Ivory Coast

Founded in 2018, STUDIO KÄ is a start-up company specialising in the creation and production of educational animated series based on African stories, thus with high cultural added value for children.

STUDIO KÄ has obtained a partnership with TV5 Monde (an international French-speaking general-interest television channel) for the production of an animation series called "Les Contes de Raya". In addition, the company plans to develop several contents with the same characteristics for local and international sales.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Soro Adja holds a Master's degree in Finance and Accounting and a certificate in Business and Entrepreneurship from Lehigh University of Pennsylvania. After several years in the field of microfinance, Adja returned to her first passion, literature. Convinced that literature is a factor of cultural emancipation and open-mindedness, she did an internship at PLAYBAC Presse, a French publishing house, before returning to Côte d'Ivoire in 2015 to create Voyelles Editions, whose main product is the cultural youth magazine "Bulles". Today, the promoter launched STUDIO KÄ to develop the production of animated films.

PARTNERSHIP WITH COMOE CAPITAL

• Improve the quality of production and governance

• Produce several animated series

• Implementation of a health insurance system for employees fully operational

MAIN IMPACTS

• Creation of modern content, inspired by African stories, through the production of several edutainment animated series

• Substitution to animated films generally imported into Côte d'Ivoire

• Creation of local know-how through capacity building and the acquisition of appropriate equipment

The medical-surgical clinic PROCREA, based in Abidjan, began operating in 2008. It specializes in the field of reproductive health and is the leader in Côte d’Ivoire in Assisted Reproductive Health Care (AMP), a technique that treats people with infertility issues and helps them to achieve parenthood.

PROCRÉA also provides mother-child care, including obstetrical gynecology, neonatology (newborn care), and pediatrics.

The vision of PROCREA's promoters is to popularize the practice of MAP in order to make it accessible to a greater number of people. The clinic aims to become one of the leaders in the sector in Côte d'Ivoire and West Africa, complying with the requirements and standards of the international medical sector. In ten years of activity, the clinic has already accompanied more than 500 couples.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

PROCRÉA was created in 2006 under the initiative of Dr. Myriam Kadio-Morokro Brou, principal promoter, and Professor Marie-Laure Hauhouot Attoumgbré, co-promoter, both of whom are recognized experts in Côte d'Ivoire in the fields of biology and reproductive sciences. Later they were joined by 3 other renowned health professionals in Côte d'Ivoire.

After obtaining her bachelor's degree in France, Dr. Kadio-Morokro Brou joined the Faculty of Medicine in Abidjan where she graduated in 2001 and did a thesis on reproductive biology. Passionate about the subject, she then returned to France to complete her studies in reproductive biology, sterility therapy, molecular cytogenetics and male sterility. During her stay in France she worked in several hospitals, hospitals and laboratories.

Back in Côte d'Ivoire in 2005, she suggested to her friend Prof Attoumgbré to join her in the PROCREA clinic project, which they founded in 2006. PROCREA’s activities officially started in 2008.

► To know more, discover the interview of Dr. Kadio-Morokro Brou

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P 

I&P committed alongside with PROCRÉA to:

• Restructure the project to focus on the medical offer dedicated to reproduction

• Financing and supporting the construction of a new, larger clinic, better adapted to PROCRÉA's needs and designed in an environmentally friendly way (treatment of medical waste, rainwater recovery, reduction in energy consumption, etc.)

• Support the management team in the running of the clinic

EXPECTED IMPACTS

• Make reproductive health care available to the greatest number of people

• Improve the quality of care

• Increase the clinic's capacity

Etudesk is a start-up offering online professional training through its interactive platform. The courses offered are strictly professional in nature and cover a wide range of learning areas: Business, IT, Economics, Civil Engineering, Science, etc. Etudesk defines itself as the “university of companies” and aims to reduce the gap between academic training and the skills required by companies.

