Project - GlobalGiving

Project

ECOLIA Labs : association declared under number 00001017/RDA/JO6/BAPP of 30 June 2014

Web site : www.ecolialabs.org

September 2017

Creating a space for technological innovation to promote Youth

and Women’s entrepreneurship in Cameroon

http://www.ecolialabs.org/

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Social Business Plan ECOLIA Labs www.ecolialabs.org

Chapter I : Presentation of ECOLIA Labs .................................................................................................. 3

Context ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

Project description ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Maquette de notre écosystème en 3D .......................................................................................................... 4

Our approach.................................................................................................................................................. 4

Objective of the project ................................................................................................................................. 5

Our vision ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Some stats ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

Projects at the incubation stage ..................................................................................................................... 7

Our programs ................................................................................................................................................. 8

Chapter II : Analysis of Opportunities ...................................................................................................... 9

Investigation of the lack of startup incubator and coworking spaces in Yaounde ........................................ 9

Observation - Solutions - Impact .................................................................................................................. 11

Target audience ............................................................................................................................................ 12

Risk analysis and mitigation ......................................................................................................................... 12

Competitiveness analysis ............................................................................................................................. 13

Chapter III: General Strategy and Economic Model ................................................................................ 14

Cycle of production ...................................................................................................................................... 14

Marketing, Communication and promotion ................................................................................................ 14

Economic model ........................................................................................................................................... 15

Organization and governance ...................................................................................................................... 16

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Chapter I : Presentation of ECOLIA Labs

Context

.

Project description

> In the current context of globalization, new technologies are necessary tools for the development of African women and young people, and their use is a compulsory skill to participate in the sustainable development and the radiance of Africa.

In Cameroon, young people account for more than 2/3 of the population but almost 60% of all unemployed. The potential is however enormous, young people are motivated but without fields of action.

Our commitment is to guide these young people and women on the way of digital entrepreneurship, because digital and new technologies have endless opportunities for decent and sustainable jobs, but above all the possibility for these young people and women to use tech to propose innovative solutions to the problems of our society.

The promotion of digital entrepreneurship for young people and women in Africa is a smart and effective long-term response to the challenges of unemployment and the creation of responsible, inclusive and shared growth.

70% of population of Cameroon is

under 30

Young people account for almost 60%

of the total number of unemployed. >

Facing the challenge of youth unemployment, it is urgent to propose solutions to empower these young people and help them create their own jobs. Digital is the opportunity that young people must seize in order to positively change their future.

>

ECOLIA Labs is a democratization space of new technologies to help youth and women get soft skills and use technology to innovate and build business to creatively solve social problems.

This space for technological and social innovation will include :

A Startup Incubator : To support young project leaders.

A Training Center for Digital Trades and Soft Skills : to train kids, young people and women on advanced digital skills ;

A FabLab : An open space for social innovation, where all young Cameroonians will develop skills on the most advanced technologies (3D Printing, Internet of Things, Drone, Robotic, ...) and their use in the fields of carpentry, electronic, energy ,environment, health, education and agriculture ;

A Coworking Space : to encourage collective emulation and catalyze innovation and technological entrepreneurship in Cameroon.

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Maquette de notre écosystème en 3D

Our ecosystem will provide an ideal framework for innovation for all young people interested in digital entrepreneurship.

Our approach

Hosting digital startups and offering them a full service coaching and mentoring service (business model, pitch/storytelling, planning, financial management, team building, market research, legal advice, support for search funding …)

Proposing an innovative training course to digital trades : Web and Mobile Application Engineering, Community Manager, Digital Marketing, UX Designer. And in addition, providing rigourous entrepreneurial training and extensive hands-on project work, designed to ensure students master industry-proven methodologies for developing startups.

Organizing events such as Barcamp, Hackathon, Forum, TEDx Conference, etc. to encourage young entrepreneurs to take an interest in the issues of education, environment, agriculture, health and energy, in order to propose innovative, frugal, and endogenous technological solutions.

A FabLab equipped with machines such as : 3D Printer, CNC milling machine, laser cut, Arduino cards, ... where will be offered initiation workshops to the electronic do-it-yourself and computer coding for the children from 6 to 16 of age, and training workshops for the digital manufacturing trades for Youth and women.

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Objective of the project

Supporting digital innovation in Cameroon through the promotion of youth’s entrepreneurship.

