Timbuktu Chronicles points out two previously unknown players in the African investment picture: African Agricultural Capital and Advanced Finance and Investment Group.

African Agricultural Capital (AAC) invests in early-stage, high-risk agricultural enterprises in East Africa.  AAC focuses on companies that are introducing new technology or production systems, and makes investments out of an already-raised pool over $7 million.  Initial support for AAC came from the Rockefeller Foundation, and Volksvermogen NV.

The Advanced Finance and Investment Group (AFIG) is a private equity and fund management company with headquarters in Mauritius and offices in Dakar, Johannesburg, and Washington, DC.  Its investment philosophy is based on local relationships, technical expertise, and proactive involvement in portfolio companies.  AFIG is run by four Ivy League educated investment professionals, whose developed markets expertise is buttressed by their first-hand knowledge of local African context.

On Thursday, December 14th, key players in Brazil’s financial and private sectors met at the 3rd Annual New Ventures Investor Forum to discuss the state of business and environment in the country. Representatives from such corporate and financial leaders as Wal-Mart Brazil, Stratus Investimentos, and ABN AMRO discussed topics from the ecological impact of international supply chains to regulations of small enterprise, but the main issue on everyone’s mind was “Will society [and the private-sector] respond in time to the sustainability challenge?”

Posed by Andre Mariano of AxialPar investments, this may be the most important question of 2006, and it was answered by four of Brazil’s most promising small enterprises. These winners of the Investor Forum were:

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