Agro-food

Lysa & Co is a Senegalese company specializing in the processing and marketing of agricultural products such as peanuts, cashew and corn.It has long-standing expertise in providing its customers with healthy, natural products of high taste quality, elaborated with local raw materials processed by artisanal processes.

Sold under the name SENAR- Les Delices de Lysa, products are mainly marketed in major retail chains in Senegal (CASINO, AUCHAN, EXCLUSIVE, CITYDIA, etc.), in hotels (eg NOVOTEL), and in direct sales to private individuals in Dakar ( eg Dakar Farmers Market).

The Entrepreneur

Sylvie Sagbo Gommard took over the management of the family business in 2015 to ensure its development and sustainability.

In 1982 her mother Mrs. Sagbo was the first to market her peanuts in supermarkets in Dakar. She built her own company and now has more than 10 employees working tirelessly to supply the Senegalese market with the best peanuts and cashews.

Partnership with Teranga Capital

Teranga committed alongside with the company to:

• Support the construction of a new factory abiding international standards and leading to increasing production capacity.

• Support the valorization of the SENAR Brand « Les Délices de Lysa » and its business development on new markets and with new products

Expected Impacts

• Formalization of the company’s activity

• 10 new formal jobs created

• Promotion of artisanal and local processes and structuration of the value chain

AGROSERV INDUSTRIE is an industrial unit processing maize into gritz and flour. Based in the industrial zone of Kossodo (Ouagadougou), the unit is equipped with two automatic production lines with a production capacity of 50 tons per day each.

The expertise developed by the promoter since the creation of the company in 2008 has allowed to him to conquer a significant portion of the national market.

In order to optimize the supply chain, AGROSERV INDUSTRIE decided to organize and support a network of small producers.

The entrepreneur

M. Siaka SANON holds a degree in IT Management. After graduating, he integrated the family business called EKSF (Establishment SANON Karidia et Fils), specialized in the collect and marking of cereals on local and international markets. This experience enabled him to get a full understanding of the maize supply chain. He managed the company for ten years and let its evolution towards AgroServ Industry, launched as a SARL in 2008.

Read the interview of Siaka Sanon (2022)

Partnership with I&P and Sinergi Burkina

Partnership with I&P and OikoCredit (2022 - now)

In 2022, Oikocredit and I&P (through its fund IPAE), with the support of BIO and EDFI AgriFI, completed the investment of €12.2 million in AgroServ Industrie.

This funding will allow Agroserv Industrie:

⇒ To build a new production unit in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso, which will increase Agroserv's processing capacity to 160 tons per day.

⇒ Agroserv also plans to diversify into higher value-added products, including high-energy flour, pre-cooked cornmeal and soy protein, which will be sold to households, the government for school canteens and the World Food Program.

⇒ Smallholder farmers supplying Agroserv are also expected to increase to 12,000 (from 6,000 today) through closer collaboration with local cooperatives, increased direct sourcing, and higher yields, thanks to technical assistance provided by I&P.

Read more about this new investment

Partnership with Sinergi Burkina (2017-2022)

AgroServ Industrie is the second investment of Sinergi Burkina, an impact fund sponsored by I&P and dedicated to small companies in Burkina Faso.

The collaboration between Agroserv Industrie and Sinergi Burkina had considerable impacts on the local economic fabric. It has notably allowed the strengthening of a network of some 6.000 small maize producers and the employees jobs' formalization. 

AgroServ Industrie is the first exit of Sinergi Burkina, after 5 years of successful collaboration.

Read more about the exit

In 2020, AgroServ also benefitted 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

• Structuring a network of more than 6,000 small maize producers

• Import substitution and sale of essential goods at affordable price

• Wages well above the legal minimum in Burkina Faso

About I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2 (IPAE 2)

IPAE 2 is an impact fund promoting the emergence of a new generation of responsible African entrepreneurs. IPAE 2 invests in equity and quasi-equity as a minority shareholder in startups and businesses located in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, for amounts comprised between €300,000 and €5 million.

Read more

About Sinergi Burkina

Created in 2014, Sinergi Burkina is the first impact investment fund dedicated to financing and supporting SMEs and start-ups in Burkina Faso. Headed by Job Zongo, Sinergi Burkina is the second investment fund sponsored by Investisseurs & Partenaires as part of the I&P Développement 2 fund. The fund network currently includes a fund in Niger (Sinergi Niger), Côte d'Ivoire (Comoé Capital), Senegal (Teranga Capital) and Madagascar (Miarakap).  → To learn more about Sinergi Burkina

Founded in 1993 and managed by Simon Rakotondrahova, SCRIMAD specializes in the collect and export of litchi production, among other fruits and spices (vanilla, black pepper, cinnamon, etc.).

SCRIMAD is certified "Fair Trade" and notably works with ETHIQUABLE, a french co-op specialized in organic agriculture and fair trade. The partnership with I&P aims to help the company diversify its activities and ensure stable income to the partner farmer organisations.

The entrepreneur

Founder and manager of SCRIMAD, Simon Rakotondrahova has notably chaired the Madagascar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and “Gelmada”, a gathering of Litichi exporters in Madagascar.

Partnership with I&P

I&P committed alongside Scrimad to:

• Settle a production unit specialized in the production of fruit puree and frozen fruits

• Take energy efficiency measures in this new production unit

• Train the producers so that they meet the requirements established by BIO-GLOBALCAP and ETHIQUABLE

• Strengthen the capacities of the operational management team

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