Incubation and Innovation: Shaping Gambia’s Business Landscape by Nurturing Young Innovators with Boubacar Demba Coly

[00:00:00] You're listening to the Unlocking Africa Podcast. I'm a computer science engineer, a business coach and a business developer. And now I will consider myself as an ecosystem builder. When I came to Gambia, that was one of the first things I realized that the challenges were quite many, but that could be a lot of opportunities for the young people.

[00:00:21] And this is a personal mission for me, which is to be able to replicate a certain mindset and also a certain model and philosophy to these young people that do need guidance, coaching and strategies to be able to grow and to be able to develop a better future for Africa. Stay tuned as we bring you inspiring people who are unlocking Africa's economic potential.

[00:00:47] You're listening to the Unlocking Africa Podcast with your host, Terser Adamu. Welcome to the Unlocking Africa Podcast, where we find inspirational people who are doing inspirational things to unlock Africa's economic potential. Today we have Boubacar Collie, who is an ecosystem builder, business coach, entrepreneurship coach and tech conceptor, and also project manager at Compto.

[00:01:17] Gambia Tech. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the podcast, Boubacar. How are you? Thanks to you, Terser. I'm all right. And I hope you too. I am. I am. So to get us started, I was hoping you could introduce yourself and tell us just a little bit about Boubacar Collie. So, I'm Boubacar Collie.

[00:01:40] I'm from Senegal, but established in the Gambia for the past 10 years, running an incubation space called Gambia Tech. So, I've been working with several institutions and government, helping them to set up whatsoever is a strategy around youth employment and entrepreneurship, especially in the tech sector. So, I'm a computer science engineer, a business coach and a business developer.

[00:02:03] And most likely now I will consider myself as an ecosystem builder, helping African entrepreneurs, especially the youths, to find not only a meaning into what they're trying to do, but also to achieve their dreams by successfully conducting their businesses. And in the other hand, to make sure that connection and bridges can be built between Africa and other continents to make sure that opportunities and access to information is available for young Africans.

[00:02:33] Brilliant. So, you mentioned you're from Senegal, but living in Gambia for the last 10 years. Computer science engineer, but now you would consider yourself an ecosystem builder. So, what is it that actually inspired you to focus or become a ecosystem builder?

[00:02:50] So, I will say that back in the days after my graduation as a computer science engineer and getting another master into business administration, I considered that I was quite lucky enough to understand how business was working in Africa. And I even started lecturing into something called doing business in Africa.

[00:03:11] And I understood quite a lot into how difficult it was for most of our young Africans and especially investors to come down to Africa and to do business. Now, the reality is different. The environment is different. But when you look at the needs and also the challenges young people are facing, there is a lot that it can inspire one to try to bridge and also to bring a solution.

[00:03:38] And I believe my main inspiration had been the fact that I was lucky enough to have enough information and to look at how everything around me was not really working properly. And that this information I had could bring a change. And then I decided to dedicate most of my time doing social works by providing the expertise and the information I had to young people for them as well to start their ventures.

[00:04:04] Keeping on the theme of ecosystem building, what are some of the key lessons you've learned from your experience building ecosystems in Senegal? And how has that shaped your approach in Gambia? So the good thing about Senegal is it's quite a very vibrant and dynamic environment for business. It's actually one of the pillars in the West African economy. Yeah.

[00:04:30] And when you are in Senegal, you can realize that you have a lot of opportunities, especially for young people, which is not really given to other people in other African countries. So when I look at the opportunity that was given to me to work with quite key stakeholders at the highest positions possible for youth, I realized that the information we had over there was not necessarily available for other young people in other countries.

[00:04:59] And that's why when I was done almost with the challenges I was trying to overcome in Senegal, I realized that Gambia or Mauritania or Guinea and Mali was quite less served with those opportunities and those information. So I decided to try to go to one of them and finally it became Gambia. That was my next step. And when I came to Gambia, I just realized that access to information was extremely difficult.

[00:05:28] There were no data at all. And the youths were not having enough information about the opportunities that were available. And even though to identify potential opportunities they could develop or have in their direct environment, because I'm the one of those people that believe that there's no challenge, actually, because if any time that there is a challenge, there is a potential to turn that challenge into an opportunity.

[00:05:54] And when I came to Gambia, that was one of the first thing I realized that the challenges were quite many. But that could be actually a lot of opportunities for the young people. And by the fact that I'm from Senegal, it was already something shaped in me to always double check if this is a challenge or an opportunity. Interesting, interesting. So you've touched on the challenges in Gambia and also the opportunities.

