Africa represents a fascinating opportunity, a huge and diverse population, and enormous room for per-capita GDP growth. In our conversation, we cover all aspects of investing in the continent, including unique potential rewards and the largest unique risks. Please enjoy our conversation.
George
I'd say, Africa, for me, and just emerging markets generally, really kicked off in 2006. I was working at Goldman Sachs, and I raised my hand as one of the analysts there to pursue an opportunity to work in our Bangalore, India office. I was really amazed by just the magnitude of the difference of what was happening in that city, in that part of the world, whether it was new roads and infrastructure, the busyness of the place. It really captured a lot of my attention, and it was just really cool. I thought, wow, such a different experience than what I was used to growing up in the U.S.