Three areas of intervention :

$

Encouraging youth’s entrepreneurship Training Young people in digital trades to

improve their employability

Promoting access to quality education through ICT

cv Supporting young leaders

with innovative and disruptive projects in the process of

creation and sustainability of

their startups.

Fighting social exclusion and unemployment of youth and women by training them

to digital trades.

Promoting ICT in Education in Cameroon and Africa.

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Our vision

Creating an ecosystem that brings together, makers of all kind, multidisciplinary engineers and students, craftsmen, farmers, health and education professionals, environmentalists, lawyers, journalists, traders, etc... A community that promotes the emergence of the most innovative and disruptive African technological startups, and which will help to create the digital growth of tomorrow.

Some stats

BARCAMPS AND CO-CREATIVE WORKSHOPS ORGANIZED

PROJECTS AT THE INCUBATION STAGE

INTERNATIONAL AWARD WON PEOPLE TRAINED

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Projects at the incubation stage

Problem : The supply of academic training alone is no longer sufficient to provide in quantity and quality the manpower necessary for the development of our continent. Skills are acquired in a self-educative way via internet, but trainings offered do not always correspond to the problems and challenges of sustainable development of Africa.

Solution : Afrika Akiri is a web platform for the sharing of knowledge and skills for Africans and by Africans. You can teach and / or learn everything you want with African speakers from all over Africa and the Diaspora. The themes addressed are of all kinds: health, education, entrepreneurship, human rights, science and technology, democracy, ... even atypical knowledge is not left behind: cooking, music, sport ...

Impact : Promoting free access to quality education adapted to all young Africans; Promoting a community-based and engaging learning;

Problem : Courses in Natural and Experimental Sciences at the Secondary level are delivered theoretically because of the deficiency of experimental laboratories in our schools, because of their high cost and the environmental and safety risks they pose (handling chemicals and toxic substances).

Solution : Propose a Virtual Laboratory of Natural and Experimental Sciences (LAVISNEX), through which teachers and students will be able to conduct experiments in physics, chemistry and biology in complete safety.

Impact : Promoting the integration of ICT in schools ; Promoting a fun, intuitive and effective learning of the natural and experimental sciences in our schools; Preserving the school environment from waste and chemicals used in real experiments..

Problem : We observe learning difficulties for young learners in nursery and primary schools. These difficulties are reflected in :

Lack of motivation when they are studying at home

The relatively long time that these young learners spend ahead of television programs, with the risk to detract their academic performances.

Solution : The Zukulu Games Project aims to use educational video games as therapy for these difficulties. The objective is to offer a collection of educational video games, through which learners can studing while having fun.

Impact : Promoting ICT use among young learners; Providing children with useful entertainment; Stimulating the motivation, collaboration and creativity of Young Learners; Improving Critical Thinking of Young Learners

Problem : many students have difficulties to study and to effectively review their lessons, but also difficulties in accessing to digital educational resources adapted to their school context.

Solution : BeeQuiz is a fun and engaging mobile quiz game that gives students access to hundreds of revision questions and which enables millions of young learners all over Cameroon to review their lessons while having fun and at their own pace.

Impact : Promoting access to quality educational content for all students regardless of their geographic location; Improving student learning methods; Help students improve their academic performances; Promoting ICT’s integration in schools in Cameroon.

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Our programs We assist young people and help them create their own opportunities, through digital education programs and incubation projects.

MBOA STARTUP ACCELERATOR is a 12-month accelerator program to help Cameroon's technology startups speed up. Our objective is to select a dozen Cameroonian startups with a strong social impact each year and which will receive a full service of coaching and mentoring (business model, pitchs / storytelling, planning, financial management) for a period of 12 months. , Team building, market research, legal advice, support for search funding …).

AQUA DIGTAL is a training program for young people and women in digital jobs. Our goal through this program is to provide young people and women with digital and managerial skills so that they will be able to create their own startups. Our approach is to train young people on sharp digital trades, and to give them skills in business creation through training courses in Entrepreneurship, Business Management and Financial Management.

A FabLab is a space of innovation designed to stimulate the digital creativity of Young Cameroonians, and to improve their employability. The FabLab ECOLIA project aims to create an endogenous, open and inclusive innovation Hub, where all young Cameroonians will be able to develop skills on the most advanced technologies (3D printing, Internet of Objects, Drone, Robotics, ...) And their uses in the fields of crafts, carpentry, electronics, energy, environment, health, education, agriculture ...