[00:06:23] So how does your role at Gambia Tech align or allow you to create those opportunities for the startups? So one, it is to make sure I have key and strategic partnerships because you can never do everything alone. So you need like extra hands and also extra resources and funds to do so.

[00:06:45] Now, one of the key signature of the Gambia Tech is to sign strategic partnership with key partners, including the UN bodies, the EU corporations, the development funds, the international trade centers and the government agencies in the country.

[00:07:03] And beyond that, to also partner with all the local associations of youth and women to kind of create an environment where we have a strong network, where we can have access not only to the funds and also the technical resources, but also the people that have the needs.

[00:07:22] Because looking at how many youth are in the country, just for the records, actually, Gambia is a small country with almost 2.5 million inhabitants, and they have 65 percent of the population under 25, which represent a lot of potential in terms of human resources and also young people. But the capacity buildings, the access to skills and also access to resources is very limited for those young people.

[00:07:49] Now, for us at Gambia Tech, positioning ourselves in the between of those young people and also the key investors and donors and partners by not only creating a network of youth that has different needs, and on the other hand, to create a network of partners that are looking at where to invest their money or where to fund access to resources or access to opportunities, it had been a right hit.

[00:08:12] So today, our best signature is to make sure that we sign key partnerships and strategic partnership with donors and investors, and in the other hand, to gather the youth around us. So you've touched on the importance of strategic partnerships. So outside of this, what would you say makes Gambia Tech unique compared to other programs in the region?

[00:08:37] At first, I will say the structure, because we are a non-profit organization. So our main focus is not how we will sustain our activities, but more how we will sustain the beneficiaries of our activities. Now, we have, I will say, three things that are really specific and actually that makes us standing out. One is we are the key partners for most of the donors.

[00:09:07] As far as in the ecosystem, in the Gambia, there is not much BSOs, business supporting organization and ESOs that are able to deliver and also to understand the scope of the partnership that key players do need, especially, for instance, the UN bodies and the international trade center and the EU cooperation.

[00:09:30] They have quite very strict and difficult processing that are not given to most of the players in the country. So, and we have quite 15 years of experience working with those institutions. So for us, it's already easy access to the information and also an easy access to process the information to go through the different needs we have.

[00:09:51] Secondly, we have quite a huge network of young people because what we have created around Gambia Tech is a resource center. So Gambia Tech today represents a place where any youth, either you are an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur, can have access to not only to develop your ideas, but also to meet other young people with the same dynamics or with the same experience or to learn new skills or to develop new skills.

[00:10:19] For instance, someone that is like, hey, I want to start my project, but I don't know where to start. Usually Gambia Tech is the first step you can take to have access to the information on how to do it, with who to do it and how to prepare yourself. And the third thing we have is actually our scaling up program, which is open to everyone. Anyone that wants to develop whatsoever is the idea or the concept or the product or the business,

[00:10:46] you have the access to coaches and mentors within the Gambia Tech team that will take you through what to start, where to start and how to shape the idea to a viable project or a viable product. So those three things are things we have essentially that are available at Gambia Tech and that actually are making Gambia Tech standing out. And it has been proven because for over the past four years, when we look at the Gambia,

[00:11:16] we see that most of the successful entrepreneurs, most of the award-winning companies and project and concept are from Gambian entrepreneurs from the Gambia Tech. And when we look also at the national level, when it comes to mapping, we are the one that almost represents all the different layers of the society,

[00:11:41] from the youth associations to the women association and also to the ecosystem players and partners. And at last, when we look at how much funding has been invested into the country to support youth employment and youth entrepreneurship, Gambia Tech is standing out with almost like 500 to 600,000 euro spent in the country within the past three years. You mentioned that the structure makes Gambia Tech unique.

[00:12:09] So can you walk us through, say, a typical incubation process or structure at Gambia Tech? Okay. Now, when we compare most of the incubation programs or the incubators and accelerators, the main challenge they face is the business model, which is to usually ask the entrepreneurs or the startup to be members and to be paying a certain fee to have access to the resources.

