Education & Training

Created in 2018 by a talented young Malagasy entrepreneur, Sayna is a startup specialized in digital training and outsourcing of IT projects, carried out by African developers via a micro-tasking platform.

Sayna intends to address a twofold problem: the lack of training in the digital sector in Africa, and the gap between the supply of digital talent and the growing demand of companies in the context of their digital transformation.

Sayna offers digital skills training and provides solutions that allow the students to enter the job market. To date, Sayna has trained nearly 200 students.

Today, Sayna aims to develop a tech startup model based on two pillars:

⇒ A paying online training platform for learners that allows them to follow, evaluate and validate their learning, but also to have access to company IT projects corresponding to the learning they have validated during their training.

⇒ A "microtasking" platform that allows companies to outsource their IT projects more efficiently, which are divided into distributed micro-tasks and assigned to freelance developers registered on the platform.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

The promoter of the project, Matina Razafimahefa, is a young Malagasy entrepreneur of 23 years old, winner of several awards. At 20 years old, she decided to stop her studies to devote herself fully to the deployment of the project and has surrounded herself with advisors and experienced business angels.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P ACCELERATION TECHNOLOGIES AND MIARAKAP

Sayna is financed and supported by I&P Acceleration Technologies, a €2.5 million program aimed at financing and supporting fifteen digital start-ups in Sub-Saharan Africa, supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) through the Digital Africa initiative.

As such, Sayna benefits from a €100,000 repayable advance from the I&P Acceleration Technologies program to :

⇒— Finalize and launch the micro tasking platform

—⇒ Roll out the training programs in partnership with a leading player in Bootcamp training, Holberton (Silicon Valley)

⇒ Train 200 students by the end of 2021

NEXT STEPS AND EXPECTED IMPACTS

Sayna's ambition is to :

—• Enable 8,000 people in Africa to enter the digital industry through its training and have more than 3,500 people working on its micro task platform.

•— Meet the IT needs of 300 SMEs and start-ups in the French-speaking world.

—• Complete a Series A fundraising of approximately €3 million in 2022 to accelerate growth and finance a pan-African expansion in West Africa.

Pigier Cameroun is a private business school for higher education, launched in 2011 by the Cameroonian Dr Henri Tafou. With the mission to “Train for employment”, Pigier Cameroun stand out as a leading player in vocational training in Cameroon. The school provides pragmatic solutions to match the needs of companies in terms of competent human resources.

Pigier Cameroun offers trainings of international quality in Human Sciences and Management, at Bachelor and Master levels. The training programs include: Banking and Corporate Finance, Finance, Audit and Management Control, Communication, Marketing & Digital, Transport, Logistics and Customs, Business Management, Taxation and Business Law, Human Resources Management.

Context

In sub-Saharan Africa, the unemployment rate is around 7.3%, and mainly affects young people. This is largely due to the existing gap between training courses and the real needs of companies on the ground. More specifically, businesses complain about the lack of professionalization provided by existing institutions.

The entrepreneur

Pigier Cameroun was created in 2011 by Dr Henri TAFOU, an education entrepreneur, who has held several positions as Regional Sales Director, Marketing Director, Commercial Advisor and General Manager in several companies in Cameroon.

For more than 25 years, he has gained expertise in the education sector, with multinational experiences: He worked within the Pigier Group in Côte d'Ivoire as Sales Director in charge of continuing education. After that, he joined the head office of the PIGIER brand in France as Director of Franchise Development; and went back to Africa by becoming the first African to benefit from a PIGIER franchise in Africa, through the takeover of the Cotonou franchise in Benin. During his management in Benin, he succeeded in having the franchise certified to the ISO 9001 standard, making Pigier Bénin the very first business school in Sub-Saharan Africa to obtain this certification.

In 2011, he sold the Benin franchise and returned to Cameroon to launch Pigier Cameroon, the very first PIGIER franchise in Central Africa.

Partnership with I&P

I&P partners with Pigier Cameroun through its fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2 (IPAE 2). I&P provides patient financing, technical assistance, and strategic/operational support to strengthen the structuring of the company.

