Invest in Africa (IIA) was launched in Senegal in 2018 by members- Woodside Energy, BP,
Cairn and Kosmos Energy – to help local businesses better understand the Oil & Gas sector
and how to participate in potential future opportunities.
IIA is a not-for-profit organization, which specializes in supporting African small and medium
enterprises (SME) to develop their business and increase competitiveness by providing
access to skills, markets and finance.
IIA’s model is all about creating partnerships – with international firms, local business and
business bodies, among others – to help local suppliers understand how to better prepare
themselves for growth. The company’s model is built on three specific pillars; access to
markets; access to skills and access to finance.
Access to Market: Through the African Partner Pool – an online marketplace run by IIA,
designed to connect industry and larger corporates with a pool of credible local suppliers
that meet their needs. This allows the private sectors to have a clear vision of what skills are
available for a given project.
Access to Skills: Through the Business Linkage Program, partly funded in Ghana by the
African Development Bank, which aims to fill the business skills gap that currently exists in
many high-growth potential African SMEs.
Access to Finance: Through SME Financing, IIA brings together several partner banks and
financial institutions in order to improve SMEs’ access to more affordable finance. The goal
is to lower associated risk, ultimately increasing the company’s chance to secure better
access to most appropriate form of finance for their needs.
IIA believes in continuously creating partnerships with corporate partners, local enterprise,
government bodies/figures, donor agencies and other strategic partners is key to the
companies’ growth and success.
