Ananya Sengupta deeply understands the nuances of global M&A, private equity, and financial leadership. Having built a distinguished career spanning Africa, India, and beyond, Ananya has a wealth of knowledge in corporate finance, M&A, and strategic leadership.
We sat down with Ananya for a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities within emerging markets, the evolving nature of investment strategies, and the role of leadership in driving transformation.
It actually happened by accident. My first degree was in engineering, but when I moved to a new city after qualifying, engineering jobs were difficult to find. I broadened my search and found an opportunity at a small brokerage firm, which was looking for someone young and eager to learn. That experience sparked my interest in finance, and from there, I transitioned to an investment bank, focusing on IPOs. Over time, I became increasingly drawn to M&A, and my career really took off when I moved from Mumbai to Nairobi and joined PwC’s corporate finance team. Initially, my work was centered on privatisation transactions, but as private sector M&A gained traction, I became more deeply involved – and I’ve never looked back.
There are three key differences. First, investment strategies in Africa have historically been more ad hoc rather than systematic. Second, informality is common – in the past many deals were closed with a handshake over dinner rather than through rigorous due diligence. Third, the quality of information is an issue – there’s often a lack of adequate information and transparency,making it difficult for investors to evaluate opportunities; it requires a lot of patience, local knowledge and sometimes creativity during the due diligence and the negotiation process.
When I started in the early 2000s, most private sector M&A deals were small and handled by boutique advisory firms or even individuals. Larger firms primarily focused on due diligence and valuations. Many businesses in Africa are family-owned, and there’s often a cultural reluctance to give up control. But over the past two decades, things have changed. The younger generations of family business owners are more open to external investors. The rise of African multinationals and private equity has brought greater structure and formalisation to transactions, though an oversupply of PE capital now means there’s stiff competition for deals.
Africa is an attractive but high-risk investment landscape. The higher risk is a combination of both inherent risk and perception that Western investors have of Africa. The first thing investors need to decide is whether they’re comfortable with this higher risk threshold. If they are, there are several ways to de-risk transactions:
That’s a misconception. The reality is much more complex and nuanced. While long term sustainability may not always be an immediate priority, especially in countries where food security is a pressing issue, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) awareness is growing with increased investment from development financial institutions and other international investors. The challenge is that many Western ESG frameworks are not always directly applicable in African contexts.
For example, Western investors focus heavily on the environmental impact of methane emissions from dairy farming and thus investors might want investee companies to have a plan to branch out into plant based alternatives to reduce the environmental impact, but in Africa, dairy is vital for nutrition, particularly in regions with high child malnutrition rates, and plant based alternatives are nascent and are luxuries that the average person just cannot afford. Similarly, farming practices in Africa use far fewer fertilisers and water than in Western countries. African farmers often suffer from water shortage and are acutely aware of the need to conserve scarce resources. All this means that the actual environmental footprint is lower and in a sense environmental awareness is embedded in practice already, although it may not be formalised. Therefore setting up very elaborate monitoring and reporting protocols for this may be unnecessary. So, while ESG is important, copy-pasting Western standards onto African businesses is not practical. Policies must be tailored to the realities on the ground and most importantly, costs of compliance must not be prohibitive!
Leadership is everything in M&A and transformation. One of the biggest reasons M&A deals fail – studies suggest failure rates of up to 50% – is poor integration and cultural misalignment. The people factor is often overlooked. Too many transactions are approached mechanically, focusing almost exclusively on financial analysis rather than on how businesses will integrate.
In Africa, the process is even more relationship-driven. You need to understand what the founder wants and what will make them comfortable with the transaction. Change management is often underfunded, yet it’s the linchpin of any transformation. If the people executing the deal aren’t on board, no amount of financial modeling will save it.
Overall, there needs to be a value creation approach and mindset from the outset, right from when you start thinking about a transaction. This requires collaboration and bringing together teams and expertise from different parts of the organisation, and has to be driven from the top, i.e. from leadership.
AI is undoubtedly changing finance, but in emerging markets, its role is limited by data quality. In Western markets, AI can analyse extensive structured data to improve decision-making, but in many African markets, data is incomplete or non-existent. Investment decisions in these regions still rely heavily on human judgment, creativity, and local knowledge – things AI isn’t yet equipped to replicate.
That said, for standardised financial analysis, AI will streamline processes, especially in due diligence and risk assessment. But for now, deal-making in emerging markets will continue to depend on people who understand the nuances of local economies.
When I did my MBA, I knew I would pursue a PhD at some point. After working in industry for years, I wanted to explore strategic leadership in depth – understanding not just what leaders do and how (both of which I had already observed in practice), but why they behave the way they do. COVID gave me the pause I needed to make the transition, and I’m now researching strategic leadership in international business.
Be a sponge for knowledge. Don’t dismiss anything as irrelevant. I sincerely believe that no knowledge is ever wasted; even if you never consciously realise that you have used it, you probably have, albeit not always immediately.
AI is changing the landscape, but human judgment, adaptability, and strategic thinking will always be valuable. Develop a wide-ranging skill set – finance is no longer just about numbers, it’s about understanding people, markets, and global trends. Stay curious, adaptable, and open to change, and you’ll future-proof your career.