The partnership notably addresses the following issues:

—⇒ Consolidating the company’s achievements and ensuring the continuous improvement of its academic training programs

—⇒ Strengthening its positioning in the market in order to serve a greater number of learners and business professionals

—⇒ Strengthening the company’s governance, as well as its operational performance

Expected Impacts

Social impacts:

• Increasing the number of learners and graduates trained by Pigier Cameroon

• Improving the employability rate of graduates of Pigier Cameroon,

• Improving the capacities and skills of business professionals

• Creating jobs and securing created and/or existing jobs

—Governance impacts:

• Strengthening the company’s governance

• Improving the company's strategy

Dakar American University of Science and Technology (DAUST) is a private higher education institution offering a 4-year engineering program, masterclasses dedicated to professionals in the sector and a "prep" program with international opportunities. The specialties taught are chemistry and biomolecules, civil and environmental engineering, electronic and computer engineering and finally mechanical and aeronautical engineering.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

DAUST was founded by Sidy NDAO, a 38-year-old Senegalese born and raised in Dakar before going to continue his studies in the United States. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska and a post-doc from MIT, he is an engineer specialized in mechanics and robotics. He returned to Senegal in 2009 to engage in the promotion of STEMs (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) in Africa. 

I&P' CONTRIBUTION

DAUST benefits from support through the I&P Acceleration in Sahel program dedicated to education and employment (IP2E). The funding and support will enable the university to increase its hosting capacity while attracting an international clientele.

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

• Increase its hosting capacity by 115%
• Move in a third classroom with a capacity of 30 students
• Deploy a marketing and communication campaign in about 20 African countries

The Institut Académique des Bébés (IAB) is a training school dedicated to the professional and technical training of children's professions. At the end of a one-year course, a professional certificate of specialization, issued by the Ministry of Training, is delivered to learners, allowing them to be employed as facilitators, educational assistants or assistants in nurseries, maternity wards, leisure centers or at private homes. The Academic Institute of Babies also has crèches for children aged 3 to 19 months. 

THE ENTREPRENEUR

IAB was founded by Fa Diallo, a Senegalese-Guinean woman who grew up in Senegal before moving to France to study finance/accounting. Fa Diallo worked for a long time in accounting and finance while taking early childhood training. She has worked for more than 10 years in local authorities on early childhood issues, notably in Nancy's day care centers, at the Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs de Nancy and at Nancy's regional maternity hospital. Fa returned to Senegal in 2016 and began the process of starting the Institut Académique des Bébés in 2017. 

I&P' CONTRIBUTION

IAB benefits from support through the I&P Acceleration in Sahel program dedicated to education and employment (IP2E).

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

IAB's funding and support is aimed at : 

• Increase its capacity: space for an additional classroom that will increase the capacity by 50%
• Set up a laboratory daycare that can accommodate 11 babies (from 3 to 18 months)
• Develop an online platform in order to make accessible to learners living in the regions
• Recruit staff to strengthen the current team

Created by Chérif Louan, Editions Afrique Lecture (EAL) specializes in the publishing and production of after-school books (annals of middle and high school classes). Its editorial line also enables it to publish works of literature (in French and national languages), essays and textbooks (course books, books, etc.). Editions Afrique Lecture offers its know-how to structures wishing to produce and/or publish their documents. 

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Cherif LOUAN is a publisher, graphic designer, editor and modeler. He holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) in Applied Mathematics and Physics (with the use of computer tools) from Kharkov State University in Ukraine - USSR. Author, co-author, editor and composer of several books (3rd and 4th grade mathematics, descriptive statistics textbook, physics and chemistry textbook for 6th to 3rd grade), he has 15 years of textbook composition at Editions Afique Lecture.  He is the president of the network of publishers in Niger and managing director for the book sector at the Agency for the Promotion of Enterprises and Cultural Industries.

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​

La Coccinelle is a private kindergarten and early childhood care centre offering a childcare service for young children in the interval between daycare (06 to 24 months) and kindergarten (24 to 60 months) as well as a bilingual recreation centre service during school holidays in Côte d'Ivoire. La Coccinelle plans to deploy a network of mini-crèches in different communes of Abidjan and to create a training centre for early childhood educators. 

THE ENTREPRENEUR

La Coccinelle was created by Mrs. Sara Adico. After a Professional Degree in Finance and Management, Ms. Sara ADICO joined UNACOOPEC-CI microfinance in 2002, as a credit analyst until 2006. She then managed the Raggi Anne Marie Institution, an international public school (IRMA) for 6 years. This experience led her to create her own school, which she has been managing since 2011. In 2016, she obtained a certification of competence in NGO management awarded by the UNESCO CHAIR for the Culture of Peace in Côte d'Ivoire.

Nouvelle Vision Scolaire (NVS) is a school created in 2013, located in the heart of the capital, Ouagadougou. With great success, the school quickly invested in a class for primary school and today has 4 classes and 3 classes for kindergarten with 255 pupils. This school has the particularity of introducing its pupils to English and computer science, agriculture and animal husbandry, music as well as swimming and karate.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

The New School Vision School is an initiative of Joel ZOMA, who has more than 17 years of experience in mass distribution, acquired in the management of Convergence Ramon Wende (CORAM), a distribution company with large surfaces in the big cities of Burkina Faso. He is also the initiator of the general trading company Grâce Business Services and of TGD Voyage, specialising in public transport.

