Advisor to many financial institutions in French-speaking Africa, the Finactu group chose three heavyweights in African finance at the beginning of December to help it in its strategic direction, including the former president of BOAD Christian Adovelande and the former president of Bank of Africa Paul Derreumaux. If he appoints them as independent members, they have already worked with him.

The financial consulting firm Finactu held the first meeting of its brand new strategic committee on December 9 and 10: it recruited three African finance pundits, Christian Adovelande, Paul Derreumaux and Hervé Assah. These new "independent members" are already familiar with Finactu on other projects, including an investment fund financed by the West African Development Bank (BOAD) chaired by Adovelande. Finactu relies on them and their knowledge of the financial sector to identify new avenues for growth.

Led by the Frenchman Denis Chemillier-Gendreau and the Swiss Géraldine Mermoux, Finactu has indeed reached a substantial size and is seeking to target new fields of action. The firm first established itself as the benchmark for insurers and governments to manage their pension and social security systems. It has since expanded its activities with the arrival in 2012 of Mermoux, former director of the large investment fund Emerging Capital Partners (ECP). For example, the firm has advised several major banking groups such as Atlantic Financial Group, as well as financing institutions such as the World Bank and the French Development Agency (AFD).

Old working relationships

Adovelande and Derreumaux, who know each other well, both join him after a long career in West African finance. Adovelande left the presidency of BOAD, one of the continent's main financing institutions, in August. The Beninese businessman had held the position since 2011.

Former president of the banking giant Bank of Africa (BOA), Derreumaux seems to be deviating from his retirement plans by joining Finactu. He said a few months ago to devote more time to personal activities, including writing. The French banker based in Mali left the executive presidency of BOA in 2011, where he remained for around thirty years (Africa Intelligence, 30/04/20).

A common investment fund

However, he took advantage of his free time to work on major investments in the insurance sector, with the investment fund Yeelen Financial Fund from 2017. It was BOAD, then chaired by his friend Adovelande, who launched Yeelen.

The regional bank provides part of the total financing of 34.1 million euros. These funds are managed by Derreumaux and Finactu, accompanied by two other financiers. The fund is to help West African bankers and insurers restructure as they grapple with new regulations. Under Adovelande, BOAD also commissioned Finactu in 2015 to advise it on a major project: the development of agricultural insurance in West Africa. Following the mandate, Senegal, for example, launched insurance to protect 40,000 cotton producers against climatic hazards.

Finactu's extensive network

Within Yeelen, Finactu, Derreumaux and Adovelande have been joined by some of the consulting firm's major clients. This is the case, for example, of the pension fund for Ivorian employees, the National Social Security Fund (CNPS), or the Atlantic Financial Group (Africa Intelligence, 28/10/20), which have both invested in the fund. .

Hervé Assah, the latest recruit for its strategic committee, will be able to bring to Finactu his knowledge of financing institutions such as the World Bank, where he worked for a long time. The two leaders of Finactu had not collaborated with him so far.