Editor’s Thoughts.

Before we get to Valentine’s Day, there’s the small matter of the President’s State of the Nation Address on Thursday evening. After watching yesterday’s episode of Power Plays & Pay Days, I’m going to describe the mood in the country as: Cautiously optimistic, with a much needed kick of intentional execution. And I would list the current national imperatives as: infrastructure, poverty alleviation and growth.

Now if that’s what we need, let’s look at what we have. On EBnet.Stream today, we drop the latest episode of Inside Private Markets, where Leon unpacks the evolution and development of private market investing in South Africa with Paul Boynton, one of the country’s most experienced private market investors. And today’s articles talk about the opportunities that exist in Africa, and beyond. In their latest news pieces, both Ninety One and Schroders share their global views on private markets and where the opportunities lie, with Ninety One’s headline describing an “abundance of untapped opportunities”.

Izak Odendaal (Old Mutual Wealth) drops the AI discussion into this context (from an investment POV, it’s “too big a bet to miss out on, but also too uncertain to go all in”.) Sidebar: When it comes to AI, the big conversation right now is focused on the resources needed to power the data centres to support AI. Now the one thing Africa has in bucket loads is the rare earth minearals needed for the AI infrastructure.

We have a need, and we have the product required to satisfy that need. The big question is: Do we have the political intent and business incentive to intentionally deploy patient capital for maximum impact? And while we look to the President to steer the macros, are we as asset owners doing enough?

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