Enexus acted as M&A advisor to Duval Group on the sale of its stake in Fondation et Forage d’Afrique (FFA) to the Adeoti Group

M&A Advisor FFA

Fondation et Forage d’Afrique (FFA) is a leading African engineering and construction company specializing in technical drilling, special foundations, and water infrastructure. Through its operations across several African countries, FFA has built a strong reputation for delivering complex geotechnical works, hydraulic drilling, and mining exploration services for both public and private sector clients.

As part of the continued development of FFA, Groupe Duval decided to transfer its stake to Adeoti Group, a well-established local construction and civil engineering company. This transaction will enable FFA to pursue its growth under a strong regional industrial partner, while benefiting from Adeoti Group’s deep knowledge of local infrastructure markets and its expertise in large-scale public works projects across West Africa.

About Duval Group

Groupe Duval is a French family-owned investment and real estate group founded in 1994 by Éric Duval and headquartered in Paris. Originally focused on real estate development, the Group has expanded into multiple sectors including property development and operations, tourism residences, golf management, and impact investments such as microfinance, insurance, food, and renewable energy. Operating across Europe, Africa, and Asia, Groupe Duval employs around 6,000 people worldwide.

About FFA

FFA is an African engineering and construction company specializing in technical drilling, special foundations, and water supply infrastructure. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Togo, the company operates across several African countries – including Benin, Cameroon, Senegal, Congo, and Gabon – delivering geotechnical works, hydraulic drilling, and mining exploration services for complex infrastructure and water access projects. FFA is part of the Groupe Duval ecosystem and works with both institutional and private clients to implement turnkey projects across the continent.

About Adeoti Group

The Adeoti Group is a family-owned Beninese construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Cotonou. Founded in 1992 by engineer Yaya Salami Adeoti, the company specializes in road construction, public works, and quarry operations for aggregates and granite used in infrastructure projects. Over the years, it has grown into one of the established local BTP contractors in Benin, contributing to major infrastructure and public works projects across the country.

Baobab

Acquisition of baobab

Bridging regions, expanding inclusion: Beltone’s acquisition of Baobab Group

From a bold vision to continental leadership

Founded in 2005 under the name MicroCred, Baobab Group has become Africa’s leading microfinance platform. Through disciplined organic growth — opening subsidiaries rather than acquiring them — the Group now operates in seven countries across the continent, from Senegal to Madagascar.

Over the past two decades, Baobab has remained focused on its mission: empowering micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which form the backbone of African economies. By combining proximity lending with digital innovation, the Group has expanded access to finance for hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs traditionally excluded from formal banking. Today, Baobab serves over 500,000 active clients with a loan portfolio exceeding €750 million — a remarkable achievement built on operational discipline, risk management, and local insight.

Orchestrating transaction complexity

To open a new chapter in its development, Baobab welcomed Beltone Holding — one of MENA’s fastest-growing financial groups — as its new majority shareholder. The transaction brings together Africa’s largest microfinance institution and a powerful investor from the Gulf, combining operational expertise with financial strength and regional connectivity.

Behind this milestone was a complex, multi-stakeholder M&A process. Enexus acted as lead M&A advisor to a consortium of four Baobab shareholders: AXA Group, a founding investor since 2005; the Africa-focused private equity fund Apis Growth Fund II; the Nordic development finance institution Abler Nordic; and a fourth institutional investor. Each shareholder had a distinct profile and set of objectives. Achieving alignment among them required careful coordination, consensus-building, and strategic negotiation. Enexus played a central role in structuring discussions, reconciling expectations, and ensuring all parties converged on a common transaction framework.

Preparing the Group for new investors also involved significant groundwork. With the assistance of Enexus, Baobab completed two strategic divestitures: its exit from China in October 2024, which lifted a key structural constraint for Africa-focused investors, and the sale of Baobab+, its solar home systems subsidiary, finalized earlier that same year. These steps refocused Baobab on its core financial services business and paved the way for a streamlined transaction, but involved a complex coordination between all the three transactions. The process also required regulatory and competition clearances across several banking jurisdictions. Managing this complex web of approvals required a close coordination among all stakeholders and demonstrates Enexus’  expertise in navigating cross-border regulatory landscapes, as well as its capacity to deliver complex transactions across multiple African jurisdictions. 