The platform is available via PC, tablet and smartphone and without internet connection on mobile applications. It offers:

• Short-term training modules (about 2 to 10 hours) covering a specific field and aimed at students and professionals wishing to acquire or deepen specific skills. Each module includes a course structured in several sections with evaluation quizzes and practical activities
• Learning programs that are composed of a set of modules. The pathways provide access to a mentor and a final evaluation. A certificate, sponsored by a company, is issued at the end of the program in order to enhance the professional profile of the student if the program is successfully completed

The project has a strong economic and social impact: Etudesk aims to support active people in their career development but also to facilitate the professional integration of students and job seekers in a country with a young population and a high unemployment rate. Etudesk offers high-quality teaching programs (experienced instructors and content reviewed by several professionals) at an affordable price.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Lamine BARRO is a young Ivorian entrepreneur, who was only 22 years old when he founded Etudesk in 2016.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Korhogo (2014) and a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from the Founder Institute (2016). Before creating Etudesk, he was a Microsoft Student Partner for several years and has several years of experience as an IT specialist in various firms.

PARTNERSHIP WITH COMOÉ CAPITAL

• Formalization and compliance with accounting standards

• Strategic support to adapt the business plan to the Ivorian context and its competitive environment

• Support for strengthening the offer (creation of new training courses)

• Support the commercial deployment of the company

Etudesk is supported through the Education Impact Fund (EIF), managed by Comoé Capital. This impact fund dedicated to education in Côte d'Ivoire is sponsored by Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) and the Jacobs Foundation. It provides financial and managerial support to Ivorian SMEs and start-ups with the aim of improving the quality and/or access to education in the country.

Etudesk also benefits from financial support and technical assistance within the framework of the I&P Acceleration in the Sahel program, in partnership with the European Union. To cope with the unprecedented situation of covid-19, some fifteen companies benefit from technical and financial support to maintain their activities and overcome the crisis.

MAIN IMPACTS

• Access to education for a broad target population

• Facilitates the professional integration of students and job seekers

NEWS AND AWARDS

Etudesk won Seedstars Abidjan Competition in 2016. Read more →

In 2017 Etudesk was one of the five winning companies of the Digital Africa competition, among the 770 French and African startups participating whose projects put digital innovation at the service of sustainable development. As a finalist, Etudesk benefited from an "acceleration pack", composed of technical and financial support provided by the French Development Agency. Read more →

Created in 2005, VALLESSE is a publishing house based in Côte d’Ivoire, which has an editorial collection of nearly thirty books, nine of which are accredited to the undergraduate curriculum, approved extra-curriculars books and youth literature. VALLESSE has four collections to her credit.

VALLESSE is an active member of ASSEDI (Association des Editeurs de Côte d'Ivoire) and the Association des Editeurs Francophones au Sud du Sahara (AFRILIVRES).

VALLESSE won 3 prizes at the Abidjan 2018 International Book Fair:

• The International Book Fair Award for the novel “Tristesse au Paradis” of Grâce Minlibé

• The Jeanne de Cavally Award for “La Veste de Grégoire” of Serge Grah

• The special mention of Bernard Dadié Award for Young Writer for “Tristesse au Paradis” of Grâce Minlibé

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Fidèle Diomandé worked between 2001 and 2005 at the national leader CEDA (before the merger with NEI), at the direction of manufacturing after passing through the communication department and pedagogy. Faced with the difficulties encountered by CEDA, she joined the printing press Nour. After a few months in this company, she decided to create Vallesse because of her passion for both books and entrepreneurship.

PARTNERSHIP WITH COMOÉ CAPITAL

Comoé Capital committed alongside Vallesse to:

• Support the development of a new educational collection dedicated to all secondary levels and all disciplines

• Support the business development of the firm through new distribution channels

• Support the formalization of the firm (accounting, HR)

KEY IMPACTS

• Strengthen an education-focused publishing actor that promote a wide access to educational content and youth literature in Côte d’Ivoire

ENVAL LABORATOIRE, based in Ivory Coast, is one of the most important laboratory of physico-chemical and microbiological analyses in West Africa.

Officially founded in 2012, ENVAL LABORATOIRE is specialized in microbiological and physico-chemical tests and analyses. The company has recently expanded its activities and conducts soil, foliar and oil analyses, as well as noise-measuring and air quality analyses.

ENVAL aims to expand its activities to the mining sector in new site located in Yamoussoukro and wishes to reinforce its capacity regarding physico-chemical analyses.

The Entrepreneur

Bakary Coulibaly has over 20 years of experience in chemical analysis and company management. He conducted several studies in Ivory-Coast and the sub-region for local entities and multinational companies such as TOTAL, CIPREL and PISA-IMPEX. Bakary has created Enval Laboratoire with 3 Ivorian associates.