[00:12:37] And search is quite difficult by the fact that when you are in certain areas and certain environment, it's very difficult for the entrepreneurs to be able to pay those fees or to have the capacity to maintain the subscription fee. Now, for us, we have lifted all the subscription fees. We based everything into a free membership and free access to resources. And in counterpart, we are making sure that whatsoever resource you use,

[00:13:06] it will be leading to building a final product that is quite useful and also quite ready to the market. Now, when I will look at the structure, we have one secure key partnerships for over a few years with different partners. What we're doing is we're looking at the different segments we have. Let's say acceleration, we have partners. Incubation, we have partners. Capacity building, we have partners.

[00:13:32] And each of the partners, especially the multilateral partners and donors, we make sure that they can cover a cohort of entrepreneurs over three years to four years to five years. Then now when we multiply the partnership, we are making sure that not only we have a sustainable system where we have the resources available and funded for many years,

[00:13:59] but also we back it up with the government by making sure that our partnership does not only involve donors, but also official government agencies that will be voting budget every year for the acceleration programs or the incubation program with Cambiate Tech. As you mentioned, you back it up with the partners. I know you have a partnership with the French Embassy and is it Alliance Franco Banjou? Yes. How does this influence the program's success?

[00:14:29] Initially, the program had been funded by the French only, the French Embassy, for over two years and a half to three years. Now, at some point, it can be a bit difficult to have only one main donor that is supporting the whole activity and the whole structure. But we diversified the portfolio of partners and also of investors and donors with the German Embassy, the EU Corporation and other entities.

[00:14:58] Let's say the U.S. Embassy as well is coming on board. Now, the influence had been the touch or the stamp of the institution being so strong by the fact that we have strong partners. Being backed up first with a French donors or the French Embassy donation had been leading more to open other partnerships with other embassies or other international partners

[00:15:27] by the fact that once you set the records that you are able to manage funds from the French Embassy and also the Alliance Francis of Banjou, that means now you have already the standards to be able to work with other kind of multilateral or bilateral partners. And I believe that it had been quite positive as an impact to be backed up and also to be funded by the French Embassy at first.

[00:15:53] So diversification of partners is key to the success and overcoming challenges you face as an incubator. But looking at the challenges that the entrepreneurs face, what are some of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs in Gambia face? I will say this is something very common for Africa. It is not only the financial literacy, but also the access to markets.

[00:16:20] And when I say access to market, I do not mean international markets, but I mean like directly the local markets. Because why we decided to even position ourselves as ecosystem builders is because no matter how good a product can be, if the value chain is not working, it's very difficult for the product to thrive.

[00:16:42] So imagine if you're a farmer, you have quite a good land, excessively good production, but you don't have any roads to actually move the goods from your farm to the local markets. And you have maybe 10 to 15 local markets. But the roads access is difficult. The transportation is difficult. The communication is difficult. And you have zero almost connection with those places you want to deliver your product.

[00:17:12] So it ends up being a waste. And then when you realize that most of the entrepreneurs are facing a challenge of having access to the market, it directly gives or makes sense to us to say that this will be the major focus we want to put our efforts on by trying to create an ecosystem where each and everyone will be able to have access,

[00:17:39] not only to the information, but also to the infrastructure to deliver whatsoever they need to deliver as a good or as a product. And globally, if you look at a second challenge that entrepreneurs might face in the Gambia, it will be as well the financial literacy. Because having a good concept and having a good idea or a good product doesn't necessarily mean that it's a viable project. Or a viable product because of the realities of the market.

[00:18:08] And usually the financial level of literacy of the entrepreneurs is extremely low. And the discipline to start recording sales, to start recording expenses, to start recording influx, it's very difficult for the entrepreneurs in the Gambia and globally in Africa.

[00:18:29] Because in our culture, usually the relationship with money is not related to taking notes or to writing down things. And still in the financial aspect, one of the major problems as well is the access to the finances. Because in the Gambia, there is almost zero banks that give loans or access to financial resources to entrepreneurs or to startups.

[00:18:55] Because they consider the startups and the entrepreneurship ecosystem as a very sensitive and risky venture for the banks. So there is almost none of the banks in the Gambia that actually offer support or access to finances to the entrepreneurs. And those things are generally the main challenges we have. I agree. Access to local and even international markets is key for success.

[00:19:25] Gambia is often not seen as a favorable country for business, for potentially outside investors. But how do you help entrepreneurs and potentially outside investors or partners overcome that perception?

[00:19:43] For us, once again, that's the main reason why we sign key partnership and strategic partnership with the main people or the main institution or bodies that can offer access to resources to the entrepreneurs. Now, beyond access to the resources, we make sure that we open the space for our entrepreneurs to have access to other environment.

