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Newsletter n°35 | November 2021

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IN THIS NEWSLETTER

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Mariam Djibo

Director of Advans Côte d'Ivoire

Mariam Djibo is the Director of Advans Côte d'Ivoire, the sixth African subsidiary of the international microfinance group Advans SA. She is also part of the ESG and Impact Committee of the fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2, and a member of the Investment Committee for the I&P Education to Employment program.
She reviews the consequences of the Covid-19 on the micro-entrepreneurs supported by Advans, and the challenges of digitalization.

"It is too early to speak of a "post-covid" world, but there is definitely a "post-first wave" world. Our collaboration modes, our communication tools, our business strategies, our risk assessment have been thoroughly revisited in the past few months. If the most resourceful of us could handle it in the short term, it is now about integrating these changes into our business models in a sustainable way (...)

18 months later, people are talking about economic recovery. But the most vulnerable have never been able to regain their pre-crisis level of activity, and some have even lost their business.(...) In this context, our role is to limit the impact of the "uncertainty of tomorrow". Beyond financial support, we are guiding entrepreneurs in the formalization of their organizations and in risk prevention through financial education, savings and insurance.

Our work has always been a field job. Our clients mainly operate in the informal sector, so they favor physical contact and have a strong cash culture. As a result, microfinance institutions, unlike banking institutions, rarely considered digital as a strategic level, until now. Microfinance institutions are now realizing that if we want to financially include as many people as possible, at a limited operational cost, we have to capitalize on digital. But here is still a long way to go."

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I&P brings together 10 incubators for a first regional training workshop

As part of the I&P Acceleration in Sahel program, I&P gathered in Dakar, Senegal, the first cohort of entrepreneurship support structures (incubators, accelerators, start-up studios...) for a first regional training workshop.

This first cohort is made up of 10 structures operating in the target countries of I&P Acceleration in Sahel: ActivSpaces (Cameroon), CIPMEN (Niger), Concree (Senegal), Donilab (Mali), EVA (Senegal), Impact Hub Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Innov'up (Togo), iSpace (Ghana), La Fabrique (Burkina Faso) and Oasis (Niger).

After 3 months of e-learning training, the participants consolidated their skills on financial issues, through round tables on financial diagnosis, practical workshops on formalization, and experience sharing with investment professionals.

Discover the workshop in video!

I&P has received the support of the Catalytic Capital Consortium, among 14 other organizations, to conduct an ambitious research project: to analyze the impact of catalytic capital provided to African entrepreneurs.

Read more

On October 6, I&P and Sinergi organized a roundtable in Niamey on the topc: "Entrepreneurship in Niger: presenting financing and support mechanisms targeting small businesses".
About 80 people attended the event.

Read more

I&P has published the latest impact reports for the funds under management:

Discover here the IPDEV2 impact report

Download here the reports of the funds I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 1 and 2 (IPAE 1 and IPAE 2)

IN THE MEDIA ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

L'Express de Madagascar publishes an article on private sector financing in Madagascar, with a special focus on I&P and the Malagasy Association of Capital Investors (AMIC), of which Mialy Ranaivoson has been president since July 2021. Read the article >

In Le Point Afrique, Jean Michel Severino speaks about the resilience of African entrepreneurs in a context strongly impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, and reviews the latest news from I&P. Read more >

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Wisdom Amegbletor
Founder and Director of New Crystal - Ghana - Health

Dr. Wisdom Amegbletor is a ghanaian medical doctor and an entrepreneur. Since 2003, he manages New Crystal Health Services, a private group dedicated to providing health care to low-income people in urban areas. New Crystal has partnered with the I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2 fund since 2020.

Watch his interview on our website, with recent information on the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis and their on-going projects!

"New Crystal was actively engaged in the forefront of the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana. We kept our doors open and we were able to contain the situation. The pandemic has boosted the confidence of our staff."

Watch the interview

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Represented by Adama Fofana (investment officer at Comoé Capital), I&P and Comoé Capital were present at the special education meet-up organized by Advans Côte d'Ivoire.

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A number of entrepreneurs supported by I&P took part in the Afrique-France summit, which was held on October 8 in Montpellier, including : Matina Razafimahefa (Sayna), Sylvie Sagbo (Senar), Lamine Barro (Etudesk)...
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Miarakap co-organized "AUF 3ix", an AUF event highlighting actors of francophone social innovation and connecting the responsible entrepreneurial world with universities.
Read more

NEWS OF THE PORTFOLIO : TgMaster University ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Through its partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, which aims to finance 30 entrepreneurs in the education sector in 3 countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal), the program I&P Education to Employment is carrying out its first financing in Côte d'Ivoire: TgMaster University.Read more

Led by Achille Koukou and Léonce Ano, TgMaster University is a new training program offered by the TgMaster group (founded in 2013), providing digital and management courses.

"Thanks to this financing, we have acquired the means to achieve a very strong ambition in terms of training and employability. Our objective is to provide our students with solid and relevant professional training, so that their skills are in line with the Ivorian job market" · Achille Koukou

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Latest articles from Entreprenante Afrique blog

► Laureen Kouassi-Olsson, founder of Birimian, signed an article on the African creative exception: How can African high-end creative brands develop internationally? How to take advantage of the accelerated digitalization of the continent and the Digital Native Vertical Brands? Read: "Investing in the exceptional African creativity"

► The blog dedicates two articles on acceleration programs, which aim to support entrepreneurial start-ups. What is hidden behind this concept? Are they sufficient to meet the needs of companies? What are the best practices to implement? Marianne Vidal-Marin provides an overall perspective on these programs, while Morgane Awu gives a concrete illustration with an Ivorian company operating in agribusiness. Read the articles

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ EVENTS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

► Entrepreneur Corner, the quarterly meeting dedicated to entrepreneurs in Côte d'Ivoire organized by Comoé Capital, was held as a webinar on November 4, 2021, on the theme "Formalization and legal framework of companies: which are the best practices?"

► Samuel Monteiro will be present at the 3rd CSR Forum in Francophone Africa, organized by the CSR & PED network in Dakar on December 1 and 2, 2021.

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