Partnership with I&P

I&P is committed alongside ENVAL to:

• Reinforce the microbiological and physico-chemical activity of the company

• Expand is activities to mining analyses by supporting the launch of a new laboratory dedicated to this activity

• Cover the regional market for mining analyses

• Expand the activities to soil and foliar analyses, as well as pesticide analyses

Expected Impact

• Contribute to support an emerging mining sector in the region

• Reinforce the environmental policy of the company

• Create more than 30 skilled jobs

Founded in Gabon in 2012 by Folly Koussawo with the support of Seydou Béyé, Trianon Homes is a real estate development and construction company with three core businesses: third-party construction, turnkey project design and construction, and real estate development.

From the outset, Trianon Homes took the gamble of positioning itself as the missing link in Gabon's construction industry: a company combining the agility of a small-scale structure with the application of a structured group. Trianon quickly demonstrated the viability of its model, winning over public and private clientele.

After a decade of activity and successful experience in real estate development in Gabon, Trianon is now stepping up its real estate development operations aimed at middle-class families in several African countries: Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Benin. The company's ambition is to respond to the problem of access to property ownership, which is becoming increasingly difficult in African cities, where land prices have risen sharply in recent decades as a result of galloping urbanization.

Today, Trianon has 50 employees, over 200 local subcontractors, 85 completed projects and plans to deliver hundreds of new homes every year for real estate development projects.

The entrepreneur

Folly Koussawo is a Franco-Gabonese entrepreneur in his forties, and has been running the company since its creation in 2012. He graduated from the Ecole Supérieur de Commerce IPAG in Nice, and holds a DESS in real estate from the Sorbonne (Paris). After graduating, he began his career as an auditor with Grant Thornton in France, before joining Kaufman & Broad (K&B), one of France's leading property development groups, for a period of 7 years.

Since June 2023, Folly Koussawo has also been President of the Club Africain des Entrepreneurs, a pan-African organization created in 2016 and bringing together women and men invested in the entrepreneurial adventure and united by a shared commitment to sustainable and responsible development in Africa. 

Words from the new president of the Club Africain des Entrepreneurs

Partnership with I&P

The first partnership between Trianon and I&P dates back to 2014, with initial financing provided through the I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 1 (IPAE1) fund, which enabled the company to structure itself and increase its production capacity (prefabrication unit, wood and metal joinery, equipment fleet).  

This new financing, completed in 2023, will help Trianon take another step forward in the development of its activities, notably real estate development in Gabon and Côte d'Ivoire.

Expected impact

• Access to home ownership and sustainable, quality housing for middle-class African families;  
• Creation of formal jobs;  
• Raising local construction standards.

Conergies designs, engineers, installs and provides maintenance for air conditioning and industrial cooling systems.

The group gathers two subsidiaries in Mali (RICA Services) and in Côte d'Ivoire (ARIC). Being comfortably settled in Mali, the group plans on a large-scaled deployment in Côte d'Ivoire where the construction market remains globally depressed. Around 80% of Abidjan towers need restoration and virtually no investment were made in the past 15 years within the sector. The local offer needs a structuration force which RICA is able to embody.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Mamadou Sanankoua graduated in Mechanics Engineering from Polytechnique Montreal and in International Project Management from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce of Paris. His academic path thus combines technical and financial skills with business engineering experiences earned within great industrial firms (Schneider Electrics, Daikin Europe). He decided to take the lead in the family business then ran by his father in 2001 to pursue its leadership over the sub-region alongside with his brothers and a friend.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P has committed alongside with Conergies:

• To bring technical assistance resources needed to renew the Management Information System

• To support through marketing assistance and guide the company during its rebranding process

• To build up the governance

KEY IMPACTS

• A dozen jobs created in the new Ivorian subsidiary

• Awareness and expertise brought over efficient energy

• Health and security trainings for the employees

Pharmivoire Nouvelle is an Ivorian lab processing medical intravenous solutions. Pharmivoire was created when Copharminvest Holding bought the industrial lab PHARMIVOIRE in 1999. It is for now the only lab to locally produce and sell soft-packed intravenous solutions in French-Speaking West Africa. The company aims at becoming a leader on the West African Economic and Monetary Union, a market in real demand for medical goods while the sub-regional market imports 90% of this type of equipment.

