Ten years ago, Ayisi Makatiani would have burst out laughing if someone had suggested that he would end up working with the World Bank and the United Nations. An engineering graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he was busy building his own business, Africa Online, which eventually became the largest pan-African internet service provider. But today Mr Makatiani uses his acumen to try to help the continent's other entrepreneurs. Since 2004, he has been at the helm of the African Management Services Company (amsco), based in Johannesburg. It is the brainchild of the International Finance Corporation (ifc)-the World Bank's private-sector arm-the un Development Programme, and the African Development Bank. Its mission is to help small African firms become competitive.
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