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Benjamin Kouakou

Benjamin Kouakou

Partner, head of Yeelen Financial Fund, Abidjan office

Experience in the financial sector
25 years
Fund
Yeelen Financial Fund
Office
Abidjan

LinkedIn profile

The background of Benjamin Kouakou

Benjamin Kouakou is a Partner and Head of Yeelen Financial Fund, the first fund of YEELEN Capital, a member of Cauris Management. With 25 years of experience in the financial sector in West and Central Africa, he was previously Group Sales Director at Oragroup and CEO of Orabank Chad. He also served as Regional Director of the Diamond Bank group for French-speaking countries and as Vice-President at Citibank. Benjamin Kouakou is a graduate of HEC Paris and holds a Statistical Engineering degree from the École Nationale Supérieure de Statistique et d’Économie Appliquée (ENSEA, Abidjan).

Before you start

Two conditions open a review, and we check them straight away. If they are met, the questionnaire takes about ten minutes: you can stop and resume, your draft stays on this device, and nothing is sent before the summary.

Two conditions open a review

  1. West and Central Africafor the country of the head office; Nigeria remains outside our scope
  2. 1.3 billion FCFAat the very least, around 2 million euros or 2.13 million dollars

Both are cumulative: both must be met to continue.

What is worth having to hand

  • The figures from your last closed financial year: revenue, net profit, equity
  • The amount you are seeking and what the funds are for
  • Your business plan, if you already have one: it is optional at this stage

Let us check them now

XOF

The review threshold is 1.3 billion FCFA, around 2 million euros or 2.13 million dollars.

Step 1 of 5

Your company

Identifying the company and the stage it has reached.

Headcount *
What you are looking to do *
Optional, but it saves us one exchange.

Step 2 of 5

Your figures

Rough figures from the last closed financial year.

Currency of your accounts *
XOF
XOFIf negative, put a minus sign before the amount.
XOFShare capital, reserves and retained earnings.
XOFOptional. Bank loans outstanding.
Operating profit (EBITDA) *

Before interest, tax and depreciation.

Step 3 of 5

Your need

The instrument and the use of the funds.

Instrument you are seeking *
Use of the funds *

You may tick several.

Are you comfortable with Cauris taking a minority stake? *

Our stakes are usually minority ones, over a three to five year horizon.

When you need the funds *

Step 4 of 5

Your project

What the funding is meant to achieve.

  • The project: what you want to do, and why now.
  • The market: the demand you serve and your edge over competitors.
  • The company in three to five years: the revenue, headcount and locations you are aiming for.
0 of 1,500 characters, 120 at the very least.
Business plan A methodical document of 15 to 20 pages: the company, its environment, a 3 to 5 year projection, forecast financial statements.
Documents you can provide

They will be asked for if your case goes to review.

Step 5 of 5

Contacting you

So that our team can get back to you.

Preferred office

Last step

Summary of your request

Read your answers again before sending. Every block can be edited in one click.

Request sent

Thank you, your project is in our hands

Your case reference: . Keep it for our exchanges.

  1. Your request goes to the investment teamAn acknowledgement is sent to .
  2. An investment officer studies your caseAgainst our criteria: the company’s profile, its executives and governance, its market, and the shape of the stake.
  3. They get back to you for a first conversationHave your business plan and documents ready: they will be asked for if the case goes to review.

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