CONTRIBUTION OF SINERGI BURKINA

NVS has been supported since 2019 by Sinergi Burkina as part of the Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship (PACE) programme in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The purpose of the partnership concerns : 

• Increasing reception capacity
• Financing of the closure
• Setting up of the accounting system
• Increase in the transport capacity of pupils by adding a second bus
• Installation of an emergency generator in the event of a power outage

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 

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

The Centre des Métiers Michèle Yakice is a joint venture between Comoé Capital and the Michèle Yakice International Vocational Training School. It is an establishment specialising in training for fashion professions (sewing, styling).

In 2020, the Michèle Yakice vocational centre took a new step forward with the launch of Grain de Mode, an incubator which aims to create future entrepreneurs in the fashion industry by offering a class of 9 students initial training, coaching sessions in several disciplines (digital communication, marketing/sales, accounting, etc.) as well as mentoring with a mentor to support each student throughout his or her career.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Michèle OKEI is the daughter of the founder and famous designer Michèle Yakice.

She holds a Master's degree in communication, administration and management from Pigier (1999). After 6 years of experience in logistics and customer management, Ms OKEI joined her mother's company in 2005. She trains and becomes the director of studies of the school.

ABOUT COMOE CAPITAL

Comoé Capital is the first impact investment fund dedicated to the financing and support of Ivorian SMEs and start-ups. Headed by Issa Sidibé, Comoé Capital is the fifth African 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), Burkina Faso (Sinergi Burkina), Senegal (Teranga Capital) and Madagascar (Miarakap). → Comoé Capital website

Created in the 2000s on the initiative of Mr Compaoré, the Institut Supérieur de Technologies (IST) is a private secular technical and vocational higher education institution. With more than 2,000 students spread over its 24 training courses, including 11 in management sciences, the institution currently has six sites, including three franchises.

IST prepares its students for BTS, Bachelor's and Master's degrees. It currently delivers 32 diplomas including 23 recognized by CAMES, thus placing the institution in 3rd place among the institutions with the highest number of recognized diplomas.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Company manager with more than 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and consultant, Issa Compaoré was trained as a State Engineer in Industrial Engineering with a specialization in Production Engineering at the Mohammedia School of Engineering (EMI in Rabat).

In 1995, back in Burkina Faso, he started teaching. He was then professor of physics, management and corporate culture at the National School of Telecommunications between 1997 and 2000. Parallel to his teaching duties, he also provides consulting services through his company called DEMAIN SARL (Développement et Management Industrie), created in January 1997. 

In 2000, driven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit, he decided to create IST (Institut Supérieur des Technologies).

PARTNERSHIP WITH SINERGI BURKINA

The objectives of partnerships include :

• The establishment of a reliable accounting information system
• Consolidation of contracts with franchises
• Trademark protection

The Institut Supérieur de Technologies 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.

IMPACTS

⇒ Consolidation of more than 150 full and part-time jobs

⇒ Reflection on a scholarship program for students in difficult circumstances

⇒ Establishing good governance 

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). → Sinergi Burkina website

The Institut de Management, de Gestion et d'Hôtellerie (IMGH) is a private technical and professional training structure specializing in the hotel industry created in 2009 by Mrs. Augustine Bro. The institution aims to improve and diversify its training offers by developing online access to continuing education.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

After several experiences as SVT teacher in Abidjan, Mrs. Augustine BRO is appointed director of studies in a hotel school where she noticed the lack of students in the profession of cooking and pastry in the city of Abidjan due to the lack of specialized institutions in the sector. She therefore decided to create with a few associates the Institute of Culinary Arts and Hospitality (IACH) in 1999 which became in 2008 the Institute of Management and Hotel Management (IMGH).

Find an interview with Augustine Bro (October 2019) :

The Institut de Management, de Gestion et d'Hôtellerie 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.

The Institut de Management, de Gestion et d'Hôtellerie 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.

ABOUT COMOE CAPITAL 

 Comoé Capital is the first impact investment fund dedicated to the financing and support of Ivorian SMEs and start-ups. Headed by Issa Sidibé, Comoé Capital is the fifth African 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), Burkina Faso (Sinergi Burkina), Senegal (Teranga Capital) and Madagascar (Miarakap). → More information about Comoé Capital