Lula's Win Rattles Wall Street's Brazil Trio
Published on 28 October 2026
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Let’s be honest, the narrative around Africa’s economic rise can feel a bit like a gold rush. Everyone is scrambling for a piece of the action, chasing high-growth tech startups in Nairobi or betting on Nigeria’s next big thing. It’s all very exciting, very frontier spirit. But to me, that sounds like a lot of hard work and even more risk. I’ve always believed it’s far more profitable to be the one selling the shovels during a gold rush than to be the one digging for gold.
In this case, the ‘shovels’ are the financial pipes and plumbing that make the entire continent’s growth possible. I’m talking about the established, almost boringly reliable titans of global finance. Why take a punt on a single, volatile emerging market stock when you can back the very institutions that are underwriting the entire transformation? It’s a far more elegant, and I think, shrewder way to play the long game.
Think about it. For any economy to truly take off, it needs capital, it needs infrastructure, and it needs a seamless way for money to move around. Who provides that? Not some plucky startup, but the global behemoths. We’re talking about the investment banking prowess of Goldman Sachs, the sheer scale of JPMorgan, and the ubiquitous payment networks of Visa and Mastercard. These companies aren’t just watching Africa’s rise, they are actively facilitating it, and taking a tidy slice of the pie for their troubles.
They provide the essential, non-negotiable services that form the bedrock of a modern economy. It’s a strategy I’ve outlined before in my Financial Giants (JPM, GS, V, MA) Investment Guide, and it’s one that seems particularly apt here. You get exposure to the upside of an entire continent’s development, but with the relative stability of blue-chip companies that have weathered countless economic storms before.
Visa and Mastercard are perhaps the most straightforward example of this. As African nations, like Nigeria, push towards cashless economies, who stands to benefit from every single digital transaction? These two. They operate what is essentially a global digital tollbooth. Every time someone taps a card or clicks ‘buy now’, they collect a small fee. They don’t need to invent new technology for Africa, they just need to plug the continent into their existing, world-spanning network.
The growth isn’t speculative, it’s happening right now. As millions of people move from stuffing cash under the mattress to using formal banking and payment systems, the volume of transactions flowing through these networks could increase dramatically. It’s a beautifully simple business model, and one that’s perfectly positioned to capitalise on Africa’s digital revolution.
Then you have the big banks, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. These are the firms that governments and major corporations turn to when they need to fund a new power plant, a motorway, or a telecommunications network. They structure the deals, raise the capital, and provide the complex financial advice needed to get these colossal projects off the ground.
They are the architects and financiers of progress, earning handsome fees for their expertise without having to lay a single brick themselves. Their global reach and enormous balance sheets give them an advantage that local competitors simply cannot match. As Africa’s infrastructure needs continue to grow, so too will the demand for the services these giants provide. It’s a classic case of backing the enablers, not just the end result. Of course, no investment is without risk. Political instability and currency wobbles are part of the territory in emerging markets, but the beauty of these giants is their diversification. A problem in one country is a mere blip on their global radar, not a catastrophic event.
View the full Basket:Financial Giants (JPM, GS, V, MA) Investment Guide
View the full Basket:Financial Giants (JPM, GS, V, MA) Investment Guide
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