MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Sells 20% Equity Stake in ACEP Burkina to SIDI

Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) recently sold the 20-percent equity stake in Agence de Crédit pour l’Entreprise Privée (ACEP) Burkina, a microfinance institution in Burkina Faso, that it had held through its Incofin CVSO fund. The buyer is Solidarité Internationale pour le Développement et l’Investissement (SIDI), a French social business that is looking to “strengthen its commitment to the development of inclusive finance in Africa and more particularly in the Sahel region.”

Incofin IM invested in ACEP Burkina upon its establishment in 2009, although the microbank did not begin operations until 2012. As of 2022, ACEP Burkina reported a loan portfolio of EUR 43 million (USD 46 million) and a customer base of 31,000. The institution has not disclosed the amount of client deposits it holds.

ACEP Group owns stakes in ACEP Burkina, ACEP Cameroon, ACEP Madagascar and ACEP Niger. As of 2021, these institutions employ 1,200 people, hold an aggregate gross loan portfolio of EUR 107 million (USD 116 million), and serve 148,000 customers – of whom 40 percent are women. The group was created by ACEP International, a private company whose ownership includes its co-founder Thierry Perreau; Investisseurs and Partenaires (I&P), a France-based investor in small and medium-sized enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa; and the government-owned Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, which is also known as BIO.

SIDI, which was launched in 1983 by the France-based nonprofit CCFD-Terre Solidaire, “strives to contribute to the building of a more inclusive economy, which would give poor populations from Southern and Eastern countries a chance.” Its operations span 36 countries, where it reports having invested a total of EUR 37 million (USD 40 million) as of December 2020.

Founded in 2001, Incofin IM is a for-profit firm that seeks “to promote inclusive progress.” As of 2022, it has 350 investees in 65 countries, mostly active in financial inclusion and agriculture. Incofin’s portfolio is valued at USD 1.2 billion and comprises the following funds: agRIF, BRS Microfinance Coop Fund, Fairtrade Access Fund, Fonds pour l’Inclusion Financière en République Démocratique Congo, Incofin CVSO, Invest in Visions, Rural Impulse Fund II, Volksvermogen and a loan portfolio of vdk bank. The company has offices in Belgium, Colombia, Cambodia, India and Kenya.

Incofin CVSO is a cooperative fund through which Incofin IM offers financing and technical assistance. As of 2022, it reports a volume of EUR 74 million (USD 79 million), including investments in firms that serve 3.4 million microentrepreneurs in 28 countries.

By Saulius Simonas Ramanauskas, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Sources

Direct contact with Incofin

SIDI press release
http://www.sidi.fr/2022/05/23/new-shareholder-in-acep-burkina-sidi-acquires-20-equity-stake

ACEP Burkina homepage
https://acep-bf.com

ACEP Group homepage
https://groupacep.com

SIDI homepage
https://www.sidi.fr

Incofin IM homepage
https://incofin.com

Previous MicroCapital brief on Incofin
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-bailyk-finance-borrows-from-incofin-for-on-lending-to-small-scale-entrepreneurs-farmers-in-kyrgyzstan

Previous MicroCapital brief on ACEP Group
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-credit-agricole-foundation-lends-2-2m-in-local-currency-to-acep-burkina-for-on-lending-to-micro-small-medium-sized-enterprises-msmes

Did you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.