Bulls n Bears Entrepreneurship Zone :: Cameroon gaming startup trains new generation of business superheroes

[Bulls n Bears]

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Off a dusty path in the capital city, flanked by chickens roosting in the
grass, one of Cameroon’s most successful digital startups is capitalising on
its success to foster a new generation of entrepreneurs.

Founded in 2013, Kiro’o Games has grown to become Central Africa’s first
major video games studio. It draws on African mythology rather than
Hollywood for inspiration, as in its fantasy role-playing game “Aurion:
Legacy of the Kori-Odan”.

Today, Kiro’o’s online educational platform Rebuntu, launched in June last
year, trains young Cameroonians to navigate obstacles in real-life business.

“Our generation has the duty to bring something really new that will
finally generate growth,” said Olivier Madiba, founder and chief executive
officer of Kiro’o.

Subscribers pay 10,000 Central African francs (US$17.50) to access a
digital training manual, featuring cartoons and advice on how to find good
projects, hire the right staff and secure investor funding.

They can also seek online and in-person mentoring from Kiro’o staff.

In volatile Central Africa, better known for conflict, disease and poverty,
training locals to set up international companies may seem like mission
impossible.

Unlike neighbouring states, Cameroon has been relatively stable for
decades, but is blighted by high youth unemployment.

Many young people with professional education are forced to take up
lower-skilled jobs such as farming, driving taxis and running market stalls.

But Kiro’o digital communications head William Fankam believes there is
another way: create your own work.

“We are wall-breakers,” he said, adding that the gaming team is determined
not to let the region’s challenges halt their progress. The company has
broken down barriers in education, with its game designers managing to
acquire expertise despite a lack of specialised training in Cameroon.

And it has also overcome the obstacle of financing, Fankam said, developing
its own model to raise funds from investors. The entrepreneurs’ training
programme aims to share Kiro’o’s pioneering approach with others, he added.

That may seem counter-intuitive in a competitive environment, but in
Cameroon, there is a need to stimulate a dynamic and creative business
community, he said.

“We realised we can’t evolve alone,” he said. “We want to create an
ecosystem where we’ll have many startups with different services which would
have an impact on the Cameroonian economy, and wider in Africa.”

In just over a year, about 1,000 Cameroonians have signed up for the
training.

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has paid inscription fees for
more than 800 of them, who are looking to set up technology-focused
businesses.

Impossible dream

Kenneth Fabo, who runs JeWash, a home dry-cleaning and ironing service in
Douala and Yaounde, said the programme is helping him devise a crowdfunding
strategy to grow his business.

“They taught us a certain method that helped us prepare to fundraise
effectively,” he said, describing how he received training to ensure the
business is managed transparently and responsibly in a way that reassures
investors.

Kiro’o Games – despite its unique selling point as an African company
producing culturally relevant video games – struggled to raise money at the
start, said Madiba.

“All conventional investors, the banks, the businesses, rejected our
project,” said Madiba, whose childhood ambition was to make computer games.
“So we decided to invent our own fundraising process.”

Through a combination of tactics including YouTube videos, a campaign on
creative funding platform Kickstarter and tapping non-conventional backers
like the Cameroonian diaspora, the group went on to raise 130 million francs
($227,000) from nearly 90 international investors: “A dream that everyone
told us was impossible,” said Madiba.

Arielle Kitio Tsamo, founder of CAYSTI, an initiative that trains youth in
technology, and winner of the 2018 Norbert Segard Foundation prize for
African innovation, said her company had benefited from the Kiro’o support.

“They helped us structure our business model,” she said, adding the scheme
also connected her with government partners.

Challenges for all entrepreneurs

Challenges include a lack of basic business necessities, such as a reliable
power supply, with sub-Saharan Africa having the world’s lowest household
electrification rate.

Kiro’o’s Madiba admits dealing with power cuts and other fundamental
problems is tough, but says the group’s resilience has spurred it on to
greater things.

“When we started we were just passionate – but at a certain point we became
a symbol of something, and we didn’t anticipate this,” he said, referring to
the frequent emails he receives from Cameroonians struggling to set up a
business.

Many tell him they do not give up because Kiro’o shows that success is
possible.

“It’s not only a job – you are building a legacy,” said Madiba.—
Howwemadeitinafrica 

 



Olivier Madiba

 

 

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