On August 30th, the SIBC officially launched its 6th edition, welcoming the 43 entrepreneurs selected for the 2022 cohort. These social and inclusive entrepreneurs were chosen among more than 380 applications across Africa to participate in an intensive program aimed at preparing them for scaling up, through training, mentoring, peer-to-peer exchanges and meetings with investors.
To contribute to the acceleration of social and inclusive innovation on the African continent; This is the objective set by the French Development Agency with the launch of the Social & Inclusive Business Camp (SIBC) program in 2017, led by the AFD Campus.
Each year, the SIBC brings to a cohort of English- and French-speaking African entrepreneurs a very thorough support on 5 key themes for their scale up. Leadership, formalization of scaling up, structuration of a team, impact measurement and investment readiness are deeply explored during 13 weeks of online training and 5 days of intensive practical bootcamp in Marseille. Entrepreneurs are then invited to participate in the Emerging Valley Summit, on the 28th and 29th of November to meet key stakeholders of the ecosystem, in particular through speed-meeting sessions with international investors.
In addition to training and the creation of funding opportunities, SIBC puts at the heart of its program the animation of a vibrant community of nearly 240 entrepreneurs, who are committed to developing more sustainable and inclusive businesses in a variety of sectors such as agri-food, sustainable development, energy, education, and health. SIBC laureates hence benefit from this network as well as from mentoring by the programme’s alumni.
This year, the program greets a new cohort of 43 entrepreneurs, who promote projects with high impact potential on the continent.
An Innovative Support Program Dedicated To Entrepreneurs In Their Growth Phase
Since 2020, the program has been implemented by a consortium of partners – Investisseurs & Partenaires, African Management Institute (AMI), ScaleChanger and StartupBRICS. With a solid teaching team and a detailed knowledge of African entrepreneurship, the consortium ensures the skills development of entrepreneurs through innovative pedagogies and networking with the African ecosystem as well as with potential investors.
The SIBC’s educational path is based on 3 axes of support to best prepare companies for their future stages of development:
- Three months of distance learning, bringing the cohort together every two weeks in live sessions, and through practical open access resources and tools around the key themes of the program.
- One week of bootcamp in Marseille with the objective of enabling entrepreneurs to deepen the themes studied and put into practice their learnings, followed by their participation in the EMERGING Valley summit to pitch their projects and meet potential investors.
- A mentoring programme, linking each laureate to one alumnus from a previous promotion for the duration of the program.
In addition to this, the SIBC is also a community which brings together a wide network of stakeholders, including:
· An African community of alumni, connected to each other and developing lines of collaboration (strategic partnerships, access to new markets, contacts, etc.), well beyond the program itself.
· Entrepreneurs and experts (investors, human resources specialists, management coaches or leaders of booming companies)that entrepreneurs will be able to meet throughout the program, to learn from them and be inspired. These meetings might lead to technical or financial partnerships.
As it is the last edition of the SIBC in its current form, this 2022 promotion is all more expected. The week of the bootcamp, followed by the Emerging Valley 2022 summit, will thus be an opportunity for the AFD and the consortium to reflect on the highlights and great successes of the SIBC over the past six years.
Women Entrepreneurs In The Spotlight, Composing More Than Half Of 2022 Cohort
This year, 43 companies from 18 African countries will participate in the SIBC. Most of them have been selected as part of a call for applications dedicated to the SIBC. The 7 others are the winners of the 2022 edition of two partner competitions of the program:
· EMERGING Mediterranean, an unprecedented program to accelerate and scale up Maghreb startups in Tech for Good and positive innovation (6 winners);
· RFI Africa App Challenge, a competition to support the development of digital applications in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to promote agriculture (1 winner).
Working in various sectors (agri-food, sustainable development, energy, education, health, etc.), more than half of this year’s selected entrepreneurs are women. All of them share inspiring and hopeful journeys, through their entrepreneurial commitment to tackle social and/or environmental issues. They thus combine economic viability with impact and they all innovate in the products and services they develop, in their value chains or even in the construction of their economic model.
