Sinergi Niger

Created in 2013, Innovatech is a company dedicated to researching technological innovation, production processes and the adoption of new technologies in agriculture.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Prior to entering the entrepreneurial world, Mr. YAHAYA has mainly dedicated his career to research and dissemination of agricultural technology, with more than 32 years of professional career in sub-regional agricultural research organizations. From 1986 to 1991, he was in charge of experiments at the INRAN station in Lossa (Tillabéry), at the Phytopathology Laboratory, at the Laboratory of Phytopathology, and at the Laboratory of Greenhouse and Field Research on millet, peanut and sorghum diseases. Mr. YAHAYA also held the position of Head of Greenhouses, Seed Laboratory and Phylogenetic Bank Management at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) from 1991 to 2017.

ABOUT

SINERGI S.A. is a private investment company created in 2006 and supported by I&P with a group of key individual and institutional shareholders in the Nigerien and international SME support landscape. Headed by Ibrahima Djibo, its objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of Niger through the promotion of entrepreneurship and the development of SMEs. SINERGI S.A. provides the means for entrepreneurs in Niger to achieve their growth projects by providing long-term financing and local support.  → Find out more about Sinergi

ABOUT USAID PROGRAM

Investisseurs & Partenaires and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched in 2016 an innovative acceleration program for start-ups in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The partnership is designed to support high-potential start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises in order to facilitate their access to financing in a region where the ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship is still poorly developed. → Click here to find out more

MADE'S GROUP is an industrial unit specializing in the production and marketing of potato chips, infant flour enriched with moringa and peanut, and juices, all based on the sweet potato.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

SOULEYMANE MADE is a young food and quality engineer. After several professional experiences in the field of agro-industry in Niger, Ivory Coast, and Equatorial Guinea, he created with partners the company DJADO INNOVATION to manufacture juices based on sweet potato before renaming it MADE'SGROUP in April 2017 with the financial support of ASUSU SA.

ABOUT SINERGI

SINERGI S.A. is a private investment company created in 2006 and supported by I&P with a group of key individual and institutional shareholders in the Nigerien and international SME support landscape. Headed by Ibrahima Djibo, its objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of Niger through the promotion of entrepreneurship and the development of SMEs. SINERGI S.A. provides the means for entrepreneurs in Niger to achieve their growth projects by providing long-term financing and local support.  → Find out more about Sinergi

ABOUT USAID PROGRAM

Investisseurs & Partenaires and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched in 2016 an innovative acceleration program for start-ups in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The partnership is designed to support high-potential start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises in order to facilitate their access to financing in a region where the ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship is still poorly developed. → Click here to find out more

Niger Chaussures is an artisanal company which has a manufacturing and marketing unit of high-end city shoes produced from tanned leather.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Abdou ALHASSANE began his studies up to high school, which he left to start the craft activity at a very young age. He thus started to produce shoes for men that he exhibited in his workshop located in the artisanal village of Niger. After several trainings, he improved the design of his products and integrated other models including one for women in his product range.

ABOUT

SINERGI S.A. is a private investment company created in 2006 and supported by I&P with a group of key individual and institutional shareholders in the Nigerien and international SME support landscape. Headed by Ibrahima Djibo, its objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of Niger through the promotion of entrepreneurship and the development of SMEs. SINERGI S.A. provides the means for entrepreneurs in Niger to achieve their growth projects by providing long-term financing and local support.  → Find out more about Sinergi

ABOUT USAID PROGRAM

Investisseurs & Partenaires and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched in 2016 an innovative acceleration program for start-ups in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The partnership is designed to support high-potential start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises in order to facilitate their access to financing in a region where the ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship is still poorly developed. → Click here to find out more

Created in 2015, Gaicha is a company specialized in the manufacture and marketing of cosmetic products, in particular soaps and cosmetic oils based on natural products. The raw materials it uses in the design of its products are local. 

THE ENTREPRENEUR

An information systems engineer, Mrs. MAIGUIZO TANKARI Saadatou worked for several years at Orange Niger where she held several positions as engineer and marketing project manager. Because of her strong desire to be entrepreneurial, she created the company Gaicha in 2015 and resigned from her position in November 2016.