COPHARMINVEST HOLDING was created in 1993 by the Ivorian Order of Pharmacists in order to comply with practitioners needs and set up economic tools within their sector by filling local industry needs as opportunities arise. This council gathers more than 100 private pharmacists.

THE ENTREPRENEURS

Dr. Elizabeth Kacou is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pharmivoire. Dr. Kacou is an officine-managing pharmacist with a dual profile  enhanced  by several management trainings (HEC Paris, HEC Executive Ivory Coast). 

The management of the company is held by Peter Aouely, the first non-pharmacist manager of the company with a strong entrepreneur background and a solid sense of business he acquired during his study at the Business School of Abidjan (ESCA).

PARTNESHIP WITH I&P

I&P is committed alongside with Pharmivoire:

• To finance a new type of equipment that will produce more profitable packs

• To set up employee profit-sharing plans with a bonus system

KEY IMPACTS

• Imports reduction on the intravenous solutions market

• Strong local added value

• Highly-qualified jobs

• Structured local pharmaceutic sector

NOVAGO (formerly known as "VRS") is a company with 20 years' experience in the field of full service long-term vehicle rental.

Created in 2004 by two French entrepreneurs, Pierrick Morier and Thomas Crand, NOVAGO has grown to become a key player in the long-term vehicle rental and fleet management sector in West Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Ghana), with a fleet of around 1,000 vehicles in 2023.

The company provides rental services for a wide range of clients, from professionals/SMEs to some of the larget international corporates based in West Africa. NOVAGO's activities include fleet management, vehicle maintenance and servicing, assistance and repairs, driver services and insurance.

NOVAGO plans to expand its activities in Benin and Togo.

The entrepreneurs

The management team consists of Jérôme de Villard, Chief Executive Officer of NOVAGO Africa, and Manuella Sako, Chief Financial Officer of NOVAGO Africa, Romain Pinto, Chief Executive Officer of NOVAGO Ghana, Mohamed Ly (NOVAGO Senegal) and Ramatoulaye Balde (NOVAGO Côte d'Ivoire).

The founders of the company, Pierrick Morier and Thomas Crand, are both members of the Board of Directors.

Partnership with I&P

I&P invested in the company in 2014 through its fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs, and reinvested with the fund IPAE 2.

Support by IPAE 1 (2014-2022)

⇒ The fleet managed by NOVAGO has grown from 80 to 800 recent, fuel-efficient vehicles.

⇒ Originally based in Ghana, the company has expanded its activities in Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal thanks to the support of IPAE 1.

⇒ I&P supported the implementation of a solid ESG plan for NOVAGO, symbolised by the launch of the first 100% electric vehicle in Côte d'Ivoire in 2023.

Ongoing projects (IPAE 2' investment)

In March 2023, NOVAGO completed a new round of financing with I&P (through IPAE 2) and Adiwale Partners. This new investment aims to :

⇒ Strengthen the company's business in its existing markets

⇒ Support NOVAGO's expansion into other West African countries

Key impacts

⇒ Creation of local standards within a nascent market

⇒ Development of a green cars offer

⇒ Pollution control policy (waste oil recycled) and implementation of a carbon offsetting strategy with the support of I&P and Ecosur Afrique

⇒ Improvement of employees’ social conditions thanks to a healthcare system

Read more

⇒ Company's website

Cofipêche is settled in Abidjan and locally produces knotless fishing nets sold in Ivory Coast and the sub-region. They are used for surface fishing and fish farming. Both factory trawlers and traditional fishermen prioritize this kind of nets for they do not hurt the fishes. Those international regulation-compliant nets designed to save the natural stocks from over-fishing are locally crafted from imported nylon wires. Cofipêche is the only Subsaharan African factory positioned on this industrial segment. All equivalent products are imported from Asia.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Sidi Coulibaly spent most of his career in textile industry at commercial management positions (CFCI, Uniwax, Filtisac, IPS). He took over the existing company Cofipêche in 2004.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P committed alongside with Cofipêche

• To bring the financial support needed for recovery after the 2011 economic crisis

• To accompany the market positioning on product diversification

• To help strengthening the commercial segment of the company

• To seek for optimization of working capital

KEY IMPACTS

• Local offer facing informal and foreign competition

• Natural stocks preservation