Teranga Capital, the third African fund sponsored by Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), was officially inaugurated on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 in Dakar in the presence of its director Olivier Furdelle, its shareholders and the I&P team.
Teranga Capital targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with high growth potential from all sectors of activity and regions of Senegal, whose financing needs are between 50 and 200 million CFA francs (75,000 and 300,000 euros). Teranga Capital strengthens the equity capital and becomes a minority shareholder of the SMEs over a period of around 5 years, and provides active and personalized support according to the specific needs of each portfolio company. “We provide an innovative financing solution specifically designed to meet the needs of small SMEs, not only in terms of equity capital but also in terms of advice and strategic support”, explains the Managing Director and co-founder of Teranga Capital, Olivier Furdelle.
I&P sponsored the Teranga project as part of its I&P Development 2 (IPDEV2) strategy to incubate a network of 10 African investment funds over the next decade. As a strategic partner of this new fund, I&P actively contributed to the launch phase (search for financing and local partners, legal support…) and shares with the Teranga team the good practices acquired and the methodologies developed since 2002 with African SMEs.
I&P has been present in Senegal for more than ten years and opened an office in Dakar in 2012. Since January 2016, this office has been managed by Mamadou Ndao, with the support of Patrice Gomis, previously in charge of the Dakar office. Jérémy Hajdenberg, Director Investment, has been responsible for the Senegalese portfolio since the first investment in the country in 2006. This portfolio is one of I&P’s largest, with eight investments to date in various sectors (irrigation, health, agribusiness, microfinance, etc.).
Through the I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs (IPAE) fund, which is currently being invested, I&P provides financing of between €300,000 and €1.5 million.
“With Teranga, I&P offers a smaller and complementary investment range, which perfectly matches the needs of small businesses. This innovative and decentralized model aims to support the development of a dynamic network of sustainable local SMEs and to promote entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa,” explains Jean-Michel Severino, President of I&P.