[00:20:09] Because I believe awareness is key whatsoever you're trying to do. If you don't have a proper benchmark, if you don't have any possibility to explore other ecosystems or the environments or the markets and to as well meet other people from other places that are doing almost the same thing as you, it is very difficult to see the difference.

[00:20:30] And this is something we really offer by making sure that our entrepreneurs can have access to either conferences, workshops, networking meetings or networking meetups in other countries and also in other ecosystem and environment, especially in Senegal, to make sure that they can open up and explore the full potential of whatsoever they have as a product or as an idea.

[00:20:52] Because they will be able to transpose the idea to another ecosystem or another country and at the same time network with people in the same domain or in the same industry to be able to understand what is the full potential or capacity they have if they go back to the Gambia. Now, on the other hand as well, we are making sure that at the local level we have enough activities.

[00:21:20] Gambia Tech is organizing at least 100 events a year around awareness, around capacity building, around skills development. And most importantly, we do a lot of career fair to make sure that the young people do understand the industries they are trying to venture in because such information is not available. They never barely had a chance to meet someone into another industry and sometimes in the industry they want to grow in.

[00:21:50] The other thing we do as well is we create clubs in the different schools. So we have a program that we call the School Innovation Lab where we go into different schools, organize labs over there and create a club. And we appoint some ambassadors of that school. And what we're pushing them to do is to have every month a topic they want to talk about.

[00:22:12] And then we can send experts or people that will come to showcase and to display whatsoever is the topic related to. So young people that are doing something concrete and also to be able to exchange and get information from it and be able to decide by themselves if this is something that I really want to do or that is viable.

[00:22:36] So globally, we are mindset shifters by not only showing that we have a very strong network of successful entrepreneurs in a way that they at least have been able to move from the idea stage to the prototype stage or from the prototype stage to the market access stage.

[00:22:58] And those people today, even though the ecosystem and the environment in Gambia is very small, they are seen as champions because they can today say that they have been able to achieve X, Y and Z on their part line. And they are actually able to prove record of activities that they have been doing so far. During our conversation, you've emphasized the importance of partnerships and collaboration for the incubator.

[00:23:27] But I was wondering, how do you promote collaboration and a sense of community among the startups in the program? So for us, the incubation program is quite competitive because once we launch the code for application, we usually receive between 300 to 500 applicants. And among those 300 to 500 applicants, we only need 10 people for the incubation program. So once again, our incubation is 10 people per cohort.

[00:23:55] And usually we make sure that we interview all the people that apply us. So if it is 500 people, we will interview in person 500 people. And that is also something that is standing out for Gambia Tech because we're giving the chance to each and everyone to be able to express himself. We in Africa consider that not everybody is good at writing.

[00:24:19] And not everyone is really digitally literate to go to fill a form properly and to give all the details that they really want to talk about. So for us, creating that community where anyone that applies is already considered as already a member of the community. And then we are welcoming you to come after the selection to express yourself, present us your business, your ideas, and whatsoever you want to do.

[00:24:46] And then we make sure that you are among the people that are in the same industry or the same sector or the same domain as you are. And then by creating those sectors or those environments where each and everyone can find someone else to talk to or someone else to partner with to develop something.

[00:25:06] Now, we are a really community-oriented entity by the fact that not only we make sure that everyone is on board throughout our call for applications, but beyond the call for application, we make sure that anyone that has an idea or a product that already approached us will have access to the network of 6,000 entrepreneurs we already have.

[00:25:29] And that becomes concrete in a way that anyone that is involved in the community, we make sure that you have access to someone to talk to or someone to work with. As far as it is, as far as it is a wide network, specifically cut into different areas of expertise or of skills, we're bridging people and connecting people to one another. I am doing matchmaking on who can work with who.

[00:25:54] And search is helping most of the entrepreneurs to have access to quite a market locally or at the community level. If I can take a concrete example, it's most likely a lot of young entrepreneurs do come in the program or do apply to our programs, but are just at the ideation stage. And usually they need someone to help them to build their logo, to build their brands, to do their communication materials, to make their business card and X, Y, and Z product.

[00:26:22] And for us, it's super easy to say, hey, in the network, you have this person or that person that is actually doing this as a service. Now, as you are a member of the community, usually they will not charge you for such, for just building your brand. And then some others do have directly free access to digital marketing or marketing presence with the existing entrepreneurs that are venturing into such service.

