The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a €6.5m ($7.6m) investment in Saviu II, a venture capital fund focused on early-stage technology startups in Francophone West and Central Africa.
The commitment, cleared by the Bank’s board on 27 February, will see €4.5m deployed as equity and a further €2m structured as a first-loss tranche on behalf of the European Commission under the Boost Africa programme. The blended structure is designed to de-risk the vehicle and crowd in additional private capital.
Saviu II is managed by Saviu Partners and will target seed-stage and first institutional rounds, writing cheques of between €500,000 and €3m. The fund plans to back around 20 companies with strong technological or digital components, primarily in Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali. At least 60% of commitments are earmarked for these Francophone markets.
The fund may also co-invest in East African startups with expansion strategies into French-speaking West Africa. A dedicated pre-seed allocation will support earlier-stage founders, typically via minority stakes alongside studios, incubators and other ecosystem partners.
Building on Saviu I
Launched in 2018 with €10m in capital, Saviu I invested in 12 startups across Francophone Africa. The manager positions itself as an active minority shareholder, supporting portfolio companies with recruitment, international expansion and fundraising.
Saviu II reached a €12m first close in 2023 and a €25m second close in early 2025, backed by institutional investors including the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), Proparco and AXIAN Investment. The fund is targeting a final size of between €30m and €50m. The firm is licensed by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission, making it one of a small number of fully regulated independent VC managers focused on Francophone West Africa.
Portfolio companies in Saviu II include:
- Julaya (Côte d’Ivoire), a B2B neobank offering virtual accounts and working capital tools
- Rubyx (Senegal), a lending-as-a-service platform for SME credit scoring
- Waspito (Cameroon), a digital health platform providing teleconsultations and lab services
- Workpay (Kenya), an HR and payroll SaaS company
- Userguest (Morocco), a marketing automation platform for hotels
Earlier Saviu I investments included Anka, Lapaire, Zanifu and Paps.
A test case for Tah’s AfDB
The investment comes months after Sidi Ould Tah took over as president of the AfDB, succeeding Akinwumi Adesina. Tah previously led the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa for a decade, overseeing significant balance sheet expansion.
Under Adesina, the AfDB expanded its role as a limited partner in Africa-focused private equity and venture funds. That strategy has produced uneven results.
According to the Bank’s 2023 financial statements, some fund commitments increased in value — including stakes in Nigeria’s Verod and the gender-lens investor Alitheia IDF, as well as the tech-focused Janngo Capital. Other exposures declined sharply.
The mixed performance underscores the tension inherent in a development finance institution backing high-risk, early-stage ventures. Venture capital offers the potential for outsized impact and financial returns, but also carries significant downside risk.
At the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025 in Algiers, AfDB officials reiterated support for SMEs and startups as part of the new administration’s agenda.
The Saviu II structure reflects the AfDB’s evolving approach: pairing direct equity with concessional capital to absorb first losses. By underwriting part of the downside risk via the Boost Africa programme, the Bank aims to make frontier markets more investable for commercial LPs.
For Francophone West and Central Africa — historically underserved compared to anglophone hubs such as Nigeria and Kenya — the move adds institutional weight to a growing but still shallow venture ecosystem.
Whether Tah doubles down on venture exposure or recalibrates the Bank’s risk appetite remains to be seen. For now, the Saviu II commitment signals continuity rather than retrenchment — and suggests that early-stage technology investment will remain part of the AfDB’s development toolkit.