Madji Sock is leading efforts to tackle development gaps in West Africa through venture building and strategic investment.
Madji Sock, a seasoned business executive from Senegal, is the co-founder and president of Haskè Ventures. This venture studio builds and co-creates companies that respond to development challenges across Francophone Africa.
Career and background
Madji Sock brings a diverse background in entrepreneurship and consulting. She previously founded a consulting firm in Senegal and expanded to other West African countries. She is also a co-founder of the Women’s Investment Club (WIC) Senegal. This initiative supports women-led businesses through funding arms like WIC Capital, which is active in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. Also, Sock has been involved in launching an incubator in Dakar and has worked on programmes that support private sector growth and policy reform.
She holds an MBA in International Business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Miami.
Establishing Haskè Ventures
Haskè Ventures was established to address what Sock and her co-founder, Abdourahmane Diop, saw as a significant gap in job creation across West Africa, particularly among youth. Drawing on their consulting backgrounds, they concluded that existing efforts by governments and development partners were insufficient. Their solution was to take a more hands-on approach by founding companies capable of generating sustainable employment.
“Haskè Ventures was started to address the youth unemployment challenge in West Africa. We wanted to be more intentional in setting up companies that will contribute directly to job creation,” said Madji Sock
The studio operates from ideation through Series A financing, offering up to $700,000 in funding per venture. It combines capital investment with operational support, from strategy and governance to talent acquisition. Using a stage-gate investment model, Haskè allocates funding incrementally, with further resources directed to ventures that demonstrate viability.
Investment areas and goals
Haskè Ventures invests in tech and non-tech sectors, including green construction materials companies, responsible food services, healthcare, logistics, and agriculture. This comprehensive approach enables the studio to address local development needs through tailored business models.
The venture studio has set a target of creating 20,000 jobs over five years, focusing on reducing reliance on foreign investment. The businesswoman has emphasised that while the model is profit-oriented, it also aims to generate measurable social and economic impact. The studio further encourages using diaspora capital and local talent to strengthen regional ownership and innovation.
Several companies have emerged from Haskè’s portfolio. Sammanté, for example, offers digital health insurance products designed for informal sector workers, addressing gaps in healthcare access. Another venture, COMPACT, manufactures compressed earth blocks as an environmentally friendly alternative to cement in construction.
Haskè is also involved in partnerships that promote local production and sustainable practices. These include Yolélé West Africa, which supports the value-added processing of fonio, a traditional West African grain, and TAARAL, a public-private alliance focused on plastic waste recycling and circular economy solutions in Senegal.
Beyond venture building, Sock has contributed to developing sectoral strategies in Senegal, reorganising public sector institutions, and conducting agricultural value chain analyses across Africa. These efforts support the vision of private sector development that is aligned with national economic goals.
Through her work, Madji Sock remains actively engaged with business and policy environments to support initiatives that promote growth in a manner that reflects local realities and ensures long-term sustainability.
