Mediterranean Capital Partners announces exit from Cofina Group’s capital

Mediterrania Capital Partners has announced the sale of its stake in Cofina Group, a leader in mesofinance and exchange finance services in West and Central Africa, to another investment fund, Development Partners International (DPI).

Based on Abidjan, the Cofina Group, founded in 2014 by Jean-Luc Conan, aims to help entrepreneurs and SMEs receive medium or long-term funding. Today, the Group offers a wide range of banking products to over 254,000 customers, including domestic and international money transfer, financial solutions and related consulting services. As 60% of Cofina’s credit customers are first-time borrowers, the group is helping to significantly reduce inequality and improve economic growth on the continent.

Cofina Group operates in eight African countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Gabon, Mali, Congo Brazzaville, Burkina Faso and Togo, and employs more than 1,400 people (half of them women). In April 2018, Mediterranean Capital Partners entered the capital of Cofina by acquiring a minority stake.

The investment, which aims to support Cofina’s ambitious geographical expansion and product diversification plans, has contributed to the significant expansion of the Group’s customer and product portfolios. During the mandate of Mediterranean Capital Partners, Cofina implemented a development strategy centered on the development of SMEs and the development of financing solutions to engage in the provision of loans and their collection services.

The team has also introduced mobile and web banking applications to facilitate branchless banking services, allowing customers to make financial transactions from their mobile phones and computers. Thanks to the group’s product and geographic diversification, Cofina’s net banking revenue reached 40 million euros in 2021. Ensuring significant growth in operations and expanding the Group’s presence in the region, Cofina opened subsidiaries and offices in Burkina Faso and Togo. In Paris to fulfill the demand of the African diaspora in the French capital. Around the same time, Cofina launched “Fin’ELLE”, a branch of microfinance dedicated to promoting female entrepreneurship and launching a number of initiatives in support of start-ups and young entrepreneurs.

With the support and advice of the Mediterranean, Cofina is also there Put Implements a wide range of ESG initiatives focusing on promoting community content to improve communities and grow economies.

One of the pillars of Cofina’s social responsibility policy is to provide social guidance with the aim of sharing its knowledge with traditionally socially marginalized families. The group is actively involved in a number of charitable projects and regularly donates food and supplies to schools, clothing for orphanages, taps for providing clean water to hospitals, farm equipment for rural entrepreneurs and more. Hatim Ben Ahmed, Executive Partner – Mediterranean Capital Partners: “When we invested in Cofina in 2018, we saw the tremendous opportunity the company represented, not only from a financial standpoint, but also as an advertiser. The key to social inclusion. Inside Africa.

Four years later, our expectations and forecasts have all been surpassed, and we are proud that Cofina has become a strong company with a long-term vision and sustainable growth.

Jean-Luc Conan, Founder and CEO – Cofina Group: “We need the support of Mediterrania Capital Partners to transform Cofina into a strong company, with a clear vision and take the infrastructure to take it to the next level. We are delighted with the active involvement of Mediterrania Capital Partners and new investors. Together we are happy to grow our business more and more.

The transaction marks the second waiver of Mediterranean Capital Partners’ MC III fund following DGCC’s IPO in December 2021..