At last week’s Africa Business Forum in Washington DC, Wallmart’s CEO Doug McMillon spoke on “The New Era for Business in Africa” panel which included Former President Bill Clinton, and a range of African and US CEOs, about the opportunities of investing sustainably into Africa.
Mr McMillon said the company is taking some of the lessons it learned from expanding into Latin America and applying them to Africa. One example, he said, was that the company found a South African winery, Seven Sisters, and put it in into over 300 of its American stores.
Seven Sisters, a black owned wine company, and client of Impact Amplifier, is playing a pivotal role in the transformation of the winelands in South Africa. Impact Amplifier has supporting Seven Sister’s growth strategy into foreign markets, driven capital raising initiatives and developing a broader wine transformation strategy alongside Seven Sister’s success.
Seven Sister’s CEO Vivien Kleynhans says ‘I hope the success of Seven Sisters can be a beacon of light for other African winemakers, and women especially on the continent, in an effort to create an inclusive, sustainable economy for all’. Impact Amplifier’s mission is to scale and grow the impact of businesses like Seven Sisters. In an economy and sector where South African SMMEs struggle to gain market access, capital and capacity, Seven Sisters is beginning to break through the growth celling and impact the broader wine industry.