CoderDojo Ecolia CoderDojo Ecolia is a programming club for young people where anyone aged 6 to 16 can learn to code, build a website, create app or game, and explore technology in an informal, creative, and social environment.

Our goal is to :

Promote digital trades to young children in order to create vocations;

Encourage acquisition of soft skills and develop a good digital culture among these young people ;

Develop their critical thinking and their ability to reason, innovate and work in team.

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Chapter II : Analysis of Opportunities

Investigation of the lack of startup incubator and coworking spaces in Yaounde We carried out a study on the needs in support structures for project leaders and in Coworking spaces in the city of Yaounde. We conducted two types of survey :

- The first is addressed specifically to students from all sectors, and to young people without jobs and without professional qualifications.

- The second one is intended for persons already in employment (functionary, Freelancers, entrepreneurs, business leaders, association managers ...).

In total, nearly two hundred people were interviewed. We received 177 responses, 127 from students and Jobless Youth; And 50 from persons in activity.

1. Students and disadvantaged young people need to acquire strong skills in the digital trades

in order to improve their employability Almost all the students and young unemployed (127) who responded to us said they are positively interested in our approach, all believe that creating such a place is necessary and extremely useful to propose effective and innovative solutions to the challenge of Youth unemployment in our country. All of them say they need to be trained in the new digital professions in order to be real actors in the digital economy.

2. The development of mobile applications is the most sought-after skills among students and Jobless Youth

Among the skills associated with new technologies, developing mobile applications is the one most sought after by 94 students and jobless youth to improve their employability, followed by skills related to Web Marketing and Community Management (20 Youths) and then, the skills Related to robotics (7 Youths).

3. Students and disadvantaged young people who aspire to entrepreneurship in the digital

economy need adapted support structures Among the 127 students and young unemployed consulted, 46 aspire to entrepreneurship, they want to create their own companies in the digital field, and say they want to go through startup’s incubator, In order to benefit from their expertise, resources and services that will guarantee the success of their projects to create startups.

4. Frequenting coworking spaces is the factor that would encourage students and young people without jobs to move toward entrepreneurship

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Meeting with other young entrepreneurs in coworking spaces, drawing inspiration from their experiences and backgrounds would be the first factor that motivates students and jobless youth to embark on entrepreneurship and to face all the difficulties related to this human adventure.

5. Mostly freelancers and entrepreneurs are more comfortable working in coworking spaces Freelancers (12), entrepreneurs (18) say they like the refreshing atmosphere of the Coworking spaces, these spaces are conducive to innovation and creativity and bring a little humanity to the projects that are developed there.

6. Persons in professional occupations, principally those in charge of associations and

functionary, need privatized spaces and a meeting room with an excellent internet connection at an affordable price

Five (5) associations expressed the need to have rooms suitable for meetings. Our space should Therefore contain rooms available to the associations. Working by reservation, it would allow the meeting of a group of about ten people. The price of the rental is a concern of the 5 associations that answered us.

7. The FabLab concept and the activities developed within it are very little known A very large majority of respondents (174/177) say they have never heard about FabLab and 3D printer. Conversely, 3 people replied that they had already heard about FabLab, in particular of ONGOLA FabLab, the first FabLab in Cameroon initiated by Orange Foundation in partnership with Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie in Yaounde. 8. Young people from 15 to 23 of age are

more interested in FabLab activities 22 Young people from 15 to 23 of age say they are interested in carrying out activities within the FabLab and hope to develop operational skills that will allow them to quickly integrate the labour market in Cameroon.

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Observation - Solutions - Impact

Constat

Internet and digital are rightly considered as the fourth industrial revolution, not just because they are one more technology, but because they fundamentally upset us in our way of producing and consuming. « Africa can not miss this moment of history ».

The technological and digital potential is enormous in Africa.

in 2016 :

The smartphone market grew by 40%

More than 52% of payments are made via mobile.

150 million 3G / 4G Subscribers …

But this growth potential of the digital economy is somewhat

compromised by an ecosystem of embryonic, fragile and not

strongly framed digital entrepreneurship.

Solutions

Creating a strongly tructured ecosystem that will foster the emergence of a local Tech Scene that will stimulate Africa's digital transformation, improve business competitiveness, attract investors and create sustainable jobs through digital.

Training Youth in digital trades, whether they are pupils, disadvantaged, jobless or just graduated. This will help to give them skills that will foster their socio-professional integration.

ECOLIA Labs wants to be a strong link in this ecosystem and

has the mission to support technological innovation

through the promotion of youth and women’s entrepreneurship..