Overview of SIBC 2022 laureates, by country:
| Country | SIBC 2022 Laureate |
| Algeria | Kheira BENAISSA – Founder of GreenAl Emerging Mediterranean & SIBC LaureateGreenAl (or Green Algeria) has developed and markets a high-efficiency biodigester system designed to help farmers with difficult access to energy to obtain electricity by converting organic waste into combustible gas for water pumping and organic fertilizer for agriculture. |
| Algeria | Nadir KASSOUL – Commercial Manager of Garini Emerging Mediterranean & SIBC Laureate Garini is an eco-parking platform created in 2017 that connects parking owners with users who need spaces based in a logic of sustainable development (reduction of pollution due to traffic, etc.). |
| Benin | John DARI – Founder of Apiservices Monde SIBC Laureate Apiservices Monde produces beekeeping goods (honeys, sweets, etc.), with the mission of structuring the apicultural value chain by offering accessible and quality training to as many people as possible. |
| Benin | Pamella N’ZE ASSEKO – Founder of Maison FUNKE SIBC Laureate FUNKE produces sleek and eco-responsible pieces of clothing made in Africa. The brand supports young women in precarious situations in their empowerment through the learning of the weaving profession. |
| Burkina Faso | Marc WOUROUGOU – Founder of NICE SARL SIBC Laureate NICE SARL is an eco-construction company that designs self-locking compressed earth bricks. These bricks, reducing the price of buildings by 30%, are therefore not only ecological, but also economical, solid and sustainable. |
| Burkina Faso | Ouedui Ernest ASSO – Founder of Solafrique SIBC Laureate Solafrique promotes the use of boreholes and solar-powered smart pumps for drinking water in order to facilitate the increase of agricultural production and thus the food security of vulnerable groups. |
| Ivory Coast | Salimata TOH – Founder of Agribanana SIBC Laureate Agribanana recovers agricultural waste in order to fight against plastic, by producing 100% biodegradable packaging bags from banana tree trunks while deploying a strong employment policy for women and young people. |
| Ivory Coast | Rukayatou OYEDIRAN – Founder of Amira Global Technologies SIBC Laureate Amira Global Technologies has set up an online payment and sales solution that enables micro entrepreneurs in rural areas to develop a digital business without initial contribution and at the same time to sell without moving. |
| Ivory Coast | Adjoua KOFFI – Founder of La Fine Sélection d’Adjoua SIBC Laureate La Fine Sélection d’Adjoua unearths the underrated culinary treasures of the African continent, and offers them to the luxury markets of the delicatessen with the aim of contributing to the influence of African culinary culture. |
| Ivory Coast | Achille KOUKOU – Co-founder of TgMaster SIBC Laureate TgMaster deploys a pan-African network of international campuses preparing students for the world’s best schools to improve employability, youth empowerment and social inclusion in Africa. |
| Ivory Coast | Christelle HIEN KOUAME – Country Manager & CBO of Eneza Education Winner of the Africa App Challenge & SIBC Eneza Education is an Ed tech that produces educational content and distributes it via sms channel and web channel to enable greater accessibility of education. Its goal is to reduce school dropouts and build the capacity of students in Côte d’Ivoire. |
| Ghana | Nate KWADJO – Sales Manager of Odina Couture SIBC Laureate Odina Couture transforms textile waste into quality clothing and furniture at affordable prices. The structure offers training and jobs to vulnerable populations, trained to carry the project to their communities. |
| Ghana | Christina Mawuse GYISUN – Founder of Sommalife SIBC Laureate Sommalife supports 18,000 shea producers by providing them with the resources to become successful business leaders through an application (pre-financing of production, training and access to markets). |
