By Radarr Africa Business Desk
ABIDJAN, November 11 (Radarr Africa) – Côte d’Ivoire has selected 32 technology companies for two years of state support under two new programmes, Ivoire Tech Next 15 and Ivoire Tech Scale Up, as the second Ivoire Tech Forum opens in Abidjan this week.
Djibril Ouattara, the minister for Digital Transition and Technological Innovation, announced the list at an event in Abidjan on Wednesday, November 4. More than 150 companies applied and about 50 pitched to independent juries. The target had been 30 winners, and the minister raised it to 32 because of the quality of the applications, according to the Agence Ivoirienne de Presse.
Fourteen companies were chosen for Next 15, which is for startups that already have products on the market. They include Djamo, Waribei and La Ruche Health, along with Umed, Blok Technology, Cloud4Africa, Djoli, Grainotech, IT Synergy, JPF AerialOps, Graya, Discut AI, Tylimmo and Yodan. Next 15 covers areas such as smart agriculture, digital health, financial services, payments, software, cloud and cybersecurity.
Eighteen more established firms were chosen for Scale Up, among them Veone, Snedai and Kaydan Technology, together with Agilly, Asernum, BMI-WFS, Digin Factory, Digital Afrique Telecom, Ebenyx, Farafinah Kanu, NGSER, N-Socitech, ODV, SaH Analytics, Wilyz, SGCI, Sonec Africa and Talentys.
The state’s support lasts 24 months and focuses on artificial intelligence, access to financing and public procurement. Winners get access to the Ivoire Tech Forum’s Business Forum, Deal Room and GovTech workshop, where they can meet investors and public and private buyers to seek contracts, partnerships or funding. The forum runs from November 11 to 13 in Abidjan.
The government wants to mobilise CFA5 billion to CFA10 billion, about $8.3 million to $16.6 million, from commercial banks, investment funds and development partners. The money has not yet been allocated, and the terms, whether loans or equity, have not been set out.
Each winner must sign a performance contract and an ethics charter. They will be assessed on revenue growth, job creation and expansion into other countries in the sub-region, and results will be reported publicly.
The initiative forms part of the implementation of the Startup Act, which Côte d’Ivoire adopted in November 2023. Ouattara said that a law changes an entrepreneur’s life only on the day it is applied, and told the winners: ‘Tonight is therefore not an end. It is a beginning.’ The ministry is also working with the national network of incubators and hubs on offers for the firms that were not selected.
