YEELEN FINANCIAL FUND INVESTS IN GAMMA

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, June 28, 2021: YEELEN FINANCIAL FUND, a fund dedicated to the financial sector of the WAEMU region managed by Yeelen Capital, member of Cauris Management group, a West African private equity fund manager, has taken a stake in the capital of the Holding Groupement d’Assurances Modernes Multiformes en Afrique “GAMMA” which owns two life and non-life insurance companies in Mali, SONAVIE and SABUNYUMAN.

Following the investment of FCFA 3.5 billion (approximately € 5.3 million) by YEELEN FINANCIAL FUND, GAMMA owns in majority (i) SONAVIE, created in 1996 and leader of the life insurance market and (ii) SABUNYUMAN, created in 1982 and 3^rd player of the non-life insurance market.

Yawo Noël Eklo, Co-Founder of Cauris Management, said: “The investment of YEELEN FINANCIAL FUND helps make SONAVIE and SABUNYUMAN comply with the new CIMA requirements in terms of minimum share capital and equity, and also enables the financing of the group’s strategic development plan”.

To comment on the Fund’s equity investment, Mr. Mamadou Touré, Managing Director of SONAVIE and Chairman of SABUNYUMAN said: “The insurance sector in Mali remains strong considering the growth potential, penetration rate being only 0.5%. Thanks to the equity investments of GAMMA holding mainly, but also follow-on increases made by our various shareholders, the share capital reaches now FCFA 5.1 billion for SONAVIE and FCFA 4.4 billion for SABUNYUMAN. Until 2019, each of these two insurance companies had a share capital of around FCFA 2 billion. These operations thus allow to strengthen their financial capacities. This is very favourable to our primary ambition, which is to make insurance become part of Malians’ way of life. SONAVIE and SABUNYUMAN will have the advantage of capitalizing on the experiences acquired over decades and getting greatest benefit from the expertise and resources provided by YEELEN FINANCIAL FUND”.

Mr. Benjamin Kouakou, Managing Partner at Cauris Management in charge of Yeelen Financial Fund, indicated that “Yeelen Financial Fund created at the initiative of the West African Development Bank (BOAD) and under management of Yeelen Capital aims at  supporting financial institutions, in particular banks and insurance companies, in a context of raising the share capital and equity capital of the WAEMU and CIMA zone required by the respective regulators, but also to participate in the development of the latter. Yeelen Financial Fund also aims to intervene and participate in the development of players operating in the microfinance and fintech sector. The investment in SONAVIE and SABUNYUMAN, via GAMMA, is the opportunity for Yeelen to support two major players in the life and non-life insurance industry in Mali. The establishment of such an insurance group enables the optimization of synergies between the two entities by pooling costs and the commercial network, by offering customers mixed products tailored to the market in order to reach a critical size locally before starting regional expansion and becoming an important player in the CIMA zone”.

About Cauris Management / Yeelen Capital Group

Cauris Management is a private equity fund manager active in the SME segment in West Africa since 1995. It created Yeelen Capital in 2016 to manage Yeelen Financial Fund with a target size of                         € 65 million dedicated to the financial sector in the WAEMU region. Yeelen Capital is a consortium composed of Cauris Management, Mr Paul Derreumaux, founder of Bank Of Africa Group, Mr Amadou Raimi, former President of Deloitte France and Vice-President of Deloitte World and Finactu, a consulting firm specializing in finance and insurance in Africa. Cauris Management / Yeelen Capital group team has made 49 investments, including 13 investments in financial sector and 44 exits since the beginning. The portfolio includes investments in sectors as diverse as agribusiness, financial services, hospitality, telecoms, distribution, energy, etc. The opportunity in GAMMA is the second investment made by Yeelen Financial Fund after the one made in December 2019 in ATLANTIC INSURANCE COMPANY, an Ivorian group which owns 4 life and non-life insurance companies in 3 countries (Benin, Cameroon, Mali). Cauris Management / Yeelen Capital group operates from Lomé and Abidjan.

For more information:

www.caurismanagement.com