Investment in Francophone West Africa has just gotten a significant boost following the board of African Development Bank’s (ADB) approval of a €12.5 million equity investment in SMEs within the region.
The investment will contribute to Adiwale Fund 1, a PE fund targeting high-growth SMEs in Francophone West Africa with a target fund size of €75 million.
The Fund is coming on the back of the growing startup and SME activity in Francophone Africa, which still does not get as much attention as the Anglophone region. The average deal size for the Fund will range from €3 to €8 million.
Primary target countries are Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali while secondary target countries are Togo, Benin and Guinea. These countries are believed to be currently underserved by the global private equity (PE) market.
The fund will focus on three key sectors; consumer goods & services, business services (e.g transport, internet services etc) and manufacturing.
Adiwale Partners, established in 2016, houses a team of experienced West African nationals with several decades of combined private equity, operational, development finance and asset management experience in Africa, Europe and the United States.