Trip to Togo - Reflections on AYIF Regional 2024

Reflections on Ayif Regional 2024, TogoMall, TogoBAN, the pitch competition and Diaspora House

Author

Joe Kinvi
August 04, 2024

Together with the Togolese Delegation at AYIF Regional 2024

This newsletter usually covers monthly events in my life, but I wanted to dedicate a special edition to my trip to Togo, my birth country, of which I’m proud. I hope you enjoy reading it. It covers the forum I attended, Togomall, and TogoBAN. There is also a little gem of a project I’ve been working on at the end of this newsletter. Check it out 😉 

I was honoured to attend the Africa Youth Impact Forum (AYIF) Regional 2024, a prominent event focused on fostering a culture of entrepreneurship among the youth. This forum featured founders from Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—all French-speaking countries.

The event commenced on Thursday at Eco Village [0], but I could not attend the opening day due to a delayed flight. On Friday morning, the first official day of the forum, large queues formed at the entrance of the CETEF event centre, conveniently located just a five-minute drive from LFW International Airport.

A Togolese fintech startup, Miapay [1], led by Tav Denkey Jr. [2], efficiently managed the check-in process and distribution of travel stipends to attendees. Thanks to the pre-registration and QR code system, the process was smooth and swift. Miapay was also responsible for distributing stipend funds to attendees, a process that happened through his app. I’m an investor in Miapay through HoaQ.

The forum opened with welcome remarks from Mrs. Ige [3], founder and executive director of Afrika Nunya [4]. It was followed by a remarkable speech from the former Vice President of Nigeria, His Excellency Professor Yemi Osinbajo [5]. He highlighted the significance of local innovation and shared examples of African unicorns emerging from Nigeria and Egypt. His speech underscored the importance of nurturing local talent to drive continental and global growth.

Throughout the first day, various workshops covered topics from company building to fundraising. A notable feature of the forum was a pitch competition, where we received and reviewed around 50 one-minute pitches from attendees. We shortlisted 12 startups for the next day's pitch session, offering them a workshop to refine their presentations and practice live. I cover more about the pitch competition below.

Some key observations from the pitch reviews include:

  • Approximately 90% of the founders are focused on the agricultural sector.

  • Many are targeting their local markets without considering international expansion.

  • Many have built or are building te businesses out of necessity. 

The organisers and the guests

While I appreciated learning about the entrepreneurs' projects, I noticed a significant gap in the use of technology. Many businesses were not leveraging digital channels for sales, distribution, payments, or reporting. In most cases, no single use of technology can be improved significantly. This presents a critical area for development in the near future, and many African governments need to invest more resources in enabling more businesses. Perhaps I’ve lived in a bubble long enough to assume that everything requires technology. Nevertheless, I believe there is room for many organisations to fill this gap, but the underlying infrastructure work needs to commence with governments. Granted, so much work has been done in countries like Togo. Our internet is very reliable; we have mobile money services such as T-Money and Flooz money, but digital adoption didn’t appear to be happening at scale.

On Saturday, I delivered a detailed presentation on successful fundraising, though we only covered half of the slides due to numerous questions, mostly about financing options. All the questions had to do with bank engagements and how to access financing from the bank. The companies didn’t know that so many other options were available. To get to the bottom of this, I asked the audience if they knew what angle investing was. Surprisingly, less than 5% of the approximately 100 attendees knew what an angel investor was, highlighting the nascent state of angel investing in Africa. 

Delivering a workshop at AYIF Regional 2024

Iyin Aboyeji [6] conducted a Q&A with entrepreneurs and a pitch practice session. Maryann [7] delivered an excellent masterclass on entrepreneurial success, addressing growth mindset, collaboration, adaptability, perseverance, storytelling, and collaboration.

During on of the sessions, a participant raised concerns about idea theft by wealthier individuals. She received valuable feedback on collaborating with such individuals instead of viewing them as competitors.

Other attendees and speakers were:

  • Joram Mwinamo [8], founder and CEO of SNDBX

  • Farouk Khailann [9], founder and CEO of Premium Africa Holdings

  • Jessica Gaba [10], Venture Support for the Benin Government

Following Iyin’s second session, the founders prepared to pitch and win the prizes in-store. Tav, Maryann, Iyin and I judged the contestants. The top three winners were selected based on their ability to deliver clear, concise, and engaging pitches. The winners were:

  • Delices D’Afrique - Atieke producer and exporter from Burkina Faso

  • Ecozem - a solar-powered three-wheelers company from Benin 

  • Kidole - an advertising platform for companies in Togo with plans to expand to Ivory Coast. 

Cash prizes

  • Winner: 3M FCFA ($4,500)

  • 1st Runner-Up: 1.5M FCFA ($2,500)

  • 2nd Runner-Up: 500K FCFA ($800)

Additionally, the winner received:

  • Investor readiness program

  • Introduction to international investors

  • Three months of co-working space

  • Free flights courtesy of Asky

  • Free publicity through a newspaper feature

All three winners received support for structural and entrepreneurial capacity through participation in the TEVI acceleration program, which includes:

  • Compliance with legal, fiscal, financial regulations, and accounting support

  • Implementation of governance structures

  • Three months of coaching with our team

The winners of the pitch competition

As part of the program, we also visited Togo Mall [11], a hub for locally made products in the same complex, just five minutes from the airport. I highly recommend visiting if you find yourself in Lomé with some time before your flight.

Towards the end of the final day, under the leadership of Mme Ige, we presented TogoBAN, the first angel network from Togo, focused on supporting tech-enabled businesses that have the vision to expand outside of the country. While we didn’t plan to announce it on the day, showcasing an example of an alternative available for the entrepreneurs in the room was important. Togoban has 10 members (including me) who have committed 1,000,000 FCFA to invest in the next 12 months. 

I left Lomé very encouraged by the level of engagement we received from participants and how enthusiastic every participant was. While my trip was brief, I left very fulfilled and hopeful for the region and Togo.

I cannot close this newsletter without sharing more about our latest real estate syndicate, Diaspora House. Check out the memo and join the WhatsApp group because we plan to acquire our first asset in September 2024.

Did I miss anything? Anything you think I should cover? Drop me an email by replying to this newsletter

References

[1] Miapay - miagroup.co

[4] Afrika Nunya - https://afrikanunya.org/