Vivatech: Uniting African startups and the diaspora

Building a bridge between the young African entrepreneurs and its Diaspora is the objective of Pass Africa, presented by the Coordinator of the Presidential Council for Africa, who joined the most innovative startups of the continent, gathered at Vivatech in Paris.

For Wilfrid Lauriano Do Rego,  CPA Coordinator; the transfer of knowledge and experience is essential to accelerate the transformation process of the continent.

The diaspora brings additional experience, but that is not enough. These diaspora entrepreneurs should make the effort to know the field and local entrepreneurs can bring that too. And the idea is to make the junction between the two initiatives. The idea is to link the two initiatives: Pass Africa, which accompanies the people of the diaspora, and the initiatives that the countries put in place to accompany the diaspora in fact.

After a one year break due to the covid-19 pandemic, Vivatech is back in a hybrid format, meaning partly in person but also online. What could be more surprising for the event that has succeeded in establishing itself as the major meeting place of technology in France. Africa is not left out with African startups that have made the trip to Paris Porte de Versailles. And among them is a delegation from the DRC led by the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and Communication and for him, the Congolese startups are at the forefront of innovation in Africa.

"There is genius in our country. There is no doubt about that. But it's true, we need a framework. Our young people should really be able to be at the cutting edge of what is being invented elsewhere. There is a real concern for training and beyond that, we also have equipment problems. This is a reality. And I believe that the initiative could allow our young people not only to benefit from training, but also, why not, from a financing that would allow them to blossom in the best possible way." said Augustin Kibassa Maliba, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and New Information and Communication Technologies - DRC.

An opinion shared by Meshia Cedric Oveneke, co-founder of Fit For Purpose, a startup specialized in facial recognition through artificial intelligence.

"Concerning the technical aspect we have a lot of experience so it's something we know how to do quite easily. This demo was created by our engineers in ten days, so technically, everything is in order. Now, for us, as an Ecosystem company, from a financial point of view, of course to deploy, God only knows how big the DRC is, there are still more than 100 million people, we will need a boost, a support. It can be private or public and these are the kind of challenges we must try to overcome to implement this solution." stressed Meshia Cedric .

Vivatech brought together leaders of the innovative ecosystem from around the world for four days. It was the first major event to be held partly in person in France in over a year. In total, more than 5,000 visitors visited the stands at the Parc des expositions to discover the latest innovations.