Enko Capital, the Africa-focused investment and asset management firm founded by Cameroonian banker Alain and his brother Cyrille Nkontchou, with approximately $1.6 billion in assets under management, has attracted investment from Benin’s Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC Benin) for its Francophone West Africa SME Strategy, strengthening the fund’s institutional backing as it targets high-potential businesses across the region.

Enko Capital announced the investment on September 11, 2026, saying CDC Benin had subscribed to its FCPR Strategy, a private equity fund focused on small and medium-sized enterprises operating across Francophone West Africa.

The commitment brings a public financial institution into the fund’s investor base and reflects growing interest among regional institutions in private equity as a source of capital for entrepreneurship, business expansion and job creation.

Enko Capital strengthens regional SME investment strategy

The FCPR Strategy is an alternative investment fund licensed by the AMF-UMOA, the West African Monetary Union’s regional financial markets regulator, in December 2025.

The fund targets high-potential SMEs led by experienced entrepreneurial teams and operating across a range of sectors in Francophone West Africa.

Cyrille Nkontchou, managing partner at Enko Capital, said CDC Benin’s participation strengthens the fund’s ability to support a larger number of businesses across the region while providing institutional backing for its investment strategy.

Cheikh Souleymane Diallo, senior investment director at Enko Capital, said the investment demonstrates the fund’s growing appeal among regional institutional investors and could create opportunities for broader engagement with public financial institutions across the WAEMU region.

CDC Benin backs West African private equity

Maryse Lokossou, CEO of CDC Benin, said the investment aligns with the institution’s mandate to mobilize national savings for economic development.

She said the commitment would enable CDC Benin to support high-potential Beninese and West African SMEs while diversifying its investment portfolio within its return, risk management, and entrusted-resources preservation requirements.

The investment also gives Enko Capital an additional institutional partner as it seeks to channel capital toward businesses operating in the region’s real economy.

Enko Capital manages $1.6 billion across Africa’s private markets

Founded in 2008 by two brothers, Alain and Cyrille Nkontchou, Enko Capital has grown into a pan-African investment house managing roughly $1.6 billion across private equity, credit, and listed strategies. As Africa’s private debt market develops, institutional investors will increasingly rely on its track record of investing in over 30 companies across 15 countries, with offices in London, Johannesburg, Abidjan, Kigali, Port Louis and Yaoundé.

The asset manager specialises in African markets and invests across opportunities linked to the continent’s economic development. CDC Benin is a public financial institution responsible for collecting, managing and safeguarding savings and regulated funds. It channels those resources into investments supporting the development of Benin’s public and private sectors.

The commitment comes as private equity continues to provide African SMEs with an alternative source of capital for expansion, market entry and operational growth, while giving institutional investors exposure to businesses across the region.