[00:26:48] Because we're creating the community in a way that it's a resource center. But at the same time, anyone involved in the community is supposed to be a help and a shoulder for the other entrepreneurs within the community. So I believe this is one of our main print that we are building a network of entrepreneurs that can vouch for one another.

[00:27:10] And also that can count to one another to bring a collective effort to see business and entrepreneurs working successfully in the camp. You mentioned 300 to 500 startups apply, but only 10 people make it, which is amazing or phenomenal. So as you said, it's very competitive.

[00:27:32] But what would you say are some of the common traits or characteristics that the most successful startups in your program share? I will say it's quite difficult to say, to find what exactly is the common trait, because we have a lot of youth involved and all of them are sharing the same dream, is to succeed in their venture.

[00:27:58] Now, I will say the common trait would be more about resilience and consistency, because that's the particular criteria to be in the program. When we have, for instance, 500 applicants, the first thing we do is to send out the calls for the interviews. And many people might not see their emails, so they will not show up. And then we already have a cut.

[00:28:24] The second thing we do is, during the interviews, to go through the questions and answers with the applicant. And through that, we try to understand your profile and also how clear is your idea and also how clear is your guideline into your successful journey as an entrepreneur. But usually, we give three weeks intensive training for the capacity building.

[00:28:52] And through those three weeks intensive capacity building program, we try to identify who will be respecting the whole three weeks commitment. Because as a business owner or as an entrepreneur, that's one of the things that is mostly difficult to get from the applicants, is their full-time commitment.

[00:29:12] And usually, through those three weeks intensive training, we will have some that will drop and some that will stay in the program. So, in a nutshell, out of the 500 applicants, we usually choose between 20 to 25 people that will go for the three weeks intensive training.

[00:29:33] And through the three weeks, we will have the criteria as to who can stay and who have the 12 because of the commitment, the involvement into the process, the delivery of the tasks that have been assigned, and also to how best the person is really interested into building his project or his products with us.

[00:29:56] Keeping on the theme of success, are there any specific success stories from Gambia Tech that particularly stand out for you? Yes, I will say I will maybe call out two or three.

[00:30:11] We have Ambo Studio that is today one of the leading media and multimedia companies in the Gambia that started from scratch with us by first winning our logo competition to create the logo for the Gambia Tech at the beginning when we launched the project. And today, Ambo is one of the key players in the multimedia sector.

[00:30:33] And I can say that they've started really from scratch, from the really lower level with just an idea of being a multimedia company. And today, it's a company that had been working with major partners in West Africa and also in America by providing drone shots and video for different armies, including the Senegalese army,

[00:30:59] and also by covering a lot of documentaries for over, I think, 15 countries in Africa within these past three years. And it was a quite very fast growth and incredible kind of milestone achieved within a very short period of time. And really standing out for the quality of their work and also the imagination and also their creativity on social media.

[00:31:22] And that's the reason why they've been identified by many external partners and international partners to start working with them and to hire their services across the world. Now we have also FITAFAL. So FITAFAL, that had been one of the first female automotive and mechanic service offered by, say, a woman-led garage.

[00:31:46] And that brought kind of a digital system into the mechanic system by offering online booking and also online repairing and maintenance of vehicles, especially in the Gambia, which is a place where the digital literacy and so the access to digital tools is very limited.

[00:32:08] And FITAFAL had been awarded, I think, over five times, five different times in different setups as the best tech company and also the best innovation or the best female-led organization in the Gambia to win the continental and international awards across the sectors.

[00:32:31] And FITAFAL, which is also something we're really proud of as today they became one of the main companies offering mechanical services to most of the institutions by the fact that they've set a standard quite high to be able to deliver as a reliable source for many of their clients, including the UN system in the Gambia, the government of the Gambia and many other institutions that today hire.

[00:33:01] They're services rather than going to the usual mechanic shops. And the third one is also called out as CHOPSA, that is a food tech company that had been maybe one of the most dynamic and viral food tech company in the Gambia by offering, let's say, the first ever working digital platform for food and food businesses, digital space and e-commerce.

[00:33:29] We also have a few fintech companies like the light of OJAPAY or TablePay that are also shaping the whole difference in the Gambia now when it comes to digital payments and online payment solutions for Gambians.

