UNESCO’s Regional Office in Dakar has published the stories of 13 innovative enterprises in Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde and Senegal.

The cases studies cover a diverse range of industries with different degrees of technological and non-technological product and process innovation. They offer a closer look to real market realities and contexts in the management of entrepreneurship and innovation in the selected countries.

“These studies provide examples, which can be used by UNESCO or interested training institutions in West Africa for training purposes in the management of innovation and enterprise development,” says Anthony Maduekwe, programme specialist in UNESCO Dakar, and responsible for science, technology and innovation.

Interesting trends

Several interesting trends emerge from the case studies, including:

• Most companies in the cases studies are self-financed by the owners. There is no financial aid from the government in the form of start-up loans. Generally access to bank finance in the form of loans and credit facilities is seen as one of the major instruments for the promotion of enterprises and entrepreneurship.
• West African main private businesses remain concentrated in the service sector: trade, transport, real estate, and construction. It is then hardly surprising to find there is a lack of investment in the locally-produced consumer goods, and this applies for example to Senegal-made wind power stations.
• Women play an important role in entrepreneurship in West Africa. Often there is no particular motivation for entrepreneurship at the beginning, apart from boredom or trying to add additional income to the family. Women are traditionally entrepreneurial in the food sector.
• The informal sector occupies an important position in African economies. The reasons to start a business as an informal activity include: ease of entry; the small scale of the activity; self-employment with the possibility to employ family workers; little capital or equipment; low skills; and the ease of circumventing state bureaucracy.
• Many African businesses are family-owned and operated along informal lines. Family networks offer bonds of trust, enable employer-employee contract fulfillment, and an honest exchange of information. Sometimes they also provide access to financing. Also kinship, ethnic groups or religion can form a social group providing the social foundation for a business. Such networks are particularly significant in West Africa because of the combination of weak formal institutions and the continued importance of kinship-ties.
• National networking or to know some influential key people (e.g. in the ministry) who can help (in particularly in the early stage of a business) seems to be important. Those type of market interventions by politicians can be helpful or damaging to entrepreneurs.
• To be member of an association is important. It helps local businesses to promote their products nationally and internationally. It fosters the knowledge diffusion amongst members, might help with finances, and provides access to government.
• There is a small but increasing market for products, which are eco-friendly (e.g. wind power), or products developed from natural ingredients (bio cosmetics). It reflects that there is a growing awareness of wealthy (or middle class) people for green thinking, the issue of sustainability, and healthy life style. The motivation for entrepreneurial innovate is often combined with the aspiration for social change and idealism for a better Africa

For a better reflection of reality

The case studies have been produced following a UNESCO workshop on managing innovation and entrepreneurship in December 2013. The aim was to strengthen the management of innovation within enterprises especially those small and medium in size, within the Sahel region. However, participants noted that the case studies presented did not reflect the specifics of the West African situation. The 13 case studies are an attempt to provide this information.

UNESCO’s work in science, technology and innovation (STI) provides countries with guidance in developing or revising their national policies in this area, with an emphasis on Africa.

Short descriptions of case studies

Senegal:

1. EolSenegal

EOLSENEGAL is a limited company (Ltd) and was founded in 2013 as a spin-off by professors of the University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar’s engineering school (Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique) research unit CIFRES. The main business purpose of the start-up is to install wind powered electrical energy stations for pump stations for fresh water supply and irrigation and electricity for households in rural areas.

2. Free Work Services

A lot of food in Africa spoils because it cannot be stored. Crops are allowed to rot in the fields, because if they cannot be used immediately are simply not harvested. As for the crops that are harvested; bacteria, fungi, rodents, and insects damage these foods. And, seasonal crops that ripen concurrently cannot be sold profitably at market, due to the overabundance of crops flooding the marketplace at the same time. The company Free Work Services, came up with the idea to process food crops by value addition and/or enhancing shelf life through preservation techniques (mostly drying).

