From a mattress business in the 1970s, Nakumatt has become East Africa's largest retailer. Atul Shah is the director of Nakumatt Holdings, with a $500m turnover and 36 stores in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.

With a 16-strong group of companies, including interests in insurance, airlines, banking and fuel distribution, Jimoh Ibrahim is now looking at doing business in neighbouring countries, including Ghana and Sao Tomé and Principe. He talked to The Africa Report about expansion, banking reforms 
and take-off for Air Nigeria.

Moroccan company, office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) will triple its production 
by 2020, a development that will strengthen its bottom line and commitment to food security, according 
to Amar Drissi, the state-run group's executive director for industrial operations.

Ghana plans to set up a minerals development fund to boost infrastructure development for local communities, amid complaints from civil society groups that many mining areas suffer an acute lack of of infrastructure due to underfunding.

Ethiopia has been able to raise electricity coverage to almost half of the country, as the nation claims to be have one of the highest coverage on the continent.

South Africa, Nigeria and Zimbabwe lost billions to fraudsters, with Zimbabwe alone losing $1, 2 billion in just six months to December last year, two respected accounting firms have said.



Reforms of the banking sector have led to fewer, but stronger, banks, but lending is still going to high-level corporate clients rather than the smaller companies that will drive the economy.