[00:33:45] And we have also Connect, that is also another really outstanding entrepreneur and tool in the Gambia that is one of the first freelancers platform that offers access to services from freelancers and skills workers in the Gambia for the general public. So basically those people have been able to achieve quite much in the small ecosystem.

[00:34:10] And when it comes to numbers, I will say that we've been able to quite raise at least a million dollars with those entrepreneurs in the Gambia throughout the past four years. Thank you for sharing that. I mean, these are great examples and show the range of companies that you work with.

[00:34:28] With such a range of companies and a diversity in terms of the company startups accessing your program, how do you measure the impact or success Gambia Tech has on the startups? That's quite a funny answer for us because we usually have the question coming a lot, especially from partners. How do we measure the impact?

[00:34:54] When we consider the global network of entrepreneurs in the Gambia, what is really important for us is to see the impact. And how do we measure our impact is by the fact that most of job creation in the Gambia are related to Gambia Tech. And now the most important part will be up to date.

[00:35:19] We can boldly say that any partner coming to the Gambia will necessarily have a touch base with Gambia Tech before rolling out a program or a project. Because of quite our strong database of entrepreneurs, but also our rich portfolio of activities trying to cover the awareness part and the outreach.

[00:35:43] Also, in terms of metrics and impacts, we can see that we have created more awareness in the ecosystem than any other partner or program ever before.

[00:35:55] By the fact that our capacity of gathering 6,000 people at once for any of our events or any of the partners that is looking for a public or an outreach is something that is quite really impactful or really interesting in the Gambia.

[00:36:15] Now, also for our impact measure, we can consider the amount of partnership we've signed, not only with the local partners, but also with the international partners. And also looking at the amount of fundings we brought into the country to support youth entrepreneurship and also youth employment.

[00:36:36] We can also look at the amount of outreach we've done and implementation programs we've done with several partners. So all those key metrics are really interesting for us to showcase or to measure our impact.

[00:36:58] Because I believe today a positive impact is any region you walk in, you have at least 10 people that have been directly or indirectly impacted by your actions. And today we can boldly say that in any region in the Gambia, and we have five regions in the Gambia. In any region, we have at least one of our entrepreneurs present in that region. And that is already hiring at least two people from that region. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

[00:37:26] So if we zoom out and look at the wider ecosystem and ecosystem builders, what advice would you give to other ecosystem builders working in a similar environment or context? What I've learned so far is that we shouldn't consider each other or one another as competitors.

[00:37:48] Because if you're the only one in an ecosystem and doing the best way you can, and you really realize that there is a lot of potential for your ecosystem, share and open up to other players. Teach or train them in or build capacity for them into the standards that you have so they can also reach a certain stage. And why is it important?

[00:38:13] If I look at, for instance, the Gambia tech, we have quite a very limited team of people working with us. And our capacity to take care of more than 20 or 30 entrepreneurs at a time is very challenging because if we do so, the quality reduce or the quality drop. So we open up to prepare all the partners or other players so they can also be able to achieve such. And why is it important?

[00:38:40] It's because when it comes to funding, you might have an environment or an ecosystem that can receive millions of dollars in funding. And as a single entity, it is very difficult to say that you can absorb all those funds. And to me, why is it important to share and also to broadcast and especially to prepare other players and not consider them as competitors is because we cannot absorb all the funds by ourselves. So it is crucial to work with other people.

[00:39:09] But working with other people needs us or you as an ecosystem player or as an ecosystem builder to build the capacity for the other players so they can be kind of a matching standard with you so you can roll out and develop your ecosystem together. And the other thing is entrepreneurs are actually growing.

[00:39:32] And once you have maybe for our network, let's say 6,000, it will be very difficult for us to say that we will have a 10,000. Why? Because to have a 10,000, it takes time. But beyond the fact that it takes time, there is also the reality that those startups will be growing and will not need necessarily like our support anymore. So we need to keep moving with the newcomers to be able to build them up as well.

[00:40:00] And which means that is an endless task of building startups and building entrepreneurs and building up people. And such things cannot be done by one entity alone.

[00:40:10] So to me, the best message I can pass to other ecosystem players or ecosystem builders is to make sure that they can widen their partnerships, outreach, and also to widen their network of other players in a way that it can help funds to come into the country or to come into the ecosystem. Wise words, I guess.

[00:40:33] Widening partnership, increasing collaboration creates a more solid and sustainable foundation for the future. So if you look at the future, future of Africa, future of Gambia, how do you see Gambia's tech and entrepreneurship scene evolving, say, over the next five years?

