Power supply is one of the issues Kwame Dougan has run into investing in Africa.

Dougan was born in Ghana, but raised and educated in Canada and the U.S. He is managing partner and co-founder of iYa Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in technology companies in Africa and the diaspora. IYa Ventures has funded promising businesses in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia.

One of the companies iYa Ventures has funded is Supermart, a Lagos, Nigeria-based company that allows busy working mothers to avoid the city’s notorious traffic by ordering groceries online. IYa Ventures is also advising ZNews Africa, a mobile app that aggregates African news.

According to Dougan, frequent power outages are a common occurrence in Africa. As a result, businesses have to run back-up generators for long periods of time.

“That really increases the cost of doing business,” Dougan said.

Another challenge that African startups face is lack of infrastructure. Most business transactions are carried out in cash, and that’s a major issue if you’re developing a business that relies on online payments.

Dougan feels the best African business environment is Lagos because of its energy, innovation and frenetic pace. Ghana is less fast paced than Lagos, but there is plenty of room for businesses to grow, according to Dougan.

“From what I been told, through my network, Rwanda is also a great place as well, if you want to go and develop a business,” Dougan said.

He added another factor that attracts African American entrepreneurs is the cultural environment. Most African countries, like Nigeria and Ghana, are majority black and race is not an issue.

Read more at AtlantaBlackStar.

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