Sustainable growth in North Africa

Developing the private sector as a driving force for employment remains a central challenge for many North African countries: in many cases, only half of the population have formal employment, with unemployment especially high among those aged under 30. Small and medium-sized companies are particularly important to create jobs and stimulate income and growth.

This is where private equity company Mediterrania Capital Partners (MCP) comes in. MCP makes growth capital available for medium-sized companies in North Africa and in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, MCP provides ongoing assistance to its portfolio companies in their commercial development, in corporate governance and in environmental and social management.

The investment company also pursues a gender lens investing approach and encourages equal workplace opportunities in its portfolio companies with regard to HR, management and supervisory board composition. MCP also invests in companies that market products or services that greatly improve the lives of women and girls.

Since it was set up in 2013, MCP has created two funds. DEG has been a partner to the investment company since MCP’s inception. In 2018, DEG invested EUR 25 million in the Mediterrania Capital Partners III fund. As an anchor investor, DEG strengthened the fund’s equity base and helped to mobilise further investors.

Together with MCP, DEG also acquired a stake in four companies: the Tunisian pasta producer Societé Meunière de Tunisie, the Moroccan construction company TGCC, the Algerian pharmaceutical company Biopharm and, most recently, the Egyptian platform of diagnostic imaging centres Cairo Scan and MetaMed.

CairoScan and MetaMed operate a total of 37 centres for radiology and diagnostic imaging in Egypt. One branch has specialised in women’s health and offers state-of-the-art mammography screenings and other healthcare services for women at its centre in Cairo.