5 business opportunities in Africa that will make you a millionaire

Gone are the days when it was the size of your bank account; any shady politician, corrupt bureaucrat, or unscrupulous businessman on the continent can easily claim to be a millionaire.

Nowadays, the African millionaire is not just happy about wealth but rather passionate about impact; that is creating value that touches and improves people’s lives.

Here are some of the unconventional ways Africans are using to fill their pockets.

Waste

Waste management is arguably Africa’s top challenge. It is common to see capital cities across the continent battling with refuse. As the population on the continent continues to grow, waste becomes a headache. Creative geniuses are making good use of these waste; converting waste into electricity etc. Joseph Agyepong; CEO of Jospeng Group in Ghana makes millions of dollars, thanks to his creativity with waste management.

Crowdfarming

Annually, there are millions of dollars spent to import food to Africa. This results from the continent’s farmers being smallholders and work without sophisticated farming methods. Capital is also a big issue. In today’s world, the business of crowdfarming is such a big relief. One needs to just invest in rural farmers and benefit from the profits made.

RainFin, based in the Western Cape, raised (R237 million) last year.

Private schools

The quality of education in public schools on the continent has often been questionable, prompting parents to send their children to private schools to get a better education.

This development has led entrepreneurs to enter into that space to provide the designs needed.

Private education group, Curro in 2015 reported total revenue of R1.38 billion for the year – up from R1 billion in 2014

Automobile

African entrepreneurs are refusing to be left out in the automotive industry. After years of purchasing cars outside the continent, the trend has changed as some local engineers have taken advantage of technological advancements to venture into the car manufacturing business.

Countries like Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana have already taken the lead in that regard.

The interesting thing is that some of these homegrown cars are designed for the rough terrain in Africa.

The Ghanaian based automobile company founded by Apostle Safo Kantanka, assembles its passenger vehicles (mainly SUVs and pickup trucks) at the company's manufacturing plant. They rake in millions yearly.

Healthcare services

With poorly funded public hospitals, coupled with a significant brain drain of African doctors the health sector definitely a place to do some good investments.

Waiting for international “donor” funds (which are channeled through governments) will not work too. This waiting process has existed for decades and very little has changed.

With 25 percent of the global disease burden, a rapidly growing population, and a rising middle class, Africa’s healthcare market presents a huge opportunity.