AFRICA · EUROPE · MIDDLE EAST
The expertise of Dilcap Advisory and Tradefinance.africa to support your equity transactions, structure your financing and develop your international projects.
01 — OUR APPROACH
Africa Finance Partners brings together the expertise of two platforms to support companies, financial institutions and project sponsors in their transactions in Africa and internationally.
Expertise in strategy, governance and equity transactions: disposals, acquisitions, fundraising and capital reorganisation. The financial analysis rests on an understanding of business models and operational issues.
Expertise in trade finance, corporate banking, export finance and project finance. It combines transaction structuring, knowledge of financial institutions and experience of trade between Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
02 — OUR EXPERTISE
Every assignment starts from a concrete need: handing over a company, financing trade, preparing an investment or developing a banking business.
Preparing a disposal, organising an acquisition or opening up the capital: support that links shareholder objectives, company value and the terms of the transaction.
Informing the choices of executives and shareholders, assessing business models and preparing the stages of the company’s development.
Structuring financing from trade flows, contracts and payment risks, from production through to settlement of the transaction.
Preparing bankable projects and aligning the needs of sponsors, lenders and public institutions on long-term transactions.
Supporting institutions in their international development, their trade finance business and their relationships with correspondent banks.
Preparing discussions with international investors and lenders, particularly on Europe–Africa and Gulf–Africa relations.
03 — OUR METHOD
A project must be capable of being understood and assessed: who is involved, how the flows arise, how the financing will be repaid and which risks must be dealt with.
Clarify your objective, your constraints, the stakeholders and the timetable of the transaction.
Examine the accounts, contracts, cash flows and main risks to build a documented file.
Define the transaction or financing options and identify the relevant counterparties.
Coordinate discussions and decision stages within the agreed scope of the mandate.
A defined scope, agreed deliverables and a risk analysis from the outset. Credit and investment decisions remain those of the banks and investors.
04 — THE EXPERTS
Two hands-on backgrounds to link the company’s challenges with the expectations of shareholders, banks and investors.
Christophe Auger combines experience as an investment banker, an executive and an adviser on equity transactions. His career includes the Crédit Agricole group, heading strategy and development at Nexity and the chairmanship of Bien’ici.
With Dilcap, he supports executives and shareholders in their strategic decisions, their disposals and acquisitions, and their fundraising.
Nabil Frik brings more than 25 years of experience in international banking. A former Managing Director and Head of Financial Institutions for Africa, the Middle East and Asia at British Arab Commercial Bank in London, he has held responsibilities in business development, structuring and governance.
His expertise covers trade, export and project finance, as well as international banking relationships. He works in French, English, German and Arabic.
COMBINED EXPERTISE
Christophe Auger and Nabil Frik work together when the question of capital and the question of bank financing arise at the same time.
An SME, a mid-cap or a group preparing a fundraising, an acquisition or a project financing has to convince shareholders and lenders alike. Christophe Auger brings the reading of the shareholder and the executive: strategy, valuation, governance, capital structure and documentation for investors. Nabil Frik brings the reading of the international banker: how banks analyse risk, trade finance instruments, export credit and the expectations of development institutions. The file is thus prepared to be read from both sides of the table.
A small or medium-sized African bank seeking a refinancing line, an equity partner or new correspondent banks is assessed on its solvency, its governance, its risk management and its compliance. Nabil Frik’s experience as head of financial institutions for Africa, the Middle East and Asia sheds light on what international lenders examine. Christophe Auger’s experience in equity transactions and company management serves the strategy, the opening of the capital and the dialogue with shareholders.
Whether for a company or a financial institution, the objective is the same: to present funders with a clear, documented and consistent profile. The two experts work on the same material, accounts, business plan, capital structure and risk mapping, and approach it from two complementary angles. The executive keeps two identified contacts, each responsible for his own field, with joint preparation before approaching investors, banks or development institutions.
AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Equity transactions, trade and industrial projects.
Investors, financing and Islamic finance structures.
Correspondent banks, exports and development institutions.
05 — LET’S TALK
An equity transaction, a financing need or an international development: let’s discuss your objectives and the appropriate scope of support.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Companies, banks and microfinance institutions: what international funders expect before they finance.
Q1 What is the bankability of a company in the context of international capital?
Bankability refers to a company’s ability to present a risk profile, a business model and a financial structure that meet the requirements of international funders (investment banks, DFIs, debt funds). It implies alignment with strict criteria of governance, accounting transparency (IFRS) and ESG compliance.
Q2 Why do African SMEs and mid-caps often fail to raise funds internationally?
The main obstacles do not lie in the viability of the business but in structural gaps: the absence of financial statements audited under IFRS, overly centralised governance, the absence of formalised ESG policies and an underestimation of the due diligence requirements of global investors.
Q3 What does an advisory mandate for bankability preparation (investment readiness) consist of?
It is strategic support comprising:
Q4 Are ESG standards mandatory for access to international financing?
Yes. For almost all development institutions (IFC, Proparco, DEG, AfDB) and international impact funds, alignment with environmental and social performance standards (e.g. the IFC Performance Standards) is an absolute condition precedent to any disbursement of funds.
Q5 How does bankability advisory help manage foreign exchange (FX) risk for companies with foreign-currency debt?
The adviser structures currency hedging mechanisms (through specialised vehicles such as TCX or derivatives) or helps the company raise international financing denominated in local currency with suitable guarantees.
Q6 What are the bankability issues specific to small and medium-sized African banks?
These institutions must prove their capacity to absorb macroeconomic shocks, maintain sound solvency ratios (Basel II/III), demonstrate a rigorous risk management framework and provide safeguards against money laundering in order to convince international lenders.
Q7 Why is a credit rating indispensable for access to the capital markets?
Institutional investors and international banks cannot allocate credit lines without an independent assessment of credit risk. A rating issued by a recognised agency (Bloomfield, GCR, Fitch, Moody’s) establishes the bank’s financial credibility and determines the cost of its debt.
Q8 What is a “shadow rating” and what is its benefit?
It is a confidential simulation of the agency assessment carried out by the advisory firm. It makes it possible to identify the weaknesses of the bank’s balance sheet and risk profile before starting the official rating process, thereby avoiding a penalising rating.
Q9 How does de-risking affect African banks and how does advisory respond to it?
De-risking leads international correspondent banks to cut their correspondent banking relationships with local banks deemed risky. Bankability advisory makes it possible to bring AML/CFT systems back up to international standards and to institutionalise compliance in order to restore the confidence of central banks and international partners.
Q10 What are the steps for a local bank to obtain a refinancing line from a DFI (IFC, Proparco, BOAD, etc.)?