Cheick Sanankoua

With a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Management from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School, Cheick Sanankoua is the co-founder and Managing Partner of HC Capital Properties (HCCP), a real estate investment and development company focused on West and Central Africa. Mr. Sanankoua is responsible for the company's investments and activities in Francophone West and Central Africa and has led transactions worth US$500Mn since 2014. He has over 15 years of experience with international financial institutions such as Merrill Lynch Investment Bank (New York and London) where he worked on transactions exceeding US$30Bn and the London based private equity firm Helios Investment Partners, which manages approximately US$3Bn. Mr. Sanankoua is a financial expert specialized in general private equity, impact investing, development and asset management on real estate issues. He is the initiator of major financial operations carried out on the African continent. Mr. Sanankoua is the initiator of « Cosmos Yopougon » real estate project, the first eco-responsible shopping center built on international standards, in the municipality of Yopougon in Abidjan. Awarded many times (International Property Award 2018, African Property Investment Award 2019, Best Real Estate Project Award at the African Investment Forum 2022), this shopping center considered as one of the most visited in West Africa is also one of the few to benefit from the EDGE certification awarded by the World Bank, for its environmentally and energy-friendly functioning. Particularly committed to a sustainable economy in line with the environmental and social commitments of HC Capital Properties, Mr. Sanankoua is the initiator of the first private green bond issue in French-speaking West and Central Africa. This exclusive issue of XOF10Bn was realized in favor of Emergence Plaza, a company that owns the Cosmos Yopougon complex. A historic transaction in a context where the African continent represents less than 1% of the green bonds issued annually at the global level. HCCP was subsequently awarded the distinction of EDGE Champion by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a recognition of HCCP’s ongoing collaboration with IFC in pursuit of their shared aspirations to move the construction industry on to a lower carbon, more resource-efficient path through certified green buildings. In addition to his role as Managing Partner at HC Capital Properties, Mr Sanankoua founded many investment platforms active in Africa, including Omega Africa Ventures (OAV), a private investment holding company that focuses on financing start-ups in Africa, and Omega Sports Holding, a sports investment and development company focused on Sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Sanankoua is a member of the investment committee of the Investisseurs & Partenaires, a $95M impact investment fund dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa and the investment committee of Africaworks, a leading co-working firm. He is also Board President of Conergies-Group, a leader in Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration and Climate Engineering solutions for the large-scale distribution and agri-food industry in West Africa whose largest shareholder is the Energie de France group (EDF). In accordance with its commitment to African development, Mr. Sanankoua serves as a non-Executive board member for a number of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations including most notably the Bright Future for Africa Foundation of which he is also co-founder.