Invited on the broadcast Impact on SynpsTv, GAINDE 2000 Managing Director Ibrahima Nour Eddine Diagne, analyses the opportunities offered by digital entrepreneurship to young people. He points out, however, some challenges to overcome to gain a place in this very dynamic and attractive sector.
Digital entrepreneurship has become the panacea for many project promoters, an area of activity increasingly invested by young people. “E-entrepreneurship is a new concept that does not define something qualified. A company will invest in digital to improve its performance or the relationship with its customers. On the other side, you’ll have entrepreneurs who’ll make pure innovation,” says Mr. Diagne. According to him, there is no single way to qualify as an e-entrepreneur; we can use digital technology to transform, complete each other, or bring a new frontier. In the current situation, he believes that there are no statistics in Senegal that highlight e-entrepreneurship. « In digital entrepreneurship, e-commerce is the most dynamic sector through social networks where there is a strong vitality. Most social media accounts have a commercial purpose, and they are entrepreneurs who sometimes have no knowledge of digital. they sell normal products and just use digital as a means of marketing», reports the AG of GAINDE 2000.
There is a second wave of entrepreneurs who are better versed in this technology; they are fewer in number and are interested in more daring subjects that focus on transforming consumer standards.
On the transposition of models of entrepreneurship from outside to Senegal, Mr. Diagne argues that among these digital entrepreneurs, there are those from the diaspora who are back; they are accustomed to standards of consumption different from ours. We have other types of entrepreneurs who watch the shows and think they can adapt them to Senegal. Those who take the time to study sociology and produce a suitable product, however, it is necessary to have the means to do so,” he warns. On another note, he says the first challenge is that these digital entrepreneurs can’t assess their financial needs. «They will make you a business plan not very ambitious in terms of financing, but ambitious in terms of revenues. The other challenge, he says, is finding the funding. In terms of a solution, it recommends the establishment of a single-window that gives visibility to all sources of funding (repayable and non-repayable grants, etc.). He also calls for youth to be organized around investors. “These are initiatives that will change the situation.”
For Mr. Diagne, the world has never been so open; everyone has their smartphone and is connected.
