As we embark on this journey of redefining the finance sector in emerging markets, we thought it prudent to share with the world why we believe this has to be done. As investors in the emerging markets, we have found it rather difficult, over the years, to get all the information we're looking for about public companies conveniently and without a hefty price tag. As with anything difficult, we thought someone else would do it, because there's gotta be other investors who face the same problem - atleast that's what we told ourselves. We talked to some of our friends in the business and found out that this was a shared experience. However, you've got to give investors credit, some of them had come up with some ingenious solutions to the problem. There's one retail investor, for instance, who decided that they'll download the pricelist from the NSE website everyday to a.) cut costs and b.) keep a clear, reliable record of where the market closed at. After finding out that this was how some of our mates in the industry were keeping costs low and returns high, we thought there has to be a better way of doing this.
So, we pitched this. The idea of creating a one-stop shop where investors can find ALL publicly available information about public companies. We were very lucky to have a board that saw the vision, was just as excited about building it as we were and was ready to fund the project. The mission was clear; build a comprehensive hub where investors can access ALL publicly available information on public companies. This is a solution that will aid a lot of investors especially the retail investors, who as we'd mentioned earlier are trying to keep costs low and returns high. And, as young investors, learning the ropes of the business, we believe that technology will play a critical role in solving this problem. Let's talk about what we want to achieve at Investor Center Media.
Empowering a New Generation of Investors
As young investors, one of our primary goals is to empower the next generation of investors, our peers, with the tools and information they need to make informed investment decisions. We are aware that a lot of the information and tools currently available are either too expensive or lack some important information an investor would need to make sound decisions. Our expertise in designing and building on the internet will prove invaluable in creating products for the young, tech-savvy investor. Since the problem at hand is one we have faced, having to go to great lengths just to get specific information that we deemed necessary before making a decision, we believe that we are the right group of people to solve this problem, approaching it in a novel manner that will resonate with young investors. In solving this problem, we aim to make financial data more accessible and level the playing field between insitutional investors and retail investors as much as we can. We also hope to grow the number of retail investors as a percentage of total investors in the market.
Demystifying Emerging Markets, Especially Africa
Emerging markets have been viewed historically as this black box; one that very few understand and most try to avoid. For far too long, these markets have been underrepresented and misunderstood by mainstream financial media. Yet Africa represents one of the most dynamic, rapidly growing regions in the world.
We strongly believe that emerging markets hold the key to growth; why you might ask, it’s home to some of the fastest-growing economies, yet many investors—both foreign and local—lack the information they need to capitalize on these opportunities. Our mission is to change that narrative. We want to bring clarity to these markets, offering insights and analysis that help investors understand the landscape and make informed decisions. By shining a spotlight on Africa, we hope to not only attract by putting Africa on more investors' radar but also to foster a deeper appreciation for the incredible potential that lies within.
Building Trust Through Integrity and Insight
We aim to be the go-to place for investors when looking for emerging markets' financial data & news, this requires us to build a relationship with investors. In an era of misinformation trust is everything and building it becomes an uphill task. However, we belive that with the right strategy we can build a great relationship based on trust with investors. Becoming a reliable source of news & data is the first step in building a great relationship with investors. Couple that with our objective approach to delivering the content and we'll be well on our way to gaining our readers' trust.
The value of trust cannot be understated, and we are ready to deliver value consistently in an effort to gain our readers' trust. Working with the highest level of integrity will definitely be in our best interests as we build a lasting relationship with investors.
Education as a Tool for Empowerment
According to an article by IFAC , lack of financial literacy cost Americans ~$430 billion. Another study by S&P found that 66% of the global population can be considered financially illiterate, this tells us that there's a lot that needs to be done in order to truly empower young investors, and making financial news & data more accessible won't be enough. Providing the news & data to a reader who isn't financially literate would be like putting the cart before the horse.
We know how important financial literacy is and the kind of impact it can have on a person's standard of living. Hence why we are actively weighing the options to find out how we can solve this problem and do so in an effective manner.
Conclusion
As we conclude, we hope you are just as excited as we are to make financial news & data more accessible and to also empower young investors through financial education.
We are currently building a platform where investors can get information on public companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE) and we'd love to get your thoughts on it. If such a product may be of interest to you, we'd encourage you to join our wait-list, this will give you exclusive, early access to the product and an opportunity to shape version one. For any further questions you can contact us through this form.