Emerging Capital Partners takes minority stake in Moroccan data and information services company

Vincent Le Guennou, executive vice president of ECP, said, "ECP believes that Finaccess occupies an interesting, high-growth position in the market. French companies are increasingly moving toward business outsourcing models and often turn to Morocco because of the country's language and cost advantages. In addition, the Moroccan market is evolving toward western standards in terms of data availability and reliability, which further increases demand for Finaccess' services."

While France has traditionally lagged behind other western countries in terms of business outsourcing, the country started to accelerate its adoption about three years ago. Businesses that have shifted to French-speaking areas of North Africa are from a variety of industries - such as telecommunications, market research, tourism, non-governmental organisations and administrations - which reduces the risk of a dramatic shift in demand linked to a specific sector, the firm said.

In addition to growth from Morocco and Europe, Finaccess has identified expansion opportunities in nearby countries such as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, where financial markets are experiencing strong growth. Funds from ECP's investment partially will be used to create a subsidiary in Dubai that targets Gulf-based financial markets.

Founded in 1997, Finaccess is led by Oussama Elayoubi and Khalid Ayouch, two Moroccan entrepreneurs with experience from derivatives trading floors in France. It currently operates through three main subsidiaries: Phoneo, a business outsourcing and call centre; Fininfo MENA, a financial market data and software provider; and Inforisk, a provider of corporate database solutions. Together these subsidiaries employ more than 500 people.

"Finaccess has succeeded by providing world-class service to niche markets," said Mehdi Dazi, a managing director at ECP. "We expect that the company will continue to grow by offering high-value-added services to domestic and international clients and by further diversifying the sectors it serves."

Finaccess marks ECP's fourth investment in Morocco, where the firm has invested in the utilities, agribusiness, and mining sectors. The investment was made through ECP's MENA Growth Fund, which was established in September 2007 to capitalise on investment opportunities throughout the Middle East and North Africa. The fund has invested in a range of sectors including food processing, financial services, retail and distribution.

Emerging Capital Partners has raised more than $1.5bn to invest in companies across the African continent. The ECP team has an eight-year track record of pan-African investing.

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