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Version Française

Newsletter n°13 | August 2016

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EDITO

Manu DIBANGO

Manu Dibango is a Cameroonian saxophonist and singer. One of the precursors of the World Music, he is one of the leading figures of African music. Manu Dibango is a shareholder in the project Africa Radio, along with I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs and other African personalities.

"The radio has always been an important source of inspiration in my life. In my childhood, I’ve heard it play music from across Africa. For 15 years it also became a profession, as I started to present a weekly show on the musical heritage of the continent on Africa N°1, with Robert Brazza.

Participating to this project was an opportunity I could not miss. I have a great consideration for the founders of the project, which I’ve known for several years. I know how committed they are to promote African cultural diversity among the 200 million French speakers in the world. I see the radio as the media of the future, present in our everyday life from morning until night, at home, at work or on the road. This project also comes at a time when a young and creative Africa is starting to rise. And also a time when the advertising markets start financing independent media, making this project possible. For all these reasons, I am proud and eager to share this new adventure with my partners of Africa Radio."

FOCUS

I&P welcomes 3 Pan-African companies in its portfolio

The fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs (IPAE), which entered its last year of investment, welcomes three new companies in its portfolio: Barajii, Enko Education and Africa Radio. Operating in various sectors (agri-business, education and audiovisual), these SMEs share a common pan-African vision and development strategy.

► Barajii (Pan-African) produces and commercializes water and locally produced fruit juices packed in bio-degradable bags and PET bottles. Read More

► Enko Education (Pan-African) aims to build one of the largest African networks of private schools in Sub-Saharan Africa. Enko partners with high-potential schools to roll out a 3-year high school program, awarding the renowned International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. Read more

► Africa Radio (Pan-African) is a project of a private and independent radio targeting French-speaking African countries. Read More

Raphaël Dumont joins the investment team. Based in I&P's Cameroon office, he will follow I&P companies based in Central Africa.
Read more

Ibrahima Dosso joins I&P's team as a PhD candidate and Research Officer on ESG and impact issues.
Read more

The funds Sinergi Burkina and Teranga Capital recruited two investments officers:
Aïcha Savadogo and Fatou Diop.
Read more

► Publications: I&P published the annual ESG & Impact report of the fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs. Download the report here >>

► Membership: I&P is now a member of the network Club Afrique 2030

► Events: From October 17 to Oct. 21, I&P will organize its Annual Assembly of Shareholders and the annual training seminar.

ENTREPRENEUR'S STORY

Sokhna DIAGNE (Chairman) and Jules Charles KÉBÉ (CEO), Duopharm

Duopharm distributes pharmeceutical products throughout the country. The company was created in 2003 under the initiative of Dr. Jules Kébé and a group of Senegalese pharmacists.

Dr. Sokhna Ndiaye, Chairman of Duopharm, manages one of the biggest pharmacy of Dakar. She is deeply involved in health issues in Senegal.

Dr. Jules Kébé is one of the pharmacists involved in the project since the very beginning. Before joining Duopharm, he directed the COPHASE, one of the two leaders of pharmaceutical distribution in Senegal.

Read the Interview

NEWS OF OUR PARTNERS

PEG, a leading off-grid solar company, completed a $7.5 million round to expand its activities in West Africa. PEG has already more than 10,000 customers in Ghana.
Read more

The microfinance institution ACEP Cameroun reinforced its CSR policy, both towards its clients and employees. Jeune Afrique published an article on the companies good practices on these issues.
Read more

The Senegalese company Delta Irrigation signed a new contract with West Africa Farms, an agro-industrial company based in the region of Saint-Louis in Senegal.
Read more

► Breaking News: Official launch of the African Club of Entrepreneurs, on June 2, 2016 in Abidjan. The members of the Club's executive committe were gathered on the occasion: Dr. Kacou de Pharmivoire Nouvelle, Gabriel Fopa (ITG Store), Sidi Khalifou (CDS), Catherine Krobo-Edusei (Eden Tree) et Jules Kébé (Duopharm). Read more

► Awards: The group Conergies received a reward for its innovative air-conditionning system in the residence Chocolat in Abidjan. y

INTELLIGENCE & ANALYSIS

Women entrepreneurs in Africa: opportunities and constraints

In her article “Enabling female entrepreneurs and beyond”, the research fellow Eyerusalem Siba points out the economic, cultural and social barriers African women are facing to becoming entrepreneurs. Women are excluded from basic financial access to a greater extent than men, and only 5.7% of them already borrowed from financial institutions. They also face domestic and societal pressures that need to be specifically addressed to promote women entrepreneurship.

McKinsey’s last Women Matter report focuses for the first time on Africa. It looks at the top management and examines women’s representation on Africa’s corporate boards and executive committees. Women are still under-represented at every level of the corporate ladder, and only 5% of the CEOs are women. However low this may seem, the situation is above or in the average compared to the other regions of the World.

The report concludes that despite the considerable progress Africa has made in raising women’s representation to the top, African companies are still missing out the full benefits of gender-diverse leadership teams. This is one of the reasons I&P puts a strong emphasis on women empowerment in its ESG and investment policy. (cf. ESG & Impact Report 2016)

New Financing tools for African SMEs?

The report published by the Dutch Good Growth Fund, "News Perspectives on Financing Small Cap SME's in emerging markets" provides an understanding of small cap SME finance. New models are emerging, which blends elements from traditional Private Equity (PE) and debt financing, to provide an additional offer in the SME finance ecosystem for missing middle entrepreneurs.

Jean-Michel Severino draws the same observations in the article "Acting sustainably to promote African small businesses": Sub-Saharan Africa is having trouble channelling the corresponding financial flows to its woefully underfunded small businesses. The emergence of a locally-based private-equity model suited to the realities facing African SMEs is the only viable path to breakthrough innovation in how African economies are financed.

NEWS

In the Press

► The TV show Réussite (Canal + Afrique) visited ITG store, an IT company based in Cameroon. Read more

► Jeune Afrique published an article on the CSR policy implemented by ACEP Cameroun. Read more

► The launch of the African Club of Entrepreneurs in Côte d'Ivoire was covered by many local and pan-African media: • Monde Afrique • RFI • Koaci • Financial Afrik.

Agenda

► Paris, September 5-7 : I&P will participate to the 9th edition of Convergences World Forum, on the theme "managing the transition towards sustainable cities and territories"

► San Francisco, Sept. 13: David Munnich will be part of the conference SOCAP 2016, which connects global innovators who are dedicated to increasing the flow of capital toward social good.

► Paris, Sept. 22-23: J.-M. Severino and Annie Ferton will participate to "Les Rencontres Africa 2016", one of the most important economic event about Africa organized in France

► Leesburg, Sept. 26-28: O. Lafourcade and E. Debled will take part to ANDE annual conference in Virginia

► Paris, Sept. 28: Publication of the book on African Entrepreneurs co-authored by J.-M. Severino and J. Hajdenberg

Investiseurs & Partenaires (I&P) is an impact investing group dedicated to the development of the African continent. I&P has invested in almost 60 small and medium-size companies across 15 countries. I&P brings long-term financing (ranging from €30k to €1.5m) as well as strategic, managerial and technical support to its investees.