Senegal

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

La Laiterie du Berger is the only Senegalese company to manufacture dairy products from local fresh milk, collected from more than 800 farmers in the area Richard Toll in northern Senegal. The products of Laiterie du Berger, distributed in more than 6,000 outlets in late 2012, face a stiff competition face to products made ​​from imported milk powder and dairy products from the informal economy.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Bagoré-Xavier Bathily was born in Dakar and studied veterinary medicine in Belgium. He then worked in France and for an NGO in Mauritania. In 2005, with strong support from his brothers and sisters, he created La Laiterie du Berger to enhance the production of fresh milk in Senegal.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P committed alongside with La Laiterie du Berger to:

• To provide the capital needed for the company to start

• To contribute to the early strategy of the company

• To progressively implement management tools

• To contribute to the expansion of the shareholder base

• To provide technical assistance on various topics (operational and financial)

IMPACTS

• Steady revenue granted to 800 rural families guaranteeing economic security and preservation of their traditional activity

• Contribution to the structure of the dairy industry in Senegal

• Offer of healthy affordable dairies in individually marketed goods

Colaser is an ophthalmologic clinic aiming at responding to the needs of a broad and diverse clientele such as individuals, employees under healthcare programs, retired people, middle-class people, and foreigners. The clinic has followed an unfluctuating growth since its creation. It carries out 10,000 consultations and 1,400 medical procedures every year, among which 110 retinal detachments and as many refractive eye surgery.

Colaser stands as the most important ophthalmologic center in terms of equipment and expertise. It substitutes to medical travels in Europe for numerous diagnostics and cares. Within a few years, Colaser has become a model for West-African ophthalmological clinics, and attracts a steady flow of patients from neighbor countries.

ENTREPRENEURS

Colaser was created in 2007 when the care supply was highly insufficient. It was initiated by 4 doctors: Pr. Lam, Dr. Seck, Dr. Jouni and Dr. Jaffar. Aliou Lam and Makane Seck are military doctors and surgeons. They formerly worked at the Hopital Principal of Dakar and took the chance, while leaving the army, to settle in Senegal and invest in the private sector.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P committed alongside with Colaser :

• To provide a key financial and strategic support at the company’s creation

• To grant the founders a loan that would enable them to purchase high-technology pieces of equipment

• To strengthen the administrative service of the clinic.

KEY IMPACTS

• 21 jobs created

• Improvement of the local medical offer

• Successful example of associated doctors

Fides Senegal Microfinance is a young microfinance institution that aims to provide financial services to urban and rural population located in northern Senegal: solidarity and individual loans, savings, insurance and mobile banking.

Headquartered in St. Louis, it opened offices in Luga and Touba, and will settle one new agency every year in the North of the country, where the offer is lower than in Dakar. It enjoys the support of FIDES consultants in the establishment of microfinance business (corporations) in the rural world.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P committed alongside with Fides Microfinance Sénégal:

• Being the first investor to confirm its commitment to FMS, to pilot the project building

• To participate in strategic discussions with the management team (Governance, etc.). 

KEY IMPACTS

• Access to financial services in rural and peri-urban areas: more than 21,000 borrowers (including 85% women) and 37 500 savers

• 154 jobs maintained in 2015, including more than 60% women

• 35 local suppliers 

• Demonstration of microfinance viability in the private sector in West Africa, where NGOs and cooperatives are privileged actors

DUOPHARM was created in 2003 under the initiative of a merger of nearly 150 Senegalese pharmacists. Since then, the company achieved a breakthrough in the Senegalese pharmaceutical landscape thanks to its proximity marketing strategy. Local pharmaceutics market is characterized by high competitive intensity and a strong presence of European multinational companies. However this market is experiencing very strong growth in Senegal, where health spending per capita increased sharply since the early 2000s. Thus since 1999, the number of drugstore has doubled since 1999 and the pharmaceutical market shows an annual increase of about 6%.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Jules Charles Kebe, Director of Duopharm, was medical sales representative for Pfizer and led the COPHASE, second wholesaler-distributor of Senegal from 1999 to 2002. 

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P committed alongside with DUOPHARM: 

• To deepen with developers, and with the support of a pharmacist who had a similar experience in Mali, the initial financial projections and action plan

• To provide funding to the company at its inception and contributing to capital increases

• To elaborate the financial strategy

EXIT

In 2016, I&P sold its shares to the pharmacists who founded the company.

KEY IMPACTS

• Emergence of a local player in the pharmaceutical distribution (both leaders are subsidiaries of French companies)

• 89 jobs in 2015, which is a 20% increase compared to 2014

• 25% of the employees are women 

• 4 400 references of pharmaceutical products distributed to over 500 customers 

• 17 local suppliers 

Equip Plus is a Senegalese company within the industry of electromechanical equipment. It has developed an expertise in key sectors such as water adduction and electric networks led by a team of technicians specialized in installing and providing maintenance of this equipment.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P committed alongside with Equip Plus:

• To ensure the business structuring: information systems, management indicators

• To strengthen guidance towards private sector demand and high value-added activities (including maintenance) 

KEY IMPACTS

• Strengthening local services capacity

• Access to water and electricity in rural areas (public service delegation)