Ivory Coast

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

Established in 2002, Home Medical Service (HMS) is a private medical centre offering day care such as consultations, medical analysis and observation.

The HMS Medical Center is owned by a medical couple: Dr. Arame D'ALMEIDA and her husband Dr. Jean-Charles Patrick D'ALMEIDA founded this medical center after their medical studies in Senegal and several years of experience.

THE ENTREPRENEURS

Dr. Arame DIAGNE D'ALMEIDA holds a doctorate in medicine. She obtained at the Cheick Anta Diop University of Dakar in 1992. She has nearly 24 years of professional experience.

Her husband, Dr. Jean-Charles Patrick D'ALMEIDA, holds a graduate degree in Gynecology and Obstetrics from Cheick Anta Diop University in Dakar, which he obtained in 1990. He has 29 years of experience and has worked in several clinics in Côte d'Ivoire as a temporary gynaecologist-obstetrician.

EXPECTED IMPACT

• Increase in reception capacity and diversification of care offers
• Improving the quality of care, particularly in neonatology and maternity care
• Staff training and capacity building

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). →Site of Comoé Capital

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

RAMA CEREAL is an agro-industrial company created in 2005. Its main activity is the processing of cereals such as millet, maize and rice. It is present on the local (Prosuma, Carrefour, Citydia, etc.) and international markets through various products and spices: millet granules, corn, rice, pre-cooked millet, attiéké (manioc semolina), ginger, gnangan, soumara, baobab. The company started its activities in the informal sector before becoming a sole proprietorship in 2005 and then a limited liability company in 2016.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Aramatou Coulibaly holds a BTS in International Trade and a Bachelor's degree in English. She has worked as a consultant and sales assistant in companies such as Mobil Oil and Kompass-ci, and then as an interim employee at Orange. Noting the need for millet products, she decided to set up her own agro-industrial company in 2005. In 2012, she obtained support within the framework of the Trade and Regional Integration Support Programme (PACIR) financed by the European Union.

PARTNERSHIP WITH COMOE CAPITAL

• Strengthening governance and setting up a strategic committee

• Support for commercial development and the launch of infant flour

• Development of the new site, which must comply with all relevant health standards

• Acquisition of equipment to increase to 2 tons/day (vs. 400 kg today)

• Financing the purchase of raw materials to cover needs over 3 months

• Acquisition of rolling stock for distribution

RAMA CEREAL 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.

MAIN IMPACTS

• Impact on small producers through supervision and an increase in their productivity, and therefore their income

• Impact on nutrition with the launch of infant flour

Founded in 2018, STUDIO KÄ is a start-up company specialising in the creation and production of educational animated series based on African stories, thus with high cultural added value for children.

STUDIO KÄ has obtained a partnership with TV5 Monde (an international French-speaking general-interest television channel) for the production of an animation series called "Les Contes de Raya". In addition, the company plans to develop several contents with the same characteristics for local and international sales.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Soro Adja holds a Master's degree in Finance and Accounting and a certificate in Business and Entrepreneurship from Lehigh University of Pennsylvania. After several years in the field of microfinance, Adja returned to her first passion, literature. Convinced that literature is a factor of cultural emancipation and open-mindedness, she did an internship at PLAYBAC Presse, a French publishing house, before returning to Côte d'Ivoire in 2015 to create Voyelles Editions, whose main product is the cultural youth magazine "Bulles". Today, the promoter launched STUDIO KÄ to develop the production of animated films.

PARTNERSHIP WITH COMOE CAPITAL

• Improve the quality of production and governance

• Produce several animated series

• Implementation of a health insurance system for employees fully operational

MAIN IMPACTS

• Creation of modern content, inspired by African stories, through the production of several edutainment animated series

• Substitution to animated films generally imported into Côte d'Ivoire

• Creation of local know-how through capacity building and the acquisition of appropriate equipment

The medical-surgical clinic PROCREA, based in Abidjan, began operating in 2008. It specializes in the field of reproductive health and is the leader in Côte d’Ivoire in Assisted Reproductive Health Care (AMP), a technique that treats people with infertility issues and helps them to achieve parenthood.

PROCRÉA also provides mother-child care, including obstetrical gynecology, neonatology (newborn care), and pediatrics.