ABOUT SINERGI

SINERGI S.A. is a private investment company created in 2006 and supported by I&P with a group of key individual and institutional shareholders in the Nigerien and international SME support landscape. Headed by Ibrahima Djibo, its objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of Niger through the promotion of entrepreneurship and the development of SMEs. SINERGI S.A. provides the means for entrepreneurs in Niger to achieve their growth projects by providing long-term financing and local support.  → Find out more about Sinergi

ABOUT USAID PROGRAM

Investisseurs & Partenaires and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched in 2016 an innovative acceleration program for start-ups in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The partnership is designed to support high-potential start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises in order to facilitate their access to financing in a region where the ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship is still poorly developed. → Click here to find out more

TOTEM is a company created in 2017 offering software packages for school management, development of websites and mobile applications.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Kabirou AMADOU is a young 28-year-old systems engineer. After his engineering degree from the Institute of Technologies of Abidjan in 2016, he worked as a Web and mobile developer at Innova Technologie company (in Ivory Coast) then as a Freelancer Consultant in 2017 before finally creating his own company.

ABOUT SINERGI NIGER

SINERGI S.A. is a private investment company created in 2006 and supported by I&P with a group of key individual and institutional shareholders in the Nigerien and international SME support landscape. Headed by Ibrahima Djibo, its objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of Niger through the promotion of entrepreneurship and the development of SMEs. SINERGI S.A. provides the means for entrepreneurs in Niger to achieve their growth projects by providing long-term financing and local support.  → Find out more about Sinergi Niger 
 

ABOUT USAID PROGRAM

Investisseurs & Partenaires and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched in 2016 an innovative acceleration program for young companies located in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The partnership will support high-potential start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises to facilitate their access to financing in a region where the ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship is still underdeveloped. → Click here to find out more

Created in 2017, La Crémière du Sahel is a cheese dairy specialising in the processing of cow's milk. 

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Maimouna ZEINE founded La Crémière du Sahel. Holder of a Master 2 in management from the Mercure University of Brussels (Belgium), she received training in project engineering and the multi-actor partnership of CIEDEL in Lyon (France). She worked in several NGOs (OXFAM, PAM and IRD) before being trained by women transformers of Toukounous (Filingué) in 2017. 

ABOUT SINERGI

SINERGI S.A. is a private investment company created in 2006 and supported by I&P with a group of key individual and institutional shareholders in the Nigerien and international SME support landscape. Headed by Ibrahima Djibo, its objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of Niger through the promotion of entrepreneurship and the development of SMEs. SINERGI S.A. provides the means for entrepreneurs in Niger to achieve their growth projects by providing long-term financing and local support.  → Find out more about Sinergi Niger 

ABOUT USAID PROGRAM

Investisseurs & Partenaires and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched in 2016 an innovative acceleration program for start-ups in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The partnership is designed to support high-potential start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises in order to facilitate their access to financing in a region where the ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship is still poorly developed. Click here to find out more

Created in 2006, the Ainoma Seed Farm is specialized in the production of improved seeds for the south-western region of Niger. The production site is located in the village of Fatabaga in the commune of Tamou, Say Department in the region of Tillabéry.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

The farm has been managed by Mrs. Aichatou Nasser since 2014, who studied in the United States and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management.  Her first mission in the company was to take charge of the management and implementation of a program aimed at increasing seed production capacity. 

ABOUT SINERGI

SINERGI S.A. is a private investment company created in 2006 and supported by I&P with a group of key individual and institutional shareholders in the Nigerien and international SME support landscape. Headed by Ibrahima Djibo, its objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of Niger through the promotion of entrepreneurship and the development of SMEs. SINERGI S.A. provides the means for entrepreneurs in Niger to achieve their growth projects by providing long-term financing and local support.  → Find out more about Sinergi Niger 
 

ABOUT USAID PROGRAM

Investisseurs & Partenaires and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched in 2016 an innovative acceleration program for young companies located in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The partnership will support high-potential start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises to facilitate their access to financing in a region where the ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship is still underdeveloped. → Click here to find out more

Based in Maradi and founded in 1994, UNIFAM specializes in the manufacture of agricultural equipment, equipment and school furniture.

Sinergi Niger made its first investment in 2008 (exit in 2014) and decided in 2016 to reinvest in the company in order to allow it to diversify its activities.