[00:40:53] I would say we will really have quite extremely interesting boom that will be visible by the fact that Gambia is trying to stand out as a startup nation. And also when we look at the job that had been done on the ground already, we have quite few champions that will be really focusing on to growing other people.

[00:41:17] And as a very small country and also a growing economy, a lot of changes will start taking place by the fact that those entrepreneurs and also the entrepreneurship ecosystem is bringing a lot of money in the country by attracting more and more interest from the donors.

[00:41:35] Now, there is one thing that is quite really interesting recently, because for us, for this 2025, since ending 2024 and coming to 2025, we are focusing more into the agri-tech sector, like let's say the agro-entrepreneurs. By the fact that Gambia is a green space that can accommodate quite a very strong and reliable agricultural ecosystem or environment. And that had been left behind for quite a long.

[00:42:02] And today we have at least a network of 200 to 300 agro-entrepreneurs that are really strong into the philosophy and the idea of building a strong agricultural system in the Gambia. And if we look at the tendency of fundings into the entrepreneurial space across the world, the dynamic is going more into AI and also more into agri-tech.

[00:42:30] So Gambia is trying to position itself into the agri-tech sector. And for us, I can say that in the coming five years, the agri-tech sector will be quite extremely dynamic and moving and vibrant ecosystem. And that will be quite the future for the entrepreneurship sector in the Gambia. So looking closer to home, where do you see yourself and Gambia Tech in five years' time?

[00:42:55] What influence or work will you be contributing to this boom in the Gambia tech space? I believe Gambia Tech is trying to position itself as the key player in the entrepreneurial space in the Gambia and in West Africa at large. Now, where do we see properly ourselves is to become one of the top resource centers for entrepreneurs in Africa. We're also going to be able to build a new company in the future of the world, by the fact that it's something we believe in and it's something that is already working for us.

[00:43:24] And we're already on the path by almost doubling already in January 2025 our investment we did from the past three years. So for the past three years, we were around at 550,000 euros we invested into the entrepreneurial space.

[00:43:42] And we already almost doubled that in January 2025, which means for the next coming five years for us, it's not only to bring at least $10 million in the Gambia in terms of entrepreneurship growth and development, but also in terms of acceleration. So we are really looking at positioning ourselves at the peak of the entrepreneurship space.

[00:44:06] And personally, I have a commitment quite given to this ecosystem and especially to the entrepreneurs by the fact that we are looking at helping a certain type of entrepreneurs to exist and also to grow.

[00:44:23] And this is kind of a personal mission for me, which is to be able to replicate a certain mindset and also a certain model and philosophy to these young people that do need guidance, coaching and strategies to be able to grow and to be able to develop a better future for Africa. As people, we often have quotes, mantras, African proverbs or affirmations that keep us going when times are challenging or when times are good.

[00:44:51] Do you have one that you can share with us today? Yes, I will say, That's a proverb in Wolof. Brilliant. Kuhaybunsa pros is whosoever doesn't underestimate your pocket. Kenda kola nos, there is no one that has a better party than you, which means your chapter one cannot be the same as someone else's chapter 20.

[00:45:20] We should never underestimate what we have as a potential, as a capacity or as a resource because we can always build something out of it. And to me, it's something that is really crucial for our young people to never look at Africa as a place where there is nothing and trying to go to other places where they believe is much better. For the little we have in Africa, we can make a lot of things.

[00:45:45] And the same thing as for the lot we have in Africa, if we don't see that it is much, we can do nothing out of it. Fantastic. What a brilliant way to end today's conversation. Thank you, Bubaka, for sharing your knowledge, experience, walking us through the innovative and also inspiring work you're doing with Gambia Tech.

[00:46:08] Looking forward to seeing how it develops and some of your entrepreneurs and startups that you're working with making a bigger impact, whether it's in Gambia locally, internationally, within the continent or outside of the continent. Yeah, looking forward to seeing all of that and just keeping in contact. So thank you for your time today and thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us.

[00:46:31] Thanks to you, Terser, and shout out to the GSA as well for the amazing work they're doing in Africa and also for identifying outstanding players in Africa into supporting the entrepreneurship space and also into the business space. Thank you to everyone who has listened and stayed tuned to the podcast. If you've enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share or tell a friend about it.

[00:46:57] You can also rate, review us in Apple Podcasts or wherever you download your podcast. Thank you and see you next week for the Unlocking Africa podcast.