Cannabis investment opportunity in Africa Powered by the youngest and fastest growing population, the next great market for cannabis may be Africa. Darin Hickman from Aphrihelios Global joins Dan Humiston to talk about the advantages of growing cannabis in South Africa. He discusses using the proceeds from their current Crowdfunding Funding Campaign hosted on Fundanna to fund their expansion into the continent. Produced by PodCONX https://podconx.com/guests/darin-hickman http://www.aphrihelios.com https://fundanna.com/equity/offer-summary/AphriHelios
Cannabis investment opportunity in Africa
Powered by the youngest and fastest growing population, the next great market for cannabis may be Africa. Darin Hickman from Aphrihelios Global joins Dan Humiston to talk about the advantages of growing cannabis in South Africa. He discusses using the proceeds from their current Crowdfunding Funding Campaign hosted on Fundanna to fund their expansion into the continent.
https://podconx.com/guests/darin-hickman
https://fundanna.com/equity/offer-summary/AphriHelios
[00:00:00] Dan Humiston: Today on raising cannabis capital. We are continuing our cannabis Crowdfunder series with Derek Hickman, the CEO of Afro Helio's global. Darren. Welcome to the show.
Darin Hickman: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Dan Humiston: Well, I'm really glad that we could schedule this for our listeners. Darren is actually calling in from Africa because Afro Afro Helios is a Pan-African vertically integrated cannabis company that is leveraging Africa's low production costs to bring new brands to the market. We're not going to have time today to cover everything because they are so.
Global big company that there's so much that we could cover. So if you need more information, there's a great video on the Afro Helio's website. That explains everything, including the convergence of some key themes. And Darren, we know theindustry's global growth trajectory is just off the charts.
It's just off the charts. So let's start with commodities. Can you tell us how commoditization will affect the industry and then how you will [00:01:00] benefit from that?
Darin Hickman: Sure. Well, we believe that?
and the commoditization, they had the cultivation space. We see increasing commoditization . As you begin to see it being used as ingredients in more things , you're going to see greater standardization of how it's cultivated.
And as you move towards that, no standardization, it begins to move towards commoditization. And in a commoditized industry, you really have to focus on low cost of production and. Southern Africa, particularly because of its climate. Because of the existence, low cost here because ofgenerations.
Of cannabis expertise. It's so well positioned to grow at a low cultivation cost. And so, we really see the opportunity to get ahead of the curve here. It's not there yet in terms of commoditization, but it's headed there and I think everyone sees it eventually.
Yes. There's always going to be. No at the leading edge, the more high quality which can be grown anywhere and [00:02:00] more likely to be growing indoor. And I think to a large degree, the Northern hemisphere, particularly us may always, or for a while have a competitive advantage in that space. But when you start looking at the more standardized.
Yeah, it's going to move to jurisdictions like Lisutu South Africa, are you beginning to see an increase in places like Columbia? . So we've positioned ourselves ahead of the curve to really take advantage of that. As that commoditization comes, we can really leverage.
Dan Humiston: One thing I found really interesting is how many crop cycles that you can get in each year. I thought that was gives you a huge advantage.
Darin Hickman: Oh, yeah, that, that is a major advantage. Whereas like in the Northern hemisphere, if you're indoor, obviously it's very different. But obviously your costs are so much greater if you're growing indoor, but if you're growing greenhouse or out. I'm in Southern, after you can get, three to four crops per year.
So in terms of productivity for a given amount of space, that's amazing. And so we really want to make sure that we leverage that and take advantage of it.
Dan Humiston: , I [00:03:00] don't know why you wouldn't. That's such a great advantage. I know. Another theme. Most people haven't really focused on is the emergence of Africa. As countries within the continent, make cannabis legal, it's going to create a gigantic market. You already have a footprint there.
And how are you positioned to capitalize on this opportunities as it continues to evolve?
Darin Hickman: Sure. I think there's a couple of ways that we plan to capitalize on the emergence of cannabis on the continent. First, obviously, as I mentioned from a cultivation practice we really want to make sure that, we take advantage of that more and more African countries are beginning to legalize cannabis.
I think they see the opportunity for their tax base to benefit from it. And it's another export crop for a lot of countries. And what you're seeing, for example, like Lisutu,they were the first African country to legalize cannabis, but purely for commercialization and. In terms of use within the country.
It's still not yet legal South Africa. Where I am, it's usage is legal. You can use it. [00:04:00] You can grow enough for yourself, but it can't be sold yet. There's no market for it. Buying and selling of cannabis within the county. What I see happening over time, is those laws falling away also in Africa, not just becoming, a source, for export, but a destination market.
It has the fastest growing population of any continent on the planet. It has the youngest population. It has the fastest urbanization. It has the fastest growing middle class. And so if you are looking, to the future for a growth mode, there's not a better place to be than in Africa.
So it's not just, being able to, take the raw materials know process at next boredom. It's going to be an amazing destination market.
One last theme that I think we have time to talk about is the sports and entertainment personalities getting into this space. How do you plan to incorporate this into your business?
Darin Hickman: Sure the way we plan to do that is if you noticed in the market, as of late a [00:05:00] fair number of high profile individuals are beginning to launch cannabis brands built around their personal brands and. Know, they're following, if you will, in order to get those brands into the market, what we plan to do is work with a lot of those, high profile athletes, entertainers, and other hope high profile individuals to build, cannabis brands around them.
