2023-08-18 10:45:07
Ubuntu, which was launched in July by the social incubator Kufanya, is a soft landing program aimed at Tunisian startups who want to internationalize their services and products. to the French-speaking African market. It was born from a need felt at the level of the Tunisian ecosystem whose companies and startups wish to explore the opportunities offered by these different countries.
For a start-up or an SME, setting out to conquer the African market is no small feat. In addition to financing difficulties, the sub-Saharan African market has its particularities. Regulations, demand and market needs differ from country to country. So, the first task that the startup must tackle is to glean information and data relating to the market it wishes to penetrate. In addition, it must have the necessary support that will enable it to establish a whole market entry strategy. And this is particularly what the Ubuntu program offers. It’s regarding a soft landing program aimed at Tunisian startups who want to internationalize their services towards the French-speaking African market, in particular, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Senegal and Rwanda. The call for applications was launched the previous July. At the end of the selection phase which will end towards the end of August, 15 Tunisian startups will be selected. A second cohort of the program—which is implemented by the social incubator for migrant entrepreneurs Kufanya and supported by the Flywheel fund—will later be selected.
The African market: an old ambition
Ranging from health tech to web development and finance, the fields in which the selected startups operate are very diverse. “We have a wide range of business sectors. We have not chosen a specific sector, it might be health tech, web development, fintech or the environment. The goal for us is not to be focused on one area. The desire is to open this door, this bridge to the markets of sub-Saharan Africa that many Tunisian entrepreneurs and startuppers are struggling to open”, underlines Loïc Oyono Eboutou, deputy director of Kufanya, in a statement to The Press. He adds: “As we often say, Africa is the future. By 2050, one in four people on earth will be African, so we as Africans benefit from this rich ecosystem, from this youth whose average age is 18 years old—whereas in the United States, For example she is 38 years old—. We are talking regarding an Internet penetration rate that is close to 40%. So it’s a very expansive target and it’s good that we Africans, through this kind of South-South collaboration, are taking advantage of that”. The Cameroonian engineer indicated that the Ubuntu program was born from a need felt at the level of the Tunisian ecosystem: The markets of sub-Saharan Africa in focus, Tunisian companies and startups wish to explore the opportunities offered by these different countries. . But they often go regarding it badly, due to lack of expertise or ignorance of the specificities of these markets. “Before running an incubator, I was an entrepreneur myself, and I was originally a student on Tunisian soil. I did 5 years of studies here, and it is very interesting to remember that, during this period, each year I had at least 5 Tunisian companies contacting me to try to go to the markets of sub-Saharan Africa, in this case my country Cameroon. Among these companies, there were maybe 2 to 3 who tried, but failed in their conquest. It is for these reasons that we had the idea of concoct this program,” he explained. And to add: “People are sort of going with their eyes closed to sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to other markets with realities that are very specific to them. These are particularly targeted market data that is not really known by startuppers who wish to internationalize in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s a whole set of elements that make them mostly fail in this market”. And that’s where the Ubuntu program comes in.
What the support program offers
To overcome the shortcomings and difficulties of access to sub-Saharan markets, the incubator offers, in addition to the mentorship and partnership program, another training and awareness program for French-speaking African markets. “Of course it will also be a question of meeting around a platform for meeting and sharing experiences between Tunisian startups and others. from sub-Saharan Africa”. Indeed, to succeed in its task, the incubator draws from its address book: African incubators but also ambassadors and other entrepreneurs who have successfully established themselves. “There will be training sessions with incubators that are already present in the different countries. There will also be one to one coaching sessions produced by Tunisian experts, not to mention also the different ambassadors with whom we have contact and we will also have individual sessions with incubator managers from these different countries”, added Eboutou. The program, therefore, essentially aims to provide these startups with targeted market data, as well as to allow them to carry out a commercial projection and a certain point of implementation, so that, once they arrive on site (the program also finances the amenities and transport to these countries), entrepreneurs can establish all this with the realization of a study good market thorough, and have the possibility of a tax and legal consultation relating to the local context thanks to the networks of professionals who are present on the spot. In the end, startuppers can enter into a sales and marketing service contract for the products and services they want to set up. “It is important to point out that we are not going to sell the product or the service with which they are going to these markets, we give them the tools so that they can do what they know how to do”, he concluded. It should be noted that the Kufanya incubator, which supports migrant entrepreneurs in Tunisia, has been present in Sfax since 2019. It has a third place that allows project leaders to have access to a hosting service.
To date, he has managed to implement three incubation programs, including one dedicated to support for migrant women in vulnerable situations through setting up an income-generating activity. Since its creation, the incubator has trained 100 entrepreneurs with 30 companies that have set up a marketable service in the local market. “OUR desire is to open a wider debate because it is not only a question of helping start-ups that want to internationalize, we also want to create an investment fund, dedicated to these entities, because, in addition the ignorance of the field and the lack of training, there is also a problem of cost”, explained Eboutou.
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