Redefining Africa’s financial inclusion landscape

Beyond its technical achievement, this transaction carries strong strategic and symbolic significance. It marks the change of control of Africa’s leading microfinance institution, a rare event that underscores the growing maturity and attractiveness of African financial services. It also represents one of the most significant investments from Gulf countries into Sub-Saharan Africa’s impact finance sector. Through Beltone — backed by Chimera and ultimately by IHC, the Abu Dhabi royal family’s investment vehicle — the transaction channels private capital from the Gulf into African inclusive finance at unprecedented scale. It highlights a shift from traditional development finance toward sustainable, market-led impact investment.

For Baobab, this partnership opens new opportunities to accelerate its digital transformation, expand its product offering, and reach more entrepreneurs and small businesses. For its clients, it means broader access to affordable, technology-driven financial services. And for Africa’s financial ecosystem, it sets a precedent: demonstrating that inclusive finance can attract global investors while preserving its social mission, reinforcing momentum in cross border investment africa and long-term growth capital africa.

By bringing together Baobab’s operational excellence, Beltone’s capital strength, and the coordinated effort of four international shareholders, this transaction — led by Enexus — stands as a landmark for African microfinance. It shows how alignment, trust, and collaboration can bridge regions and drive lasting, inclusive growth across the continent.

Enexus acted as M&A advisor to Axa, Apis Partners, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Abler Nordic on the majority sale of their shareholdings in Baobab to Beltone Holding, bringing deep Africa-focused deal execution expertise to the transaction

Sale of Baobab Group

Baobab is the leading financial services provider dedicated to supporting small businesses across Africa. By leveraging data and digital technologies, the company broadens access to finance for those underserved by traditional banks. Its comprehensive product suite empowers SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs to grow and thrive, driving economic development across the continent.

To pursue this success story, Baobab’s majority shareholders, including Axa, Apis Partners, the EIB and Abler Nordic, decided to sell their controlling stake to Beltone. This transaction will further enhance Baobab’s ability to expand financial inclusion in Africa by unlocking new opportunities for innovation, digital transformation and sustainable growth leveraging on Beltone’s resources.

About Baobab

Founded in 2005, Baobab Group is a leading microfinance institution serving over 500,000 SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs through its seven subsidiaries (Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, DRC and Madagascar). It offers a comprehensive range of products including MSME loans, savings solutions, and mobile payments.

About Axa Group

AXA Group is a global leader in insurance and asset management, serving over 95 million clients across 50 countries. AXA provides a comprehensive range of financial protection and investment solutions, including life and health insurance, property and casualty coverage, and asset management services.

About Apis Partners

Apis Partners is an ESGI-native private equity and venture capital asset manager that supports growth-stage financial services and technology businesses globally by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Collectively Apis manages or advises an asset base totalling c.$2.3bn.

About Abler Nordic

Abler Nordic (formerly Nordic Microfinance Initiative) was established in Oslo in 2008 as a public-private partnership investing in Africa and Asia, in companies that offers financial services to low-income households. Abler Nordic currently manages six funds, with total commitments of $470 million.

About the European Investment Bank (EIB) 

The EIB is the European Union’s long-term lending institution, providing financing and expertise to support investment projects in Europe and internationally. Through its activity in emerging markets, the EIB helps mobilize long-term capital for infrastructure and private-sector development, supporting cross border investment Africa. The EIB also works alongside partners to strengthen access to finance and accelerate cross-border investment in Africa across priority sectors.

About Beltone

Beltone Holding is a leading financial services platform in the MENA region listed on the Cairo Stock Exchange. Its diverse offerings include brokerage, asset management, and non-banking financial services. Beltone is majority-owned by Chimera Investment LLC, part of Abu Dhabi’s Royal Group through IHC, the second largest listed group in the Middle East.