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On the occasion of its very first participation in VivaTech, Europe’s largest innovation fair, AGL through its Yiri Innovation Center announces the signing of a strategic partnership with Digital Africa, a subsidiary of Proparco (AFD Group). Together, these two players in the African entrepreneurial ecosystem are combining their expertise and networks to support the continent’s startups, particularly in the transport, logistics and industry sectors, with the ambition to accelerate the continent’s transformation, through local, innovative and high-impact solutions.
Since its launch in June 2024 in Abidjan, Yiri has established itself as a partner of African innovation. Thus, at the dawn of its second year of existence, AGL’s innovation center reiterates its desire to support startups through strong initiatives such as its flagship program “Accelerate”, the first class of which closed on May 15, 2025. This first edition allowed four African startups to benefit from tailor-made support, targeted training, connections with more than 32 companies, institutions and investors, as well as opportunities for pilot projects within the AGL Group with concrete and visible results such as:
- The deployment of the Alia solution, an intelligent digital legal assistant to simplify the compliance of African companies, which will be deployed to the HR & legal teams of 5 AGL subsidiaries in Côte d’Ivoire.
- Commercial partnerships with Eazy Chain, which has entered into a collaboration with AGL to deploy its digital solution facilitating maritime logistics between secondary and major ports in West Africa.
- A recognized cooperation with Paps in local distribution and last-mile logistics, the solution of which will support AGL’s operations in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.
- The extension of the services of Tambour, the mobile laundry for professionals and individuals, which will extend its services to AGL subsidiaries in Côte d’Ivoire to ensure optimal management of employees’ equipment.
On the strength of this record, Yiri is now partnering with Digital Africa, whose mission is to support African entrepreneurs with high potential through the Fuzé program, which offers financing and personalized technical support. Together, they are launching an even more ambitious second edition of the Accelerate programme, which will extend to both West and East Africa. Two innovation challenges will be organized in Côte d’Ivoire and Rwanda to select ten startups to support in their growth but also to co-invest in the most promising. They will benefit from enhanced support, access to a network of major players in industry and logistics, as well as opportunities for deployment on a pan-African scale.
“This partnership with Digital Africa allows us to take a step forward in our mission to support African startups. Together, we want to bring out concrete solutions, adapted to local realities, and thus contribute to the sustainable transformation of the continent,” says Stéphane Collet-Manent, CIO of AGL. “By joining forces with AGL, we are creating a bridge between technological innovation and the concrete needs of the African continent. This partnership illustrates our belief that collaboration between large groups and startups is key to making entrepreneurs succeed on the continent. We are delighted with this emerging partnership with AGL to better support entrepreneurs who serve the challenges of logistics.” “, underlines Grégoire de Padirac, CEO of Digital Africa.
The official call for projects for the new edition of the Accelerate program will be launched at the start of the 2025 academic year. Interested startups are invited to consult the AGL websiteFor more information and to follow the news of the program. This partnership marks a new step in AGL’s commitment to Africa’s transformations, and embodies the desire shared with Digital Africa to bring out local solutions to African logistics and industrial challenges, while positioning Africa as a laboratory of innovation on a global scale.
About Africa Global Logistics (AGL)
AGL is the trusted logistics operator in Africa, offering logistics, port, maritime and rail solutions. With more than 23,000 employees in 50 countries, AGL relies on its expertise developed over many years to provide tailor-made and innovative services to its African and international clients. AGL’s ambition is to make a lasting contribution to Africa’s transformation. AGL is also present in Haiti, East Timor and Indonesia. www.aglgroup.com
About Digital Africa
A subsidiary of Proparco but also an entity of AFD Group, Digital Africa invests in and supports African tech entrepreneurs who work every day, in the service of impact, for the continent! Our mission is to provide the keys to success to African tech entrepreneurs whose ecosystems are less well served. Digital Africa is aimed at entrepreneurs in seed (PRE-SEED, SEED) in all sectors of activity through the Fuzé program. A list of 18 priority countries has been drawn up on the basis of a paradox between the potential and the reality of the size of its tech ecosystem. https://www.digital-africa.co/
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