The IFEY Group is a social enterprise that supports startups, growing companies and social
development projects. I.F.E.Y. is an acronym for Incubator for Entrepreneurs and Youthful. It
is based in West Africa and aims to provide support across Africa.
Over the next 5 to 10 years, IFEY group hopes to attract between $10million and $100million to
Africa to support start-ups, growing companies, and social development projects. Based on
sponsor appetite and the attractiveness of opportunities, the investment amount could be
even higher.
IFEY expects to start operations in late 2018, or in early 2019. Even though IFEY is still in the
planning stages, it is currently supporting about 30 startup companies and has facilitated
capital investments into 10 of them. It has also invested in, and implemented, a few social
development projects as well, in such areas as water, infrastructure, youth education and
female entrepreneurship.
While many incubators in Africa focus mostly on information technology start-ups, IFEY is
taking a much more inclusive approach. For instance, for start-up investments, it is open to
such “heavy machinery” industries as energy and agriculture. Also, when supporting social
development projects, it counts female entrepreneurship as a top priority.
Fortunately, there are many development agencies eager to support social development
projects in Africa. Nonetheless, there is a shortage of outfits eager to help these
organizations execute projects or acquire the local insights to design the projects effectively.
There also many strategic and financial investors (and their intermediaries, such as
investment banks) focused on Africa. Most consider the long-term upside available from
exposure to African enterprises to be compelling. Notwithstanding, they still appreciate the
need for facilitators and insiders that can nurture, refine and sustain good opportunities till
they are investment-ready.
African aspiring entrepreneurs come from a variety of backgrounds. Some have never had
formal employment or entrepreneurial training. Others have received a high-quality education
and have worked at industry-leading firms. Yet another group might lack entrepreneurial
opportunity due to various socioeconomic or demographic factors. For most of these
people, getting training in a blend of the soft and hard skills needed to create a successful
enterprise could be beneficial. At inception, access to support systems and infrastructure
can allow the founders to focus more on their core competencies. Many African founders need the type of support business unit leaders working inside large organized corporations receive from support services departments. Since many entrepreneurs can’t initially afford to hire any staff, they are forced to multitask (often ineffectively) between support functions and core functions.
In Africa, this need is exacerbated by the fact that electrification rates are lower, transport
infrastructure is inchoate and the premium real estate is occasionally expensive. IFEY group ameliorates
these problems by providing facilities and support systems to the companies it supports. Beyond
that, IFEY can also provide strategic direction, help with big-ticket customer acquisition and
introduce enhancements to operational efficiency. The majority of potential entrepreneurs
are at the early stages of their entrepreneurial development. Therefore, this kind of help
can make the difference between success and failure.
EMAIL: support@ifey.org
PHONE: +234-907- 145-9112
CONTACT CENTER: Suite A5, Ikota Shopping Complex, Lagos, Nigeria