3. Nyara

"Nyara - to enhance the beauty of black women!" This is the mission of Nyara, and a new approach to well-being for African women. This to discover, or rediscover, well-being through the treasures of Africa, whether in jewelry, bio-cosmetics, or phyto-aromatherapy. Nyara’s products are made using traditional knowledge from local African produce, and are 100% natural.

4. TK Creation

TK Création is a company for design, and off-the-shelf- and traditional-tailoring services in Dakar. The company, TK Création, is certainly one of the most famous Senegal designer-clothes companies. The ambition is to show the world how great African haute couture is in the field of fashion.

5. Valdafrique

Created in 1942 by a French pharmacist, Henri Canonne, Valdafrique over the years has become one of the major players in the market for hygiene and healthcare products in West Africa. The company prides itself on being able to produce pharmaceutical and para-pharmaceutical quality products at affordable prices. The company is most famous for Valda pastilles, a sweet pastille with iconoclastic status made of arabic gum (acacia), with a mint and eucalyptus flavour. Valdafrique has recently launched a new range of products amongst them an instant hibiscus (bissap) fruit juice powder.

Cabo Verde:

6. Hidrocultura

The Brazilian Sergio Roque, son of Cabo Verde emigrants, returned to his parent’s homeland to start an agricultural business based on hydroponics. The incentive was more of a mix of ‘family home sickness’ and idealism, to help the Cabo Verdean people, rather than seizing a business opportunity. Having studied agricultural engineering, with a strong background of hydroponics, he was able to set up a successful business for which he received national recognition.

7. Ihaba

The company IHABA was founded in 2012 by three visionary people: Olugbenga Adesida, José Brito and Francis Etchie. The company’s focus is to nurture and promote technological innovation in Africa. Its goal involves the pursuit of two things at the same time: a business development venture, and activities that can contribute to building an environment on the continent that is more conducive to innovation. The objective is to bridge issues of public policy with private innovation activity.

8. Isone

ISONE was founded in 2011 after a management buyout by Arlinda Peixoto and her business partner. It’s a good combination, because Arlinda is a system developer by training and her business partner a business administrator. The company provides systems administration solutions to the government and private companies. The company’s main products are system development software systems for CCTV surveillance, access control, queuing management, and document management. There are also innovative off-the-shelf products, which are very recent.

9. Prime

Paulo Noel Martins founded Prime Consulting in 2008 at a time when there was no other private IT competitor company in the Cabo Verde. Its first project was to develop a system for the elections in Cape Verdes in 2008. This was part of the publicly funded e-government initiative. Prime Consulting’s solution was a big success. It included video conferencing, which at the time was unheard of. At that time his firm employed about 60 people. But business has dried up since. Today he employs around 20 people full-time, including teams abroad.

Burkina Faso

10. FACA

The development of drugs for Africa is a big challenge for several reasons: opportunity, time consuming research, finance, marketing, government authorizations, distribution, etc. Moreover, Africa is known to have traditional practitioners, commonly known as allopathic medicine. Yet, they have an undeniable knowledge of plants and their active healing ingredients. This case describes the development of the FACA in Burkina Faso and raises issues of development, enhancement of innovation as well as ethical issues.

11. Fonio

Process innovation is extremely important and can help to increase the output of agricultural production. Process innovations are at the heart of industrial development as the case of Fonio showcase. The technological design process is explained and highlights the importance of networking and collaboration (local and international), sustainability, and the use of innovative technical equipment.

12. Foyer amélioré

The case of the evolution of the stove in Burkina Faso (and more broadly in the Sahel region) is very interesting because it allows highlighting two essential elements. Firstly, innovations can be divers: using the same technology for a variety of products and uses. Secondly, the success of an innovation is highly dependent on mechanisms for the diffusion of this innovation. In the case of improved stove we demonstrate that political impetus but also international projects, the involvement of researchers, and more recently the influence of artists play an important role.

13. Pompe à pédale

Innovation often comes from individual inventors. The case shows how an individual inventor interacts with different stakeholders during the innovation process. It demonstrates the challenges faced by individual inventors in the area of production and marketing.