Niger

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

ACEP Niger is a microfinance institution targetting small and very small businesses in urban areas.

ACEP relays on two agencies and several service points in the two main cities in Niger, Niamey and Maradi.

The operator

ACEP Group is a French microfinance operator founded by Nicolas Rofe and Thierry Perreau.

ACEP institutions, also present in Cameroon, Madagascar and Burkina Faso, share a set of common values and a rigorous methodology.

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

SINERGI Niger is a local investment company which aims at the creation and development of small formal enterprises with investments from €30,000 to €75,000.

In Sub-Saharan Africa and particularly in Niger, SMEs have a little access to financial markets. Nevertheless, these are at the heart of the economic development and main job creation sources. The investment fund objective is to answer this strong demand by financing profitable projects with a strong social impact. 

THE TEAM

The team of Sinergi is managed by Djibo Ibrahima.

Graduated in engineering (Ecole Normale Supérieure des Mines in Alès), Djibo Ibrahima has always shown a burning interest towards entrepreneurship. He completed various trainings and studies in management, business administration and project management. He spent a part of his career at leading positions in various Nigerien groups (Shell Niger, Niger-Lait) and led numerous feasibility missions for mining projects and companies in Niger, in Burkina-Faso and Mali with an ever-green involvement towards Sahelian SME/SMI. From 1991 to 1997, he was in charge of Nigetip development, a World Bank project designed to support Nigerien SMEs in the building sector.  

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P is committed alongside SINERGI to:

• Recruit and train the managing team

• Set up a methodology for the selection and the deepened analysis of companies asking for financing 

• Bring an exterior and experimented look in the investment choice

KEY IMPACTS

• SINERGI has already invested in more than 7 companies in Niger

• Through realized investments, about a hundred of jobs had been created.

CAT LOGISTICS performs customs clearance and freight transport. The company manages goods and shipping from their arrival in one of the sub-regional ports directly to the client. It has subsidiaries in the three coastal countries of the region: Cotonou in Benin, Tema in Ghana and Lome in Togo.

CAT LOGISTICS has experienced very rapid growth in business volume since 2008, supported by major contracts including AREVA and the World Food Program (WFP). It operates in a particularly buoyant market with oil and mining large-scale investments. It is the only Nigerian-founded company of this size that remains independent from international firms.  In 2013-2014, CAT partnered with the UN for the peace keeping mission in Mali. The company loaded equipment, vehicles and over goods from Abidjan port in Ivory Coast to the Niger River and Gao in Mali.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Ali Djimba holds a master's degree specializing in transit and logistics, and has 30 years of experience in the sector.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P committed alongside CAT Logistics:

• By increasing the equity of the company

• Pressing the structure of governance and management

•By implementing a management control and stable and effective financial procedures to better manage the business

• Providing assistance for the development of the financial policy of the company and obtaining bank financing

KEY IMPACTS

• Development of a local player in the logistics and transit in a landlocked country

• Impacts on HR policy of the company