After more than a year of support (pre-incubation, incubation, acceleration) the winners of the 2th edition of the Creative Africa program have finalized their journey.
What is Creative Africa? What is the impact of the program? Who are the entrepreneurs of the 2nd edition of the program? The answers to these questions can be found in the capitalization booklet which is now available online! Link to the booklet
During the closing event in Rabat (see article), an assessment was able to be established with the winning entrepreneurs: they were able to work on a final diagnosis, on the trajectories of change and future perspectives. All this was done thanks to the Bidaya teams (preparation, organization and animation of the workshops as well as drafting of change trajectories and end-of-life diagnostics), partner incubator in Morocco for this 2th edition of the program, thank you to them for their support!
Here are some elements summarized by winner:
Rosine Arzoumpoko Kiema – BiiBop (Burkina Faso)
TRAJECTORIES OF CHANGE
Biibop was able to expand its operational team and set up an R&D team made up of early childhood professionals. A considerable effort was made in terms of communication, with the creation of a website, and in terms of marketing, with the recruitment of a sales agent, and the implementation of a commercial strategy adapted to each target audience. customer base. Biibop also worked on its production process, by setting up, among other things, a production workshop and equipping itself with production equipment. The economic and security situation in Burkina Faso, however, represents a significant challenge that Biibop faces.
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEARS TO COME
- Certify toys to safety standards;
- Develop project communication: lead your online community, develop advocacy actions, deploy on other communication channels (radio, television, etc.);
- Have points of sale in the 13 regions of Burkina Faso; Deploy and market in the UEMOA zone;
- Become a recognized and privileged partner with the Ministry of National Education;
Mohamed Ben Saïd – Akacia Productions (Tunisia)
TRAJECTORIES OF CHANGE
Akacia Productions was able to clarify its value proposition, in particular by carrying out field studies to map the musical heritage. These allowed Akacia Productions to solicit key players in the Tunisian cultural sector and adapt its offer according to its target. Akacia Productions has been able to expand into different sectors of the music industry and diversify its services, notably through the organization of concerts, artistic production, management and distribution. This expansion of Akacia Productions' activities promoted financial independence. In parallel with the latter, a new fundraising strategy emerged, driven by the meeting of new financing partners.
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEARS TO COME
- Recruitment and training of a team of 40 professionals in the organization of festivals
- Realization of a major fundraising project
- Duplication of the Dougga festival model in 4 Tunisian regions
Awatef Mosbeh – Morbiket (Tunisia)
TRAJECTORIES OF CHANGE
Since 2021, Morbiket has set itself the objective of integrating an international dimension into its project. As part of the Creative Africa program, the company opened a branch in France, more precisely in Marseille, allowing it to take the first step towards realizing its vision. In partnership with the Glanum archaeological site and the Center for National Monuments, Morbiket has today succeeded in expanding its range of products by testing the Toufoutrip application intended for heritage exploration. By going through two technical tests and 4 tests for the general public with more than 50 families with their children.
Morbiket was also able to launch the “MorbiCrea Bootcamps”. The latter are an awareness program aimed at young creatives, through which Morbiket was able to disseminate more than 100 civic, educational and cultural content, train more than 30 young people with several partners (UNDP, Council of Europe, etc.).
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEARS TO COME
- Sign 5 BtoB contracts Sign 5,000 BtoC contracts Sign 5 BtoG contracts
- Fundraising of 300k for the next 18 months
- Opening of capital of the branch located in Marseille
Awa Diop Girard – Deedo (Senegal)
TRAJECTORIES OF CHANGE
Deed Development, thanks to its passionate team, has managed to implement its vision: promoting African diversity, particularly with the addition of Wolof, the most spoken language in Senegal, in the choices of the Deedo Distribution service. The realization of this vision is based on a clear and defined strategy, aimed at building customer loyalty, in particular through a presence in the West African audiovisual market. This direction was possible thanks to the analysis of the African actor network and the needs of African customers. The analysis of customer needs allowed Deed Development, during the Africa Creative program, to acquire around thirty additional customers, to strengthen its position on the music market through the acquisition of a music catalog , to form strategic partnerships with telephone operators and to diversify the West African musical offering by training twelve beatmakers to produce an electronic album.