Impact

Fostering digital and social entrepreneurship four young people and women ;

Fighting youth and women’s unemployent. Fighting social exclusion and early school leaving; Promoting a good digital culture and create vocations in digital jobs among youth and women.

Raising the technological potential of Cameroon

Enhancing the technological competitiveness of Cameroon and Africa at the international level

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Target audience

Risk analysis and mitigation

Lack of viable partners and investors to support us in our projects.

Delayed development of ECOLIA Labs and all our startups

Increasing the search for viable partners and investors

Receive seed funding but do not effectively develop our startups and make them profitables

Loss of credibility

Risk of abandonment

Risk of no longer finding new investors

Proposing more innovative solutions adapted to the needs of our communuties ;

Designing innovative and effective economic models

Getting support and advisories from internationally-recognized executives and successful entrepreneurs.

Types of risk Impacts of risk Mitigations

Target audience

Young graduated and jobless Young,

Entrepreneurs,

Educational professional;

Women and young girls;

Pupils and students;

Government

Private and public

Companies, Universities,

International organizations;

Local and international

investors

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Competitiveness analysis

Many other solutions are proposed by other organizations to answer the problems of society which ECOLIA Labs tries to provide answers. We introduce here 3 companies knew for their actions in Cameroon and Africa, they are not considered as competitors, our common objective being to build a sustainable technological ecosystem focus on the development of our country, we’ll work together to meet this challenge.

Competing services - startups incubator - Coworking space

Characteristic of competition (strong-moderate-sleeping)

FABLAB

Strong

- startups incubator - Coworking space

Strong Strong

Highlight of competing services

- They are partners with international organizations (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, Orange Foundation)

- FabLab for Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Youth.

- Young and dynamic team

- The incubator is part of a large community of African incubators, benefiting from significant resources.

- Young and dynamic team

- Incubated startups offer innovative and endogenous solutions

- They are partners with a large network of Business Angel

Limits of existing solutions

- La formation des Jeunes et des Femmes aux métiers du numérique n’est pas une priorité

La formation des Jeunes et des Femmes aux métiers du numérique n’est pas une priorité

Our innovative solution

Integrating a graduate-level entrepreneurial training in business, communication and software development, including extensive hands-on project work, culminating in a final pitch and the chance to receive seed funding and enter the ECOLIA Labs Incubator.

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Chapter III: General Strategy and Economic Model

Cycle of production

Marketing, Communication and promotion

STAGE 2

STAGE 3

STAGE 4 PRE-INCUBATION

Helping the project leader to formalize his innovative idea

Validating the feasibility of the project (technical, legal, marketing, financial)

Building and strengthening their team;

INCUBATION

Development of a pilot version or prototype of the solution.

Filing of patents

Define trade action plan.

Accommodation, training, consulting, coaching

Seed funding

POST-INCUBATION

Supporting companies in their development

Access to local and international investor networks

STAGE 1

PROSPECTION

Identification of problems in the fields of education,

agriculture, energy, environment … to which

we want to bring innovative and

sustainable technological solutions.

Cycle of production / incubation of startups in 4 stages

Creation of a Blog on Digital entrepreneurship and

opportunities (Job, contest, Award, fully sponsored events, scholarship, …)

Design of physical and digital

communication tools

Communication and marketing

via social media

Organization of events : fundraising dinners, forum, ...

Creation of the ECOLIA Labs

website Communication

strategy

1 month 2 month 9 month 12 month

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Economic model

Several sources of financing will allow us to make our Social Tech Hub economically viable and so to sustain our actions..

Economic Model

Crowdfunding campaigns

Grants from partners

Registration fees for the training we offer

Rental fees for coworking

spaces

A levy of 9% of the capital of the

startups that we incubate

The sale of Derivative Products

with the effigy of ECOLIA Labs (T-shirt, USB key,

bracelet, pen ...)

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Organization and governance

NTSAMA Yves Cedric, 33 years old CEO & Founder ECOLIA Labs Highest level of academic degrees : Pre-doctoral University degree in Research for Digital Education from the University of Lille1 (France) / Master degree in Computer Science from the University of Yaoundé 1 / Master degree of Secondary Education in Computer Science and Educational Technologies from the Higher Teacher Training College (HTTC) of the University of Yaounde I.