The vision of PROCREA's promoters is to popularize the practice of MAP in order to make it accessible to a greater number of people. The clinic aims to become one of the leaders in the sector in Côte d'Ivoire and West Africa, complying with the requirements and standards of the international medical sector. In ten years of activity, the clinic has already accompanied more than 500 couples.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

PROCRÉA was created in 2006 under the initiative of Dr. Myriam Kadio-Morokro Brou, principal promoter, and Professor Marie-Laure Hauhouot Attoumgbré, co-promoter, both of whom are recognized experts in Côte d'Ivoire in the fields of biology and reproductive sciences. Later they were joined by 3 other renowned health professionals in Côte d'Ivoire.

After obtaining her bachelor's degree in France, Dr. Kadio-Morokro Brou joined the Faculty of Medicine in Abidjan where she graduated in 2001 and did a thesis on reproductive biology. Passionate about the subject, she then returned to France to complete her studies in reproductive biology, sterility therapy, molecular cytogenetics and male sterility. During her stay in France she worked in several hospitals, hospitals and laboratories.

Back in Côte d'Ivoire in 2005, she suggested to her friend Prof Attoumgbré to join her in the PROCREA clinic project, which they founded in 2006. PROCREA’s activities officially started in 2008.

► To know more, discover the interview of Dr. Kadio-Morokro Brou

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P 

I&P committed alongside with PROCRÉA to:

• Restructure the project to focus on the medical offer dedicated to reproduction

• Financing and supporting the construction of a new, larger clinic, better adapted to PROCRÉA's needs and designed in an environmentally friendly way (treatment of medical waste, rainwater recovery, reduction in energy consumption, etc.)

• Support the management team in the running of the clinic

EXPECTED IMPACTS

• Make reproductive health care available to the greatest number of people

• Improve the quality of care

• Increase the clinic's capacity

Etudesk is a start-up offering online professional training through its interactive platform. The courses offered are strictly professional in nature and cover a wide range of learning areas: Business, IT, Economics, Civil Engineering, Science, etc. Etudesk defines itself as the “university of companies” and aims to reduce the gap between academic training and the skills required by companies.

The platform is available via PC, tablet and smartphone and without internet connection on mobile applications. It offers:

• Short-term training modules (about 2 to 10 hours) covering a specific field and aimed at students and professionals wishing to acquire or deepen specific skills. Each module includes a course structured in several sections with evaluation quizzes and practical activities
• Learning programs that are composed of a set of modules. The pathways provide access to a mentor and a final evaluation. A certificate, sponsored by a company, is issued at the end of the program in order to enhance the professional profile of the student if the program is successfully completed

The project has a strong economic and social impact: Etudesk aims to support active people in their career development but also to facilitate the professional integration of students and job seekers in a country with a young population and a high unemployment rate. Etudesk offers high-quality teaching programs (experienced instructors and content reviewed by several professionals) at an affordable price.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Lamine BARRO is a young Ivorian entrepreneur, who was only 22 years old when he founded Etudesk in 2016.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Korhogo (2014) and a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from the Founder Institute (2016). Before creating Etudesk, he was a Microsoft Student Partner for several years and has several years of experience as an IT specialist in various firms.

PARTNERSHIP WITH COMOÉ CAPITAL

• Formalization and compliance with accounting standards

• Strategic support to adapt the business plan to the Ivorian context and its competitive environment

• Support for strengthening the offer (creation of new training courses)

• Support the commercial deployment of the company

Etudesk 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.

Etudesk 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.

MAIN IMPACTS

• Access to education for a broad target population

• Facilitates the professional integration of students and job seekers

NEWS AND AWARDS

Etudesk won Seedstars Abidjan Competition in 2016. Read more →

In 2017 Etudesk was one of the five winning companies of the Digital Africa competition, among the 770 French and African startups participating whose projects put digital innovation at the service of sustainable development. As a finalist, Etudesk benefited from an "acceleration pack", composed of technical and financial support provided by the French Development Agency. Read more →

Created in 2005, VALLESSE is a publishing house based in Côte d’Ivoire, which has an editorial collection of nearly thirty books, nine of which are accredited to the undergraduate curriculum, approved extra-curriculars books and youth literature. VALLESSE has four collections to her credit.

VALLESSE is an active member of ASSEDI (Association des Editeurs de Côte d'Ivoire) and the Association des Editeurs Francophones au Sud du Sahara (AFRILIVRES).