| Libya | Abdulrahman ZURGHANI – Founder of Abjad Limited Emerging Mediterranean & SIBC LaureateAbjad Limited develops an e-learning platform, MyMCQ. It aims to help Libyan students improve their academic knowledge and prepare them to pass their exams by means of artificial intelligence. |
| Madagascar | Meltine RASOANANDRASANA – Founder of APEM PAIQ S.A. SIBC Laureate APEM PAIQ S.A is a microfinance institution that contributes to the economic and social development of vulnerable population through microcredit, micro insurance and deposit services. |
| Madagascar | Ony Tseheno Sitraka ANDRIANASOLO – CAV Madagascar SIBC Laureate As the first 100% online professional modular training platform on the island, CAV Madagascar aims to reach a large population, especially in remote localities. |
| Madagascar | Elsa RAJEMISON – Founder of mTomady SIBC Laureatem TOMADY has developed a technology platform that helps reduce financial barriers to healthcare within informal and vulnerable communities in Africa through a mobile savings and matchmaking system. |
| Madagascar | Joëlle RANDRIAMIANDRISOA – Founder of TSENAOW SIBC Laureate TSENAOW is committed to zero waste in Madagascar and manufactures sustainable and eco-responsible everyday products in an artisanal way, with the aim of giving everyone the opportunity to act against plastic pollution. |
| Mali | Abdoulaye SOUARE – Founder of DPE2D Green Energy SIBC Laureate DPE2D Green Energy is a company that recovers heat in order to convert it into clean electricity, and is the inventor of the Smart Stove that enables households to cook at a reduced cost outdoors in Mali. |
| Morocco | Yahya LOUGAGHI – Founder of Viable Ways Corp Emerging Mediterranean & SIBC Laureate Viable Ways Corp is an agricultural analysis startup. It develops software integrated with wireless sensors that makes it possible to monitor agricultural production in real time and thus optimize resources. |
| Mauritania | Cheikhna COULIBALY – Founder of Sasa Plast Emerging Mediterranean & SIBC Laureate Sasa Plast manufactures street cobbles from plastic waste. The company thus contributes to the improvement of the living environment both in terms of waste recycling and the improvement of urban infrastructure. |
| Niger | Ouma Kaltoume ISSOUFOU – Founder of ProNat Store SIBC Laureate ProNat Store is a social enterprise that sells quality local products by promoting health and well-being, increasing and securing the income of producers. |
| Nigeria | Tunde ADEYEMI – Founder of D-Olivette SIBC Laureate D-Olivette is a social enterprise that uses bio-organic technologies to create more daily energy and more ecological fertilizer for rural populations, through domestic biodigesters. |
| Nigeria | Christiana OKERE – Founder of MyStash Inc. SIBC Laureate myStash is a money management platform that leverages savings automation and online banking technologies to help Nigerians save and spend money smarter. |
| Nigeria | Falaiye TITILAYO – Founder of Orange Strategy Ltd SIBC Laureate Orange Strategy Ltd collects recyclable waste from households through its WasteValue app and resells its derivatives. The structure offers households a financial counterpart in exchange for waste. |
| Nigeria | Ayeni OLAMIDE – Founder of Pearl Recycling Ltd SIBC Laureate Pearl Recycling Ltd transforms municipal solid waste into eco-friendly furniture for everyday use. To date, the company already has more than 52,000 tons of recycled waste to its credit. |
| Nigeria | Nnaedozie IDOKO – Founder of Solaristique Nigeria Limited SIBC Laureate Solaristic Nigeria designs solar-powered freezers made from recycled waste, with the aim of making households more energy independent while improving the cold chain in Nigeria. |
| Uganda | Joseph OGWAL – Founder of Agro Supply SIBC Laureate Agro Supply has developed a bankless mobile savings tool that enables farmers to save and thus get out of poverty, by allowing them to buy through regular savings inputs and agricultural training. |
