I&P Accélération au Sahel (IPAS): Pioneering acceleration program for SMEs in the Sahel region draws to a close

In 2019, Investisseurs & Partenaires launched I&P Accélération au Sahel thanks to funding from the European Union, more specifically through The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. Financed up to €15.5 million, and deployed over 5 years, this program is aimed at start-ups and small businesses in the Sahel region with one main objective: to give them access to the financing and skills they need to enable their development and thus promote job creation.

The program was coordinated by I&P and implemented by a network of I&P's partner African impact funds: Comoé Capital in Côte d'Ivoire, Sinergi in Burkina Faso, Sinergi Niger, Teranga Capital Partners in Senegal and Zira Capital in Mali.

Five years after its launch, the closing event of the I&P Accélération au Sahel program took place on November 7, 2024 at the Novotel Abidjan Marcory, in the presence of representatives of the European Union, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial support structures supported by the program, the I&P team and its partner funds.

“Five years after its launch, it is with great emotion and pride that we return the I&P Accélération program to the Sahel. Our thanks go to the European Union, to the teams who deployed the program, but also and above all to the entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial support structures, true pillars of development in the sub-region and throughout the continent”. - Sebastien Boyé, I&P Co-CEO

 View images from the closing event

IPAS key figures

Since its launch, I&P Accélération au Sahel has :

• Financed 100 companies in 12 countries of the sub-region: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo, for an average ticket of €47,000. ; 
• Trained over 300 companies ;
• Carried out over 300 technical assistance missions ;
• Trained 22 entrepreneurial support structures ;
• Helped create or maintain over 5,600 direct jobs. 

Ongoing commitment to the private sector

The European Union, sponsor of the program, reiterates its commitment to the African private sector, the driving force behind the continent's development: 

"The I&P Acceleration program in the Sahel is coming to a successful end, but the closure of the program does not mark the end of the European Union's support for the private sector in the Sahel, and in Africa in general.' - Francesca Di Mauro, European Union Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire

The European Union also finances or supports other funds and programs implemented by I&P, such as I&P Digital Energy programm or the I&P Développement fund.