Last year, I’ve explored the Tech Entrepreneurs’ scene in London and discovered a buzzing community including a growing African women in Tech group that got me inspired to find out more about the realities of being a Tech entrepreneur in Africa.
We’ve all heard about some great Tech innovations like MPESA coming from Africa but the African tech scene is not well covered and even less the French speaking Africa, although they represent 26 countries out of the 53 that the continent counts.
So I decided to go on the ground to investigate and started with two countries on the West Coast of Africa that I know very well, Togo (where I originally come from) and Benin, a neighbouring country.
I went there as a one-woman multimedia journalist, in front and behind the camera, between December 2015 and January 2016. Well it was a bit optimist to undertake such a project by myself, to say the least, and I also found out that my main camera didn’t like much the tropical weather! It overheated all the time during my interviews so I had to use my smartphone as a backup plan (thanks Samsung!).
Outside my equipment and some locations pitfalls, I met some inspiring individuals and communities who are making the history. Out of e-waste, they are creating a cutting-edge technology and have a visionary outlook to transform their environment in spite of the challenges.
In the next few weeks, I will bring you the stories of these inspiring innovative entrepreneurs who are pioneering what is set to be the next revolution in Africa.
Here is a sneak peak of the stories coming up:
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Building a Revolutionary Highlowtech Collaborative Community, with Sénamé Agbojinou, Co-founder of Woelab which designed the first African 3D printer
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Crowdfunding, an African Concept that Should be Leveraged, with Emefa Kpegba, Creator of OMobileFunding
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Harnessing the Power of Digital Infrastructure, with Mawaki Chango, founder of Digilexis
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Democratising ICT with the Right Governance, with Norbert Glakpe, Technology Advisor
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Transforming Ideas into Profitable Ventures, with Ulrich Sossou, co-founder of TEKXL
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Why the Next Unicorns will be African, with Senam Beheton, co-founder of TEKXL & Etrilabs
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Connecting Entrepreneurs through Affordable Co-working spaces, with François Masson, Lead Jokkolabs Cotonou
And much more…including a ‘Behind the scene’ sequence and the lessons learnt.
For more information, visit http://www.nucleusofchange.com/techafrica/togo-benin-tour/
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