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There are thousands of young African entrepreneurs working between two continents, Europe and Africa. They are convinced that the African diaspora has a role to play in the development of the countries of the continent.
For a long time the diasporas were seen as mere purveyors of money for the families who remained in the country. But a growing proportion of African expatriates are creating businesses with the ambition of participating in economic development on both sides of the Mediterranean. This is the vision of Cheikhna Sarr, 35, founder of Utalma, a logistics group that operates between France on one side, Senegal and Togo on the other.
« I define myself as a Franco-Senegalese, I am proud to belong to these two countries, so the fact today of creating this bridge is to participate in the economy of these two countries, he assures. We have a company which exists in Senegal and which employs regarding twenty employees, and in France we have seven employees. »
Raheem Attoumane is French of Comorian origin. He created a conciergerie in Marseille called Les majordHome. In 2019, he traveled to the Comoros for the first time and decided to set up his company in Moroni. ” Laying the first stone was for me to link my company in France with the new company that I had created in the Comoros. Basically, it was symbolic. And to be transparent, I would say that now I’m more on the tax aspect, but it’s really to have an economic link with the Comoros “, he explains
Builders of bridges between continents
In addition to these economic and sentimental aspects, there is a necessary ability to adapt for this young man who grew up in Marseille. ” I made the mistake of coming with my software which was typically European. I thought I knew everything, and that was my mistake. It is extremely important to learn before investing in it. »
Cheikhna Sarr did not need to discover Senegal that he had left his baccalaureate in his pocket to continue his studies in France. On the other hand, he is driven by the same desire to bring his know-how and his ambition to it today.
« In fact, at the level of the diaspora, we are very attached to our country of origin, so we work with other companies which are in different fields such as cybersecurity, IS (information systems) We are in the process of see how to set up a consortium together to bring our expertise to our countries of origin. »
These two young entrepreneurs operate in the same international transport sector and see themselves as builders of bridges between continents.
