FINACTU Group is pleased to announce that it has won the RFP tender launched by the CIPRES (Conférence Interafricaine de la Prévoyance Sociale) for the creation of the African Investment Fund. CIPRES is a transnational supervisory institution that encompasses 25 social security institutions located in 16 African States.

AIF is a recent initiative of CIPRES, widely supported by the General Managers of the 25 social security institutions (SSI), aiming at aligning investment strategies and pooling SSI reserves (Social Welfare Bodies) in order to improve financial performance. AIF is intended to centralize part of SSI reserves and to invest in the subarea in all asset classes: listed shares, bonds, private equity, real-estate, infrastructure... These institutions intend to play a paramount, « Institutional Investor » role by combining their efforts within a regional investment fund, the AIF.

The FINACTU Group, which was opposed to two major international consulting firms, was able to convince the Executive Secretary of CIPRES and the SSI General Managers, who all gathered in Brazzaville for hearing the candidates. CIPRES was assisted by the advisory firm PHOENIX CAPITAL MANAGEMENT (www.phoenixafricaholding.com).

As Ms Géraldine MERMOUX, General Manager of the FINACTU Group, commented during the hearing « we have emphasized on the original and rare skill-set combination: FINACTU’s solid roots at the crossroads of social security and finance in Africa. While social security and finance environments are culturally often opposed, FINACTU has achieved the alchemy of marrying them. »

Denis CHEMILLIER-GENDREAU, who was also present as President of FINACTU, reminded that « Social security institutions are confronted, not only in Africa, with the aging of population, which increases the cost of social coverage, and particularly of retirement. That is precisely why the optimization of reserves management becomes a main issue, as it can provide institutions with an additional source of income. In addition, ongoing projects for the creation of complementary funded schemes will force social security institutions to place asset management at the heart of their activity: AIF ​​is therefore a precursory project, which shows the very deep and rapid modernization of African social security. »

The added value of AIF will go beyond considerations inherent to SSI and their contributors, as AIF will contribute to the development of CIPRES member-countries by bringing a new source of highly impacting financing to local businesses. FINACTU teams are particularly proud to support CIPRES and its members in the implementation of this important socio-economic project, thus contributing to the development of the continent as a whole.

For the record, CIPRES member countries are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Togo and Union of the Comoros.

CIPRES’ scope of intervention consists in (i) setting common management rules through the specific social security laws and regulations’ harmonization, (ii) controlling social security institutions’ management and (iii) providing technical assistance to these institutions (training, etc.).

For further information, please visit the FINACTU website www.finactu.com