PARTNERSHIP WITH SINERGI NIGER

Sinergi committed alongside with Unifam to:

• Support the extension of Unifam’s activities and develop a building materials activity to answer the needs of the Nigerien housing market

• Structure the firm (accounting, formalisation, bank relationships) and achieve stable profitability

• Support to Business development: market research and procuring process

• Support to tenders for agricultural and school equipment from UNICEF, Plan Niger, Spanish cooperation...

• Implementation of management tools (budget preparation and monitoring, cash flow plan)

KEY IMPACTS OF THE COMPANY

• Provides opportunities for many service providers and subcontractors in the Maradi region, thus contributing to the structuring of a local supply chain

• Equipping about a hundred classrooms with school furniture throughout the country in 2012, in partnership with the NGO Plan Niger

• Contribution to the 2014-2024 National Program for Investment in School Infrastructure

• Innovation in the design of agricultural equipment, ensuring better productivity

• Contributions of the project to sustainable development objectives (project on access to sustainable housing at affordable conditions, project contributing to the improvement of sustainable agriculture).

• 19 employees in 2017

• 96 agricultural machinery and equipment manufactured in 2017

• 3095 round tubes and 719 square tubes distributed in 2017

La Sahélienne des Semences is a company dedicated to the production, packaging and marketing of improved seeds of rainfed and market gardening species. To date, it produces improved seeds of millet, sorghum, cowpea, groundnuts and maize.

Its objectives are to increase its production capacity in quality seeds and to improve the accessibility of seeds to small producers in the Maradi region.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Mr Abdou MAGAGAGI holds a Master's degree in plant breeding from Ghana, and has attended several national and international training courses and seminars in the field. He has more than 34 years of experience in hybrid seed research and plant breeding as an agent of INRAN. He has a perfect knowledge of local varieties and improved seeds developed by INRAN for Producers. He trained them in production techniques with improved seeds and accompanied them throughout his career. He has succeeded in building strong commercial and technical relationships with producers in the region and with project and NGO clients.

PARTNERSHIP WITH SINERGI NIGER

• Implementation of management tools (budget monitoring, cash flow plan, journals, inventory management)

• Operational follow-up at the technical, organisational, commercial and financial levels

• Competitive intelligence (search for customers and technical partners)

• Identification and support for the development of tendering contracts.

MAIN IMPACTS

• Agro-business project contributing to food security, improved nutrition and the promotion of sustainable agriculture

• Implementation of a support program for producers

• Recovery and treatment of residues

• 134 tonnes of improved seeds distributed in 2018

• Structuring a network of 191 small agricultural producers

SAHEL-LAB is a Nigerien laboratory that prepares mining samples for exploration actors in the country (uranium, gold) and conducts chemical, hydrologic and environmental analyses for other actors including large NGOs.

Sahel-Lab was co-founded by SINERGI in 2009, after the entrepreneur M. Takoubakoye Daouda applied for a business plan competition organized by SINERGI in 2008. SINERGI invested €67,000 in Sahel Lab, taking a minority equity position and providing a long-term shareholder’s loan.

Sahel-Lab has grown its activity exponentially since 2011. Today, Sahel-Lab is the leading mining laboratory in Niger, accredited ISO 17 025 and realizing 100% of the samples preparation needs of the main players in mining exploration (Gazprom, Global Uranium, etc.). Sahel-Lab has created 18 trained jobs so far and plans to grow additional mining services in the years to come.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Mr. Djibo Takoubakoye DAOUDA holds a PhD in Nuclear Instrumentation from the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec-Canada), a DESS in Nuclear Security from Joseph Fourrier University (Grenoble-France) and a Master's degree in Physics from Abdou Moumouni University (Niamey-Niger).

Prior to founding Sahel-Lab, he was responsible for the Radiological Environmental Monitoring Service, in charge of the gamma-ray spectrometric analysis of environmental samples (water, soil, vegetables, etc.) from the mining regions and the analysis annual balance sheets provided by the companies. He is also Consultant in cartography and surface radiometry.

PARTNERSHIP WITH SINERGI NIGER

• Support to get ISO 17025 certification

• Strategic support to become a market leader

IMPACTS

• a leading position on the local market