Education & Training

The Centre d'Appui à l'Initiative Féminine (CAIF) is a vocational training centre specialising in catering, hotel trade, sewing, styling, and hairstyling.

Created in 2003, CAIF has since developed a strong expertise to offer its trainees, mainly young Senegalese women, good quality training adapted to the job market.

THE ENTREPRENEURS

Mrs Arame Dramé is the founder of CAIF, which she directed from its creation until 2016. Today she remains active in the structure and uses her reputation and experience to have training contracts with institutional partners. Ms Dramé is an expert in educational issues and worked from 1989 to 2016 at the Institut National d'Etudes et d'Action pour le Développement de l'Education (INEADE) where she focused on vocational training and the issue of deschooling of young people in Senegal. She holds a DUEL 2 degree in English from UCAD and an Entrepreneurship Training Certificate from SODIDA.

Since 2016, the school is directed by Insa Seydou Dramé, son of the founder and promoter of the project. He decided to join the family business in 2012, where he successively held the positions of Interim Managing Director for 2 years, Director of Continuing Education and External Relations and Director of Operations. He previously worked for Huawei Technologies as a front office engineer. He holds a DEUG in Science and Technology for Engineering from the University of Paris 13, and a Professional Master from the African Institute of Management (IAM) of Dakar in Project Management.

PARTNERSHIP WITH TERANGA CAPITAL

Teranga Capital's investment aims to:

• Support strategic thinking on business expansion,

• Structure and develop management methods and tools,

• Put the company in contact with partner companies in Senegal and abroad

EXPECTED IMPACTS

• Social: creation and formalisation of permanent jobs, affordable vocational training leading to a diploma for a young target group excluded from the traditional school system, integration of graduates into the professional world

• Governance: implementation of financial and administrative management tools, formalization of procedures.

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

Enko Education is a fast-growing network of African international schools, increasing access to the world’s best universities for learners across Africa, with a strong emphasis on Francophone countries.

Enko Education offers a renowned and high quality education accessible to the upper middle class in Sub Saharan Africa, with a strategy to constantly broaden its audience through an ambitious grants program.

Enko is building its network by partnering with high-potential existing schools to rolls out a 3-year high school program, awarding the worldly renowned International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. The IB curriculum puts an emphasis on students’ personal development and group work. It is highly recognized by international universities.

Enko helps successful private schools to grow and improve learning conditions by bringing alongside funding, better management practices and new education tools.

Enko programs are already implemented in Cameroun, South Africa, Mozambique and Côte d’Ivoire.

THE ENTREPRENEURS

Cyrille Nkontchou, Founder and Chairman

Cyrille Nkontchou is the founder and managing partner of Enko Capital Management LLP, an Africa-focused asset management firm with offices in South Africa and Great Britain. He is also the founder and executive chairman of the pan-African investment bank LiquidAfrica Holdings Limited. He started his career as a consultant with Accenture in France, and worked as a banker with Merrill Lynch in London. He holds a BA in Economics from Sciences Po Paris and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Cyrille was nominated as Young Global Leader 2006 by the World Economic Forum.

Eric Pignot, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer

Before EEI, Eric worked at BearingPoint, a management consulting firm. As an Engagement Manager, he helped his customers to improve their performance and scale. Eric is French, holds an MBA degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he focused his MBA experience on understanding how digital technologies will transform education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P 

I&P committed alongside with Enko to:

• Fund its Pan-African growth
• Participate to its governance
• Support its strategy to reach out to the lower middle class through grant programs.

IMPACT OBJECTIVES

• Develop a network of 30 schools, with more than  10,000 students over 5 years
• Access to international universities
• Dozens of teachers trained to international standards

TRAINIS, founded in 2008 by Daouda Coulibaly, offers general high-level training in management. These courses are concentrated on one to three weeks and led by a panel of African or European training experts. TRAINIS responds to a strong need for training among African executives who want to get in line with international standards. In a context of openness to globalization, these managers are looking to accelerate their careers hitherto hampered by basic training deemed insufficient.

L'ENTREPRENEUR

Daouda Coulibaly went to school in Mali before getting a scholarship to study in France. Parallel to his university studies in geography, he was self-taught in IT and created one of the most visited African websites. On his return to Mali, he created a company in the field of computing. This resale business equipment led him to measure a high demand for high-level computer courses. He decided to gap the demand with computing trainings. He then diversified into provision of international management seminars with higher added value. He mobilized high quality trainers around general management training on topics such as project management, HR, and strategic management.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

I&P is committed alongside TRAINIS:

• Identifying influencers and prospects of different "product lines" of trainings

• Participating in the strategic development plan over 3 years

• Providing support to the design and formalization of the communication policy of the company

IMPACTS

• Creation of a sub-regional player in professional training aimed at African executives

• 15 jobs maintained in 2015, including 30% of women

• 15 local suppliers