History

Advanced Finance & Investment Group (“AFIG Funds”) is a leading private equity fund management company founded in 2006 and making growth equity investments across diverse sectors in West, Central and East Africa. The Company has an investment philosophy anchored on funding and supporting local entrepreneurs as well as developing African companies into regional and global leaders. AFIG Funds is incorporated in Mauritius, with its main office in Dakar. AFIG Funds’ regional presence places it at the heart of its markets.

Today, AFIG Funds manages over USD 267m of assets across two private equity funds. Our track record places us among the top performing African private equity fund managers. Through its world class investment team, AFIG Funds has invested in 16 companies operating across 13 countries.

The AFIG Funds team is comprised of experienced professionals based in Africa who collectively have over 100 years of collective African experience, come from 10 countries and speak 10 languages. The diversity allows AFIG Funds to benefit from local cultural integration, deep local networks, and an understanding of factors that influence local investment outcomes. Our team members have extensive finance, accounting, legal and operating experience, enabling the team to actively support senior portfolio company management with strategy execution and the realization of expansion plans. We are comfortable operating in both Anglophone and Francophone Africa.

AFIG Funds’ LPs include some of the most active investors in African Private Equity: AfDB, Africa Re, BII (ex CDC), DEG, EIB, Finnfund, IFC, Old Mutual, Pinebridge Investments, Swedfund, etc.

European Investment Bank
African Development Bank
African Reinsurance Corporation
British International Investment

Our Funds

Atlantic Coast Regional Fund (“ACRF”)

Atlantic Coast Regional Fund (“ACRF”) is a USD 122 million regional fund launched in 2008 to accelerate the growth of local champions. The Fund targets strong growth companies operating in 29 countries across West and Central Africa, preferably with a regional scope.

ACRF considers investments in all sectors, with a particular focus on industrial firms, financial institutions and companies investing in infrastructure and other related sectors. Target companies are mature and cash-flow generative companies operating in sectors with high entry barriers and/or enjoying market dominance. In addition, target companies exhibit a proven track record in terms of managerial competence, satisfactory and measurable performance and a solid business plan.

AFIG Fund II LP (“Fund II”)

AFIG Fund II is USD 135 million regional fund launched in 2016 to invest in African companies that have the potential to be regional “blue chips”. Fund II is sector agnostic and considers investments in various sectors including financial services, light industrials, FMCG, agribusiness, and more. AFIG Fund II covers 32 countries in West, Central, and East Africa. The investment ticket size ranges from USD 5 to 20 million.

Investment Strategy

Our investment strategy, in effect the practical application of our philosophy relies on 3 pillars.

Local Market

Local market presence, knowledge and relationships.

Strategic Partnership

Strategic partnerships designed to enhance deal-sourcing and maximize impact and value-added contributions to portfolio companies.

Broad Investing

The broad investing expertise and experience accumulated by the AFIG team.

Investment process

Our investment process is characterized by:

  • A rigorous investment selection process.
  • Early identification and close monitoring of the operational and business risks.
  • Negotiation of favorable investment terms and conditions.
  • Maximization and diversification of exit/liquidity options.

We generally combine a top-down investment strategy with a bottom up approach by starting with a careful analysis of regional and country economic and industry trends that make certain sectors attractive. Leveraging our local relationships, our team then analyzes the companies within those sectors to find the best potential investment candidates. The companies that we target have a strong local presence and significant opportunities for growth and value creation. The companies will also have capable and responsible management and a market advantage such as long-term contracts, strategic location, first-mover advantage, recognized market leadership, more advanced technology or a unique expertise.

Once a company is identified, we will perform extensive financial, technical, operational, legal and environmental due diligence to determine whether it meets our investment criteria. We will generally seek significant minority stakes and structure our investments to ensure strong shareholder rights, including board representation. We will work closely with our portfolio companies and have developed tools and partnerships to add value in ways ranging from analysis of strategic issues to recruiting senior management.

Our People

The AFIG Funds Investment and Operations teams and its Advisory board are driven by a strong dedication to excellence. By combining international best practices with its wide expertise of the target region’s economic environment, and proven operational skills, they demonstrate a unique knowledge in private equity in Africa to achieve higher returns for AFIG’s investors.

Investment Team

papa-madiaw

Papa Madiaw Ndiaye

CEO

Papa Madiaw Ndiaye is the Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of AFIG Funds. He leads the strategic direction of the Fund, manages LP relationships and oversees the investment process as Chair of the Investment Committee. Papa serves on the boards of several African companies including AFIG Fund’s investee companies. He is also a board member of AVCA, the Africa PE association.

Prior to AFIG Funds, Papa was Co-Founder and Investment Director at Emerging Markets Partnership in Washington (EMP, now ECP). He was one of three partners to raise and manage the USD 407 million AIG African Infrastructure Fund, which when launched in 2000, was the largest ever pan-African Fund. Before EMP, he worked in IFC’s investment department covering financial institutions in Africa between 1996 and 2000 and helped launch several landmark funds in Africa. Papa spent the early part of his career on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers and later joined JP Morgan’s Emerging Markets Group in 1992. In 1994, he launched JP Morgan’s securities trading in Africa and the Middle East.