You know, We recognize right now there's a proliferation and eventually you will see some fallout. But obviously we plan to have a portfolio of products. We want to focus on very specific markets where we feel like we have unique or distinct advantages. And then also, if you just look globally, if you look at, culturally where most of the influences in pop culture, it's coming out of the U S and from our entertainment space.
And so by us starting there and building our partnerships and brands with those individuals, not only does it get. presence and strengthened us market. It also then flows over to the global market and really helps us begin expanding into the global market.
Dan Humiston: Oh, I suspect [00:06:00] people like Mike Tyson or Jay Z. Have great name recognition throughout the African continent. So again, you start working together with those types of people.
I think you're positioned perfectly , I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on a couple of concerns that I know investors will ask about that.
Darin Hickman: right.
Dan Humiston: And I thought maybe I'd give you an opportunity just to explain why they shouldn't be concerned.
First would be, is Africa stable. And in the second one would be for costs of transportation. If you were to ship to say the U S will the costs eat up some of the production savings that you enjoy by growing in Africa.
Darin Hickman: Sure. Sure. Well, I think with the first question, in terms of stability of the Ackland continent, now I think the first thing that we have to do and people often forget, you got to take a step back andrecognize, there are 52.
Different nations on the continent each with different governments, different levels of stability and different experiences. So there isn't one kind of experience throughout the continent and yes, , there is some level of [00:07:00] instability depending on the country.
No, for example, in South Africa where I am now, it is still the most stable country, on the country. And I think we'll will continue to be, there will be some interim volatility, I think as the country continues to move forward, but the country is very focused on making sure that it maintains a level of stability that will allow, its economy to continue to grow.
And to exist. And so as much as you experienced that, there will be some instability. I think there's a commitment and a focus to maintaining a level of stability. That's going to allow the country to continue to be competitive. And I think that's true of a number of the other countries on the continent.
And these economies and these countries are growing and they're moving forward and they're going through some of the growing pains that, evolving countries go through.
But we feel very confident that particularly in key areas that we look to be involved in there will be continued stability that will allow us. To [00:08:00] be a strong company and an export to the global market. So on stability we're confident , and then the second question was with respect to our transportation. But transportation is going to be a consideration, particularly dependent on what it is we're transporting.
So, flour versus extract versus say an infused final product that might be quite heavy. And so transportation costs be greater. So depending on what it is, we're going to be shipping. Yes, it will have some impact on that. But if you're looking purely at just say flour or various actions, Our cost of production is so low compared to many of the Northern hemisphere countries that even with those increased transportation costs, there's still comparative savings.
So the model still works quite well.
Dan Humiston: one other point that I think is important for our listeners is that you're a global company.I think you said your headquarters are in the United States. You're right now. And yeah, you're right now, it. [00:09:00] In South Africa. So I think that should give investors some additional confidence.
Darin Hickman: You bring up an important point too is, I used to be in the investment space. And so you talked about being involved in a number of different countries. For me, it makes me think of managing a portfolio. And one of the ways that you manage risk is you diversify your risk and that's part of what we're trying to do.
So we're trying to move away from single country exposure. By being involved in multiple countries it helps mitigate some of the risks that you might incur if you just focus on one singular country and then they go through some ups and downs and then, you're fully invested there and it brings your whole company down.
Whereas if you're in multiple countries, you can shift as may be required depending on the local circumstances.
Dan Humiston: You're in the middle of a crowdfunding campaign on fund Danna. Can you share some of the details of your campaign?
Darin Hickman: Well, we're actually running two concurrent campaigns right now. There's an overall seed capital raise right now. We're looking to raise forge and [00:10:00] $50,000 it's going to fund our concept development. It's going to get our brand platform off the ground, so we're raising $450,000 for. And we're running two concurrent campaigns. We're running that regulation, CF crowdfunding campaign, and we're also running concurrently.
You're regulation D private placement is section 5 0 6 C those merged together quite nicely. Part of the reason we wanted to move towards a crowdfunding campaign is, we felt like these kinds of opportunities. Are rarely available to your smaller investors in the United States, particularly being, here in Africa, you rarely see those kinds of opportunities. We felt that was so important for us to democratize access. To these kinds of investments. And so we felt like a crowdfunding campaign would be a great way to do that. Plus it's also another great way to kind of begin to getting your brand out there and building your brand , on a wider basis.
Because there's so much more marketing and PR involved in a [00:11:00] crowdfunding campaign. And so then as we start getting retail products into the mall, We've already developed some level of awareness in the market through our crowdfunding campaign. So, in terms of the specifics around the crowdfunding campaign it's a minimum of $250 investment.
So yeah, it's easy entry for your smaller investor who might be excited by this and now has access. You don't have to be an accredited investor. So, it's $250 minimum access we're not selling equity. What we're doing is we're raising convertible debt.
And so that's the basic structure of it. And if you go to our website, you click, invest in Africa. Helio's, depending on whether or not you're an accredited investor non-accredited or an international investor, it'll take you through to.
The platform for you.So the best way is to go to our website and check it out.
Dan Humiston: And we have all of Darren's information and the website in our show notes, we also have links to the crowdfunding campaign, which currently on fund [00:12:00] Danna, Darren , like I said, at the beginning, we have so much to talk about, but I appreciate you being on the show today and next time we will get into a little bit deeper.
Darin Hickman: Sure. Thank you again for having me. I really do appreciate it.