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEARS TO COME
- Become a reference in the African music sector;
- Develop partnerships with local and international players;
- Include as many African languages as possible within the streaming application; Continue to allow the emergence of new artists and be a lever for growing artists;
- Continue to develop social commitments and impact projects via the streaming application;
Andrew Ahuurra – Quad-A Records (Uganda)
TRAJECTORIES OF CHANGE
One of Quad-A's major achievements during the successful program is the launch of the Quad-A Academy with its first cohort. This cohort benefited from training in sound engineering for six months. Six of the ten winners were recruited by Quad-A Records and are currently working on numerous projects.
The objective behind this training program, according to Andrew Ahuura, is “to fill the knowledge gap that faces the [local] market, as African studios can't compete globally due to lack of skills locally”.
Thus, Quad-A Records was able to establish and strengthen several strategic partnerships, in order to train more students by expert engineers, notably with Dolby, Multichoice, UCC, etc.
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEARS TO COME
- Launch other cohorts of the Quad-A Academy, with the objective of training 100 students and creating 100 jobs per year;
- Expand your range of services: dubbing, virtual African library of African music, African library of sound effects, sourcing sound engineers, etc. Collect funds (grants, loans, fundraising) to successfully scale up and meet the growing demand for high-quality audio productions;
- Expand the operational team and the support team;
- Become the best audio post-production establishment in East Africa in 2023, and the best in Africa in 2030;
Dzifa Anagblah – Safi Label (Ghana)
TRAJECTORIES OF CHANGE
In addition to having worked on its team and its management, Safi Label was able to train 70 artisans. A clear strategy allowed Safi Label to launch an innovative platform in Ghana. The success of the platform is the result of the evolution of the commercial strategy of the project leader. From a feverish business strategy to an aggressive one, Safi has taken part in different art exhibitions, pop-up events and markets, while establishing herself on social media, in order to create a place for herself in the Ghanaian market.
Taking advantage of this gain in exposure, Safi Label was able to clarify its business model and diversify its sources of income. The acquisition of its own space during the Creative Africa program allowed Safi to offer tourists and expatriates a center to live a unique experience in Ghana. Thus, Safi Label doubled its revenues. In response to this increase in revenue, the company improved its accounting management.
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEARS TO COME
- Obtain new financing in order to increase its capacities
- Recruit new employees to strengthen the team
- Train new artisans
- Deploy on the African continent
David-Douglas Masamuna – Dl Multimédia (Democratic Republic of Congo)
TRAJECTORIES OF CHANGE
The recent notable change within Dl Multimédia is the improvement of the material, technical and logistical infrastructures allowing the company today to be even more efficient. This improvement also allows DL Multimedia to become a true laboratory of audiovisual and multimedia artistic creation and experimentation. The current changes are linked to the increase in DL Multimedia's network of trainers and coaches (tutors) to further support project leaders to be incubated. For the future, the takeoff of this new incubator will allow DL Multimédia to increase its turnover thanks to the increase in its offering for its various, increasingly varied clients.
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEARS TO COME
- Participate in the creation of 150 ICC projects each year;
- Support at least 10 talented young people without employment or resources each year;
- Raise awareness among at least 1,000 young people per year about the impact of digital technologies and sustainable development;
Khalil Arafan – Palm Grove Software (Morocco)
TRAJECTORIES OF CHANGE
During the program, Khalil was able to move forward with the development of his phased video game, Birdspottin. Palm Grove Software was able to make contact and form partnerships with giants in the gaming industry: Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Valve, etc. This allowed it in particular to have access to development kits. Currently, Palm Grove Software is focused on producing the video game, which can run on Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Xbox One.
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEARS TO COME
- Finalize the negotiation with Sony for the development kit;
- Recruit resources on the operational side (for the production of the video game);
- Finalize the port of the game to the different gaming platforms: PC, Xbox (One, Series X/S), Playstation (PS4, PS5).
