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Newsletter #19 | October 2017

Publish

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ EDITO ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

I&P: supporting African entrepreneurs for 15 years

Pierre Daubert
Director of the art gallery Angalia and advisor at I&P from 2002 to 2011. Author of a book on I&P's story to be published soon

"Patrice Hoppenot founded Investisseurs & Partenaires in 2002… in other words, I&P celebrates the 15th year of its existence! I&P will publish several documents and testimonies to celebrate this anniversary, alongside a short book that I wrote on I&P’s story from 2001 to 2011.

The story of I&P is indeed quite extraordinary ! (...) Patrice Hoppenot did everything he could to transform his first intuition into a durable model and he succeeded: his great idea today boosts entrepreneurship in 15 African countries. It is an exciting success – and the best is yet to come!

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ FOCUS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

I&P shares 15 lessons of experience from its first impact fund

IPDEV was founded in 2002 to contribute to the development of Small and Medium Enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa. This was a pioneering project at a time when investors showed little interest in African entrepreneurship. In the past 15 years, more than 30 investments and 20 exits in 10 different countries have been effected.

IPDEV has met with many successes and some setbacks in a rapidly evolving African context. With this document, I&P shares this unique experience and reflects on 15 key lessons that could prove useful to impact investors willing to support African small businesses.

Download the document

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ WHAT'S NEW AT I&P? ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

I&P organized, in partnership with the Ferdi, its first training on impact investing. It gathered 20 participants over three days in Paris, for one of the first training in French on the subject.

Read More

A few months after the publication of the study "Investing in Africa's Development"; we drafted a short document presenting I&P's contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Read more

Benjamin N'Dri is the new Executive Manager of the African Club of Entrepreneurs, a panafrican association based in Abidjan
gathering about 70 African entrepreneurs throughout
the continent
Read more

▬▬▬▬ MEET THE ENTREPRENEUR(S) ▬▬▬▬

Interview of Boureïma Lam and his son Boubacar Lam,

Société Malienne de Blanchisserie (last investment of the fund IPAE)

17 years ago Boureïma Lam launched one of the very first dry-cleaner’s of Bamako (Pressing Lam). Observing the lack of professional offer for the hotel industry, he starts in 2007 an industrial laundry dedicated to this clientele.

Today “La Société Malienne de Blanchisserie” (SMBLANC) is the only professional laundry service provider in Mali and counts among its clients the biggest hotels in Bamako and other professionals (restaurants, clinics, industrial and services companies).

Read the interview

▬▬▬▬ NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS ▬▬▬▬

I&P conducted an in-depth study of the Cameroonian company ITGStore.
the report is now available on our website!

Nate Heller, co-Founder and Director of PEG Africa, was among the 14 speakers of the conference TedxPortBouet held in Abidjan on October 10.

The Gabonese company Trianon finalized the construction of a new
building in Libreville

The Director of ACEP Madagascar, Mahefa Randriamiarisoa, won the price of the "best manager of the year"

Trainis, a Malian company suppored by I&P since 2010, held in Paris an important forum on infrastructure and energy in Africa.

Enko Education opened in September it first school in Senegal, Enko Dakar International School.

▬▬▬▬▬▬ INVESTMENTS & EXITS ▬▬▬▬▬▬

Teranga Capital, the impact investment fund dedicated to financing and supporting small and medium-sized entreprises in Senegal spnsored by I&P, has made its second investment and welcomes in its portfolio COGELEC Energy.

The company is specialized in electrical line construction, rural electrification and distribution and maintenance of electrical and hydraulic equipment, spanning the whole territory of Senegal.

Read more ►

▬▬▬▬▬ INTELLEGENCE & ANALYSIS ▬▬▬▬▬

Focus on SDG #4: Access to education in Africa

Context: Access to education remains a substantial challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2012, 56 million sub-Saharan Africans aged 15 to 24 (equal to one third of the population), had not completed their primary school education and lacked skills for work. (UNESCO). To read more on what impact investors can do in the field of education, check the report "Investing in Africa's Development"

Develop Human Capital: The World Economic Forum published the annual Human Capital report, with Sub-Saharan Africa standing as the lowest-ranked region in the index. As stated in introduction, "How nations develop their human capital can be a more important determinant of their long-term success than virtually any other factor.

Growth and Development in Africa: Entrepreneurs are a driving force!

Following the SOCAP Conference, MCE Social Capital published a blog post to demonstrate how African entrepreneurship can foster the successful economic and social development of Sub-Saharan Africa. "Entrepreneurs acts as agents of both innovation and industrialization, and are thus integral to the sustainable growth of African economies."

The article notably refers to the last African Economic Outlook, which focuses this year on entrepreneurship and industrialization. As stated in the report, 22% of the working-age population in Africa are starting or running new businesses — the highest rate in the world,

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ LATEST NEWS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

In the press

► The African Club of Entrepreneurs is mentionned in an article published on the World Bank's blog entitled "It takes an ecosystem: how networks can boost African incubators". Read article

► RFI broadcasts a debate on the sustainability of African growh between Jean-Michel Severino, Lionel Zinsou and Pascal Agboyibor. Listen to the program

Agenda

►Oslo, November 9: The EVPA (Europen Venture Philanthopy Association) organizes its annual conference, gathering more than 500 participants

►Zurich, December 7: I&P will participate to the GIIN European Member Event

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.