Yves Cedric is a Social Entrepreneur passionate about digital and how it can transform education in Africa and help youth and women develop new skills for facing the challenges of sustainable development in Africa. He worked within International Organization La Francophonie in Sofia (Bulgaria) and in Paris (France) from 2013 to 2014 as digital projects Manager for Universities members of the French-speaking University Agency (AUF). He also visited and collaborated with several actors within digital entrepreneur’s ecosystem in Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Senegal) and Central and Eastern Europe (Romania, Belgium, Bulgaria and Moldavia) especially in the organization of Digital Festival, Forum, Hackathon, Contests and BootCamp. Once back in Cameroon in 2014, He founded ECOLIA Labs with the immense will of share his experience and his vision with all Cameroonian and African youth, but especially with the firm conviction that it is time for this African Youth to take control of his destiny and create his own opportunities..

MOUDANG A BITEGNI Jean Vincent, 35 years old Co-founder ECOLIA Labs and Head of Training Department Highest level of academic degrees : MASTER degree in E-learning and Educational Technologies (ACCREDITE) from the University of Cergy-Pontoise (France) / Pre-doctoral University degree in Research for Digital Education from the University of Lille1 (France) / Master degree of Secondary Education in Computer Science and Educational Technologies from the the Higher Teacher Training College (HTTC) of the University of Yaounde I / Master’s degree in Mathematics from the University

of Yaoundé 1 Jean Vincent is a computer researcher/teacher and a high level Expert in Educational Technologies. He has collaborated with national and international organizations on the policy of integrating new technologies into the Cameroonian Educational System. He supported several companies in particular Orange Cameroon in its program “Digital Schools”, it’s a kit that includes a mini server Raspberry Pi with educational content connected to 50 tablets that the children of rural schools use for instant and free access to hundreds of items of essential content: books from school curriculum and also KHAN Academy lessons, the Wikipedia encyclopaedia, the Wiktionary dictionary, ... and so provide access to quality education. He is in Charge of Training Department of ECOLIA Labs.

Jacques Etienne BOOG, 36 years old Co-founder ECOLIA Labs and FabLab Manager Highest level of academic degrees : Pre-doctoral University degree in Research for Digital Education from the University of Lille1 (France) / Master degree in Computer Science from the University of Yaoundé 1 / Master degree of Secondary Education in Computer Science and Educational Technologies from the Higher Teacher Training College (HTTC) of the University of Yaounde I

Jacques Etienne is a Computer Teacher in Cameroon and an Educational Technologies researcher in University of Geneva. He does research on FabLab and their impact on the socio-professional integration of youth in Africa. He is naturally FabLab Manager within ECOLIA Labs.

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Adele Vanessa BILOUNGA, 27 years old Program Assistant at ECOLIA Labs Highest level of academic degrees : Master’s Degree in Sociology from University of Yaounde 1

Christian Williams MEKOULOU MEKOULOU, 34 years old Business Development Manager Highest level of academic degrees: Master’s Degree in Analysis and Evaluation Projects from University of Rennes 1 (France)/ Professional Master in Economics and Management consulting from University of Yaounde 2 / Master’s Degree in Public Economics and Master’s Degree in Currency – Bank – Finance from University of Ngaoundere Profession: Business Analyst

NDONGO Marthe Sonia, 34 years old In charge of technological watch and entrepreneurship opportunities Highest level of academic degrees : Master degree of Secondary Education in Computer Science and Educational Technologies from the Higher Teacher Training College (HTTC) of the University of Yaounde I / Master’s Degree in Private Law from University of Yaounde 1 Profession : Teacher of computer science and educational technologies

NGO SII Nicaise Perpétue, 38 years old Head of Partnership at ECOLIA Labs Highest level of academic degrees : MASTER degree in E-learning and Educational Technologies (ACCREDITE) from the University of Cergy-Pontoise (France) / Master degree of Secondary Education in Computer Science and Educational Technologies from the Higher Teacher Training College (HTTC) of the University of Yaounde I / Master’s degree in Social Psychology from the University of Yaoundé 1 Profession: Teacher of Computer Science and Educational Technologies

BILO’O Louis Herve, 35 years old Country Manager ECOLIA Labs France and Financial Officer Louis Herve holds a Master's Degree in Management Science, in specialized "Management of Companies and Businesses of the Board", a Master’s Degree in Finance Specialty “Audit-Consulting”, a Master’s Degree in Corporate Finance and Market Finance and a Bachelor in Business Administration Profession: Administrative and Financial Officer for the Paris-Sud University Foundation and the Directorate of Research and Innovation Activities (D.A.R.I)

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