Maceo K. Sloan: building the new Africa.

Most U.S. financial services firms begin their global expansion in prosperous Europe or fast-growing Asia. But when Maceo K. Sloan, chairman, president and CEO of NCM Capital Management Group, Inc., decided to take his investment advisory business international, he turned first to Africa. "We've always been contrarians," he says. "Established financial firms are so large and powerful that you have to be innovative to be successful. You have to give people a reason to do business with you rather than with a company 100 times your size."

Sloan began investigating opportunities in post-apartheid South Africa in 1990, after the release from jail of Nelson Mandela. Now he is seeking investment funds for New Africa Advisors, NCM's year-old sister company with offices in Durham, NC and Johannesburg, South Africa. By the end of 1995, Sloan, who is chairman of New Africa, expects to raise between $200 million and $400 million for investment in African companies, beginning with the re-emerging economy of South Africa. "There are all kinds of investment opportunities in Africa," Sloan says. "We expect to make a substantial contribution to the development of Africa."

It's an ambitious goal, but Sloan, a chartered financial analyst with a law degree and a MBA, can draw on more than 20 years of high-powered financial experience. Under his leadership, seven-year-old NCM (which, like New Africa, is a subsidiary of Sloan Financial Group, Inc.) has grown from zero to $3 billion in assets and from six employees to 62. Sloan expects New Africa to experience similar growth.

New Africa has a team of eight South African and US investment professionals in Johannesburg. With only one black-owned company currently listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, some of the most promising investment opportunities involve smaller black-owned companies denied access to capital under apartheid. Evaluating the investment potential of these companies requires a deep understanding of local culture as well as standard financial analysis techniques.

Sloan flies to Johannesburg about once every six weeks to meet with local business leaders and help raise the firm's profile in the region. But no matter how much time he and other top executives spend in Africa, telecommunications are the young company's lifeblood. Management and investment teams hold weekly international conference calls. And as the company begins to make investments, computer systems in the two offices will be linked by modem. "In the investment business, information is king," Sloan says. "And old information is useless. The better your communications, the better your information."

Maceo K. Sloan, Chairman, President and CEO of NCM Capital Management Group, is a member of the Black Enterprise Networking Forum Economic Roundtable. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF) and a regular panelist on the PBS program Wall Street Week in Review with Louis Rukeyser.

* Investment Advisor

* 62 employees

* Funds managed: $3 billion

* Founded: 1986

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