| Uganda | Enock Julius NAÏKA – Founder of Famunera SIBC Laureate Famunera is a digital marketplace that enables African food aggregators and exporters to profile farmers, find quality agricultural inputs, ensure traceability and market exports to global importers. |
| Uganda | Mark MATOVU – Founder of Nampya Farmers Market SIBC Laureate Nampya Farmers Market centralizes the purchase of food for redistribution across the country, creating a reliable and fair market for agricultural distributors and producers through a digital platform. |
| Uganda | Gloriah NANDAWULA – Founder of Women Smiles Uganda SIBC Laureate Women Smiles Uganda provides training on sustainable vertical farming to women and other vulnerable populations and thus works towards better food security in the country. |
| DRC | Charmante KATUNGU – Founder of Eve JusticeBot SIBC Laureate Eve JusticeBot offers free legal help and connections with lawyers through a legal chatbot available 24/7. The structure is committed to reduce inequalities in access to justice, especially for people who do not have the financial means of legal tools. |
| DRC | Lapaque MBUMBA – Founder of MukulimaSoko SIBC Laureate MukulimaSoko is a digital and physical center that works to intensify the role of technology in agriculture through innovative and environmentally friendly methodologies. |
| DRC | Nadège BULA-BULA – Founder of M.Y SUCCESS SIBC Laureate M.Y Success in acronym “MYS” is a company whose main purpose is the processing and marketing of Bulukutu (Lippia Multiflora) and lemongrass both marketed under the brand “Yanzambi”. |
| DRC | Jacques KAHORHA – Founder of Yme Jibu SIBC Laureate Yme Jibu is a company providing access to drinking water in the DRC. The distribution of water is done either by private connections or by standpipes for people who cannot afford a regular subscription. |
| Rwanda | Blandine UMUZIRANENGE – Founder of Kosmotive SIBC Laureate Kosmotive designs and manufactures feminine hygienic products, which are ecological, affordable and reusable, for a precarious public. |
| Senegal | Pierre-Gilles COMMEAT – Founder of Baobab des Saveurs SIBC Laureate Baobab des Saveurs values West African vegetable raw materials by transforming them into a fair-trade logic. Baobab des Saveurs’ social innovation project is also to create sustainable and organic forest value chains. |
| Senegal | Fara Germain GOMIS – Sales Manager of Club Tiossane SIBC Laureate Club Tiossane is a home delivery service. Its project is to build a link between agricultural SMEs and urban consumers, which is essential in the agri-food value chains in Senegal. |
| Senegal | Ndeye Khadiome NDONG – Founder of Dakane Agro-Cosmo SIBC Laureate Dakane Agro-Cosmo SARL is a social enterprise that ensures the income of farmers and women’s groups by reducing post-harvest losses in the fields through a zero-waste agri-food processing system. |
| Senegal | Khady NDIAYE – COO of Niokobok SIBC Laureate Niokobok is an e-commerce site on which Senegalese in the diaspora can order products and services for their families in Senegal. This contributes to direct allocation of remittances by the diaspora. |
| Tanzania | Irene Simon IVAMBI – Founder of Mrembo Naturals Limited SIBC Laureate Mrembo Naturals Limited produces organic cosmetics that are good for hair by sourcing raw materials from women farmers and recycling unharvested agricultural waste. Mrembo Naturals also carries out awareness-raising work around the hair of African women. |
| Tunisia | Molka AYADI – Co-founder of Khalta SIBC Laureate Khalta is a startup and design studio that manufactures decorative objects and furniture based on a special mixture of concrete, resulting from nearly a year of experimentation. The structure is committed to working for the facilitation of access to culture and for the democratization of Art in Tunisia. |
| Tunisia | Lamia CHOUK – Founder of Ahkili Emerging Mediterranean & SIBC Laureate Ahkili (“tell me”, in Arabic) is a platform committed to making psychological help more mentally, socially and financially accessible in Tunisia. |