In 2000, Papa was named Special Advisor for Economic and Financial Affairs to the President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairman of the Senegalese Presidential Economic & Financial Advisory Council. In the same year, he launched MIDROC BVI, a direct investment vehicle for Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi, a lead investor in the AIG African Infrastructure Fund.

He holds an M.B.A. degree from the Wharton School of Business, an M.A. in International Affairs from the University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute, and a B.A. in economics from Harvard College. In 2004, he was selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum of Davos and then as one of the ‘’Frontier 100 CEOs’’ of the Initiative for Global Development in 2009.

Patrice-Backer

Patrice Backer

CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER

Patrice Backer is a Partner and the Chief Investment Officer of AFIG Funds. He is responsible for managing all aspects of the investment process, including the sourcing of deals, transaction execution, portfolio monitoring, and exiting. Patrice also takes a leading role in investor relations and fundraising. Patrice is a director of the following companies: FSDH Merchant Bank, FSDH Capital, PAL Pensions (Nigeria); Tecnicil Indústrias (Cape Verde); and SOPROICAM (Cameroon.) He is a member of AFIG Funds’ Investment Committee.

Prior to AFIG Funds, Patrice headed PromoCapital Haiti S.A., a transnational investment firm, where he led several investment banking transactions. Patrice began his Wall Street career in 1993 in JP Morgan’s Latin America M&A Group before joining the bank’s Emerging Markets Sales & Trading Group where he co-managed the Credit Derivatives Desk and became the head of the Finance Desk, a USD 7 billion portfolio of debt securities.

Patrice was appointed to the Finance and Risk Committee of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) as an independent member in 2021. GPE is the largest global fund solely dedicated to transforming education in lower-income countries. GPE delivers funds and supporting solutions to build strong and resilient education systems for the benefit of children, especially girls, in lower-income countries.

Patrice is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained a joint MBA from the Wharton School and an MA from the School of Arts and Sciences in 1993. He is a Fellow of the Lauder Institute Global MBA program. He graduated from Harvard College in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Sciences.

Kelechi Okoro

Kelechi Okoro

DIRECTOR

Kelechi Okoro is a Director at AFIG Funds. He is responsible for sourcing, executing and managing investments for the funds under management.

Prior to joining AFIG Funds in 2013, Kelechi was at Argentil Capital Partners where he originated and executed infrastructure transactions. Prior to Argentil, he worked with the Infrastructure and Natural Resources Group of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and at ARM Investment Managers (with ~USD 2bn AUM), both in Nigeria. He serves on the boards of directors of 5 African companies, including FSDH Merchant Bank Ltd (Nigeria), NEM Insurance Plc (Nigeria), AXIS Pensions Group (Ghana).

Kelechi holds a Bachelor’s in Human Physiology from the University of Ibadan, and an M.B.A. from Lagos Business School. He is a Nigerian citizen.

Operations Team

Ndeye Coumba Kone

CHIEF ACCOUNTANT

Ndeye Coumba Koné is a Chief Accountant, with 15 years of experience in accounting and management control. She is responsible for the accounting activity for AFIG Funds Senegal. In addition, she supports the senior management team on a host of strategic initiatives.

Prior to AFIG Funds, Ndeye Coumba worked as a financial analyst and internal auditor at Nestlé Senegal, and as a procurement controller for Nestlé Western Cluster. Previously, she worked as an accountant assistant at Ernst & Young Senegal. Ndeye Coumba also served as auditor at Moyoro WADE Office, the then-local representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ndeye Coumba holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance, and a Master’s degree in Commerce and Business Administration, from École Supérieure Polytechnique in Dakar. She is a Senegalese citizen.

Aissatou Dia

OFFICE MANAGER

Aïssatou Dia is the Office Manager. She is responsible for administrative and back office activities. She manages daily office operations, logistics, accounting, and relationships with suppliers.

Prior to joining AFIG Funds, Aïssatou worked as an Office Manager at APMOLLER-MAERSK, a global logistics group.

Aïssatou holds a master’s degree in International Business from the University of Lille 2 (France). She is a Senegalese citizen.

Fanta Bodian

ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT

Fanta Bodian is an Accounting Assistant. She supports the operations team’s work on accountancy and on a range of tasks including supplier management and overview of Senegal’s office functioning.

Prior to joining AFIG Funds, Fanta interned at Deloitte (Senegal) as an Accountant Assistant where she was involved in bookkeeping tasks of the firm.

Fanta Bodian holds a master’s degree in Finance and Audit from IFACE (Senegal). She is a Senegalese citizen.

Careers

The AFIG Funds staff is driven by a strong dedication to quality and excellence. Through ambitious training, internship, mentoring, and in-house training programs we are committed to make a difference in the African private equity and capital investment sectors.

Please contact us at recruitment@afigfunds.com

Connect with us

IQEQ Fund Services,
33 Edith Cavell Street,
Port Louis
+230 212 9800
Villa Palmium,
rue FN-11 Fann Mermoz,
Dakar
+221 33 865-0515
5425 Wisconsin Avenue,
Suite 600 Chevy Chase,
Maryland 20815
+1 301 718-4815