VALLESSE won 3 prizes at the Abidjan 2018 International Book Fair:

• The International Book Fair Award for the novel “Tristesse au Paradis” of Grâce Minlibé

• The Jeanne de Cavally Award for “La Veste de Grégoire” of Serge Grah

• The special mention of Bernard Dadié Award for Young Writer for “Tristesse au Paradis” of Grâce Minlibé

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Fidèle Diomandé worked between 2001 and 2005 at the national leader CEDA (before the merger with NEI), at the direction of manufacturing after passing through the communication department and pedagogy. Faced with the difficulties encountered by CEDA, she joined the printing press Nour. After a few months in this company, she decided to create Vallesse because of her passion for both books and entrepreneurship.

PARTNERSHIP WITH COMOÉ CAPITAL

Comoé Capital committed alongside Vallesse to:

• Support the development of a new educational collection dedicated to all secondary levels and all disciplines

• Support the business development of the firm through new distribution channels

• Support the formalization of the firm (accounting, HR)

KEY IMPACTS

• Strengthen an education-focused publishing actor that promote a wide access to educational content and youth literature in Côte d’Ivoire

ENVAL LABORATOIRE, based in Ivory Coast, is one of the most important laboratory of physico-chemical and microbiological analyses in West Africa.

Officially founded in 2012, ENVAL LABORATOIRE is specialized in microbiological and physico-chemical tests and analyses. The company has recently expanded its activities and conducts soil, foliar and oil analyses, as well as noise-measuring and air quality analyses.

ENVAL aims to expand its activities to the mining sector in new site located in Yamoussoukro and wishes to reinforce its capacity regarding physico-chemical analyses.

The Entrepreneur

Bakary Coulibaly has over 20 years of experience in chemical analysis and company management. He conducted several studies in Ivory-Coast and the sub-region for local entities and multinational companies such as TOTAL, CIPREL and PISA-IMPEX. Bakary has created Enval Laboratoire with 3 Ivorian associates.

Partnership with I&P

I&P is committed alongside ENVAL to:

• Reinforce the microbiological and physico-chemical activity of the company

• Expand is activities to mining analyses by supporting the launch of a new laboratory dedicated to this activity

• Cover the regional market for mining analyses

• Expand the activities to soil and foliar analyses, as well as pesticide analyses

Expected Impact

• Contribute to support an emerging mining sector in the region

• Reinforce the environmental policy of the company

• Create more than 30 skilled jobs

Founded in Gabon in 2012 by Folly Koussawo with the support of Seydou Béyé, Trianon Homes is a real estate development and construction company with three core businesses: third-party construction, turnkey project design and construction, and real estate development.

From the outset, Trianon Homes took the gamble of positioning itself as the missing link in Gabon's construction industry: a company combining the agility of a small-scale structure with the application of a structured group. Trianon quickly demonstrated the viability of its model, winning over public and private clientele.

After a decade of activity and successful experience in real estate development in Gabon, Trianon is now stepping up its real estate development operations aimed at middle-class families in several African countries: Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Benin. The company's ambition is to respond to the problem of access to property ownership, which is becoming increasingly difficult in African cities, where land prices have risen sharply in recent decades as a result of galloping urbanization.

Today, Trianon has 50 employees, over 200 local subcontractors, 85 completed projects and plans to deliver hundreds of new homes every year for real estate development projects.

The entrepreneur

Folly Koussawo is a Franco-Gabonese entrepreneur in his forties, and has been running the company since its creation in 2012. He graduated from the Ecole Supérieur de Commerce IPAG in Nice, and holds a DESS in real estate from the Sorbonne (Paris). After graduating, he began his career as an auditor with Grant Thornton in France, before joining Kaufman & Broad (K&B), one of France's leading property development groups, for a period of 7 years.

Since June 2023, Folly Koussawo has also been President of the Club Africain des Entrepreneurs, a pan-African organization created in 2016 and bringing together women and men invested in the entrepreneurial adventure and united by a shared commitment to sustainable and responsible development in Africa. 

Words from the new president of the Club Africain des Entrepreneurs

Partnership with I&P

The first partnership between Trianon and I&P dates back to 2014, with initial financing provided through the I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 1 (IPAE1) fund, which enabled the company to structure itself and increase its production capacity (prefabrication unit, wood and metal joinery, equipment fleet).  

This new financing, completed in 2023, will help Trianon take another step forward in the development of its activities, notably real estate development in Gabon and Côte d'Ivoire.

Expected impact

• Access to home ownership and sustainable, quality housing for middle-class African families;  
• Creation of formal jobs;  
• Raising local construction standards.