AfricInvest and Proparco provide financing to African eyewear company
AfricInvest and Proparco together approved financing for Lapaire Glasses, an optical retail chain offering eyewear at a fair price.
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AfricInvest and Proparco together approved financing for Lapaire Glasses, an optical retail chain offering eyewear at a fair price in West and East Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso and Uganda).
$2.5 million in financing will be made available from AfricInvest and €450,000 from Proparco, through its Bridge by Digital Africa facility.
AfricInvest and Proparco’s financing will enable Lapaire to improve its territorial coverage in the countries where it currently operates, while ensuring the expansion of its network in Senegal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.
Jérôme Lapaire, CEO of Lapaire said, “The financial and technical support of Proparco and AfricInvest is crucial to the development of our network of optical care on the continent and enables us to reach our objective of improving 1 million lives by 2026.”
Sadio Dicko, regional director of Proparco added, “Proparco is thrilled to support a committed company such as Lapaire, which provides better access to optical care for those with limited financial means. With its affordable price policy and free eye tests, Lapaire has a clear objective to create a positive impact and to enable everyone to take care of their health.”
Faisal Jiwa, senior partner of AfricInvest added, “Africinvest is proud to support the Lapaire team through its Transform Health Fund and to contribute to making eye care more accessible and affordable to low- and middle-income patients, so often underserved across the continent. AfricInvest prides itself on helping African companies to expand their geographical reach so we are excited that our financing will also enable patients in new countries to benefit from the Lapaire model.”
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