Africa Risk Consulting

What Africa Risk Consulting does

Africa Risk Consulting (ARC) is a privately-held, boutique political-risk and business-intelligence firm founded in 2006 by Tara O'Connor, providing human-sourced intelligence on African markets to enterprise clients. The firm serves investment firms, development finance institutions, private equity funds, multinational corporations, and government/trade organizations requiring due diligence, country monitoring, and compliance support for operations and investments across the continent. ARC's core service offerings comprise political assessments, country risk monitoring, integrity due diligence and investigations, business and market intelligence, and compliance/anti-bribery advice, supplemented by the ARC Briefing subscription product (covering 23 African markets with monthly briefings, country planners, and searchable chronologies holding 13 years of historical data), daily and weekly chronologies, and The ARC Insider podcast (launched March 2020).

The firm's underlying technology is a human intelligence network of 3,000+ in-country investigators, consultants, political, academic, business, legal, and government contacts spanning all 54 African countries, most of whom have worked with ARC since 2006. Its research methodology combines academic country/region/sector expertise (analysts with postgraduate degrees in political science, international relations, or economics), on-the-ground human enquiries, and senior business leader input, cross-referenced with public records. The firm maintains specialized linguistic capabilities across Francophone, Lusophone, and Arabic-speaking markets, and a Cape Town–based editorial team manages ARC Briefing content.

ARC generates revenue through three streams: (1) recurring ARC Briefing subscriptions with freemium chronology access as the lead magnet, (2) project-based integrity due diligence and investigations (routine delivery in 10 days), and (3) bespoke political assessments and compliance training. Go-to-market is enterprise direct sales augmented by content marketing (website, podcast, client testimonials) and free-account funnel mechanics. The firm reports having served 160+ clients across 40+ African countries and completed 3,000+ due diligence, investigation, and political projects cumulatively since inception, with named institutional clients including the African Development Bank, JBIC, Mastercard Foundation, Actis, American Tower, B2Gold, BP Helios, and Meridiam.

Name

Africa Risk Consulting

Legal name

Africa Risk Consulting, Inc.

Website

https://africariskconsulting.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Africa Risk Consulting is a privately-held boutique founded in 2006 that provides human-sourced political risk, integrity due diligence, and country-monitoring intelligence to investors, development finance institutions, and multinationals operating across Africa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Political Risk Consulting and Intelligence

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Risk Management Consulting (Enterprise & Operational Risk) (FSAEADAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Risk, Compliance & Internal Controls Consulting (BPAHACAJ), Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Advisory (BPAHAFAA)

Keywords

• Political risk consulting
• Integrity due diligence
• Country risk monitoring
• Business intelligence services
• Compliance advisory services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. ARC Briefing Subscription: Subscription service providing access to country briefings covering 23 African markets including Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritius, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Subscribers receive monthly briefings, country planners, and chronologies.
2. Integrity Due Diligence Projects: One-time or project-based due diligence engagements including pre-investment integrity checks, enhanced due diligence for grey-listed countries, litigation support, and compliance support services.
3. Political Assessment Services: Custom political risk assessments for businesses with investments in specific countries, regions, or neighborhoods. Delivered by experts with postgraduate degrees in political science, international relations or economics.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Africa Risk Consulting (ARC) provides political risk assessments, integrity due diligence, country risk monitoring, business and market intelligence, and compliance advisory services focused exclusively on African markets. The firm leverages a proprietary network of 3,000+ in-country investigators and contacts across 54 African countries to deliver human-sourced intelligence through subscription-based country briefings (ARC Briefing covering 23 markets) and bespoke consulting engagements for investment firms, multinational corporations, and development finance institutions.

Product overview

Africa Risk Consulting operates as a unified intelligence platform delivering risk management services across Africa. The core offering comprises ARC Briefing, a subscription service covering 23 African countries with monthly country briefings, planners and chronologies, supplemented by on-demand services including Political Assessment, Country Risk Monitoring, Integrity Due Diligence and Investigations, Business and Market Intelligence, and Compliance Assessment and Advice. Additional modules include Anti-Bribery Training, Daily and Weekly Chronologies, and The ARC Insider podcast. All services leverage human-sourced intelligence through a network of 3,000+ investigators and contacts spanning 45+ African markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ARC Briefing: A subscription service providing country briefings, planners, and chronologies covering political, economic, business and operations in key African markets
• The ARC Insider

Quantifiable outcome

• 160+ clients served in 40+ African countries since 2006
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• South Africa-Nigeria Business ChamberminorOthersARC maintains membership in the South Africa-Nigeria Business Chamber, a bilateral business organization facilitating trade and investment between South Africa and Nigeria.
• ASBN (African States Business Network)minorOthersARC holds membership in ASBN, a network supporting business engagement across African states.
• Eastern Africa AssociationminorOthersARC maintains membership in the Eastern Africa Association, which supports business and investment in the Eastern Africa region.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• S-RM: London-based intelligence and cyber risk consultancy with a dedicated Africa political-risk practice. Directly competes with ARC on integrity due diligence and political assessments for cross-border investors.
• Control Risks: Global risk consultancy providing political risk, integrity due diligence and security consulting across Africa. Closest head-to-head competitor for enterprise political-risk mandates that ARC serves for DFIs and multinational clients.
• Verisk Maplecroft: Political risk, ESG and country-risk data and advisory firm (now part of Moody's). Competes with ARC on country risk ratings, indices and political assessment work for multinational clients.
• The Risk Advisory Group: Global risk and security consultancy with political risk and integrity due diligence offerings. Competes with ARC for political-risk and investigative engagements involving African jurisdictions.
• Africa Intelligence: Subscription-based business intelligence publisher focused exclusively on Africa, covering political, economic and sector developments. Direct comparable to ARC Briefing on subscription country monitoring.

Broad incumbents

• Kroll: Global investigations, due diligence and risk advisory firm. Competes with ARC on integrity due diligence for African investments while also offering broader financial advisory, compliance and cyber capabilities.
• Deloitte (Africa Risk Advisory): Big Four risk advisory practice serving multinational clients on integrity, compliance and political risk in Africa. Competes with ARC on large enterprise governance, risk and compliance mandates.
• FTI Consulting: Global advisory firm with a risk and investigations practice serving multinational clients. Overlaps with ARC on integrity due diligence and political risk for African transactions and compliance matters.
• KPMG Forensic & Risk (Africa): Big Four forensic, integrity due diligence and risk practice with African operations. Competes with ARC on integrity due diligence and anti-bribery compliance work for multinational clients investing in Africa.

Emerging players

• Pangea-Risk: Africa-focused political and security risk advisory firm. Closest niche competitor to ARC on country risk monitoring and political assessments for African markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Africa Risk Consulting