ITC takes 32 digital start-ups to the SITIC international trade show

The major event of French-speaking digital Africa

From May 30 to June 1, 2022, the SITIC trade fair in Abidjan brought together pioneers and decision-makers in French-speaking Africa’s digital industry. The event highlighted Côte d'Ivoire’s attractiveness to investors and partners from countries such as France, Tunisia and Canada.

 The West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) and the NTF V programme gathered a delegation of about 30 start-ups from Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Togo. They displayed their offerings, held  discussions and established new partnerships. One participant, Ivorian company Yolibrand, showcased its flagship product: a networked business card that allows users to share their business details with only one touch. The company hoped to gain visibility and identify new partners at SITIC, and is now targeting the Senegalese and Beninese markets.

“Since we participated in the show, we are much better known,” said Silvanus Souaga, Yolibrand’s director. “We now enjoy a more serious and credible image. We have contracted new orders. We have also identified Senegalese logistics partners, who can help us to break into that market quickly. The same thing is happening with Benin. We have started talking to a local partner who might become our country representative. We are currently studying the partnership possibilities.”
 

Bringing Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire closer together

The Group of Operators of the Information and Communication Technology Sector of Côte d'Ivoire (GOTIC) also attended SITIC Africa. The group highlighted the importance of a francophone ICT alliance in West Africa. Under the Smart Africa strategy, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal are indeed expanding business relationships and defining joint action plans.

 “Senegalese companies are opening subsidiaries in Côte d'Ivoire, and vice versa,” said Joas Se, vice-president of GOTIC. “The two markets are tending to merge so that we no longer speak of the Ivorian market or the Senegalese market, but rather the West African market.”

“The NTF V programme supports the cooperation of these two ecosystems, which encourages collaborations between start-ups, supports the digital literacy of populations, helps finance fertile ideas and better represents the interests of the sector to public authorities,” he said. “Together, GOTIC and its Senegalese counterpart OPTIC share best practices to boost a common digital strategy. For example, Senegal adopted in 2019 the Start-Up Act on the creation and promotion of start-ups. This initiative is an inspiration for Côte d'Ivoire to follow its lead.”

The Netherlands Trust Fund V (NTF) (July 2021 - June 2025) is based on a partnership between the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Trade Centre. The programme supports small businesses in sub-Saharan Africa in the digital technology and agribusiness sectors. It aims at contributing to an inclusive and sustainable transformation of agri-food systems partly through digital solutions, improving the competitiveness of local tech start-ups internationally and supporting the implementation of IT&BPO companies’ export strategies.

The West Africa Competitiveness Program (WACOMP) is a European Union-funded project that aims at supporting value chains at the national and regional level in order to promote structural transformation and improved access to regional and international markets. With the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) as a main partner it is implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).