The country’s young people are chasing their entrepreneurial dreams amid a digitalization boom powered by e-government tools developed by UNCTAD
From Africa Renewal: May 2023 / 3 May 2023
By: UNCTAD
UNCTAD |
Entrepreneurs Richard Odjrado (left) and Caludia Togbe.
Not everyone can turn the theft of a cell phone into a good experience. But then again, not everyone is Richard Odjrado. When this young Beninese entrepreneur’s phone was stolen – for a second time – he transformed calamity into ingenuity.
Mr. Odjrado, 34, has created a revolutionary anti-theft tracker for smartphones that alerts the owner if the phone is moved without their permission, enabling them to locate it if it’s lost or stolen. The tracker is also operated from a smart watch he’s designed.
He spent nearly two years researching and developing his anti-theft solution before launching his company AS World Tech, which also makes glasses and laptops.
Boom for registrations
Between 2019 and 2022 the number of young people opening new businesses in Benin skyrocketed, more than tripling from 7,416 registrations to 23,312.
“That’s growth of 212%,” says Laurent Gangbes, chief executive of the Agency for the Promotion of Investments and Exports (APIEx) in Benin, who’s behind an initiative to digitize government services and make it easier to do business in the West African nation. Read more.
