Committed both to their host country and to Africa, where they were born, these sons and daughters of the diaspora, true agents of change, have chosen entrepreneurship to make a difference.
By the editorial staff
Read more : Portfolio : Focus on 5 profilesMohamed Nour Diarrassouba, the Pan-African dreamer
From Côte d’Ivoire to Canada, Mohamed Nour Diarrassouba is a dreamer, but far from being naive. He is particularly committed to young African entrepreneurs.
Born in Côte Ivoire, Mohamed Nour Diarrassouba left the continent at the age of 17. He is a finance graduate with dual degrees from Emlyon Business School in France and York University in Toronto.
He is also graduate of the prestigious Paris Business School and Harvard Business School. In addition to his professional activities, this young man is very engaged. At the age of 22, he joined the campaign of former Deputy Prime Minister Dominique Anglade as campaign director for the Liberal Party in the riding of Taillon. This made him one of the youngest campaign managers in Canada. But Africa is never far away. A chance meeting with Thione Niang, former head of the Young Democrats in the United States during the Barack Obama era and a social entrepreneur, gave him that opportunity. He took him on as part of his team. Together they invested in digital training for young people across the continent. « We trained more than 1,000 young people in 2022 ».
« An ambitious and hopeful message to the young diaspora »
Meanwhile, in 2018, he created MED GROUP AFRICA to help entrepreneurs set up in Africa. « Thus, we have accompanied around 100 entrepreneurs in their business plans. » He then launched MED ACADEMY in 2021, a free online training academy « for young Africans who want to develop their entrepreneurial and digital knowledge ». In 2022, with AL Nour Agency, he will guide companies in their digitalization.
A journey that fed his « African Dream », the title of his essay published last year in which he shares his analysis and hopes for the future of the continent. « In ‘My African Dream’, I tackle major issues such as food insecurity or education, propose a solid analysis and solutions for African leaders, and deliver an ambitious and hopeful message to the young diaspora.
It is in this spirit that he founded AGENDA35 in 2020, a strategic thinking platform for Africa.
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Angelle Kwemo A link between the United States and Africa
Based in the United States for the past twenty years, Cameroonian Angelle Kwemo has set up her own consultancy specializing in US-Africa relations.
A pioneer, she was quick to identify the United States as the place to develop relations with Africa through its diaspora, which is always at the heart of economic relations between the two poles. « In the United States, the diaspora can serve as a catalyst and effective facilitator of trade and business, » says the woman who founded her USA-Africa strategic consulting firm in 2012.
« The diaspora has the potential to be a game changer in US-Africa relations »
After studying business law in France, Angelle Kwemo began her career in Cameroon, where she worked for Bolloré as head of the maritime protection department. Before embarking on the US journey, she joined the United States Congress in 2005 in the Department of Foreign Affairs. Initially focusing on the Middle East, a priority of American foreign policy, she returned to Africa when the Congressional Caucus on Africa was created under President Barack Obama.
« Then I had the desire to work on Africa full time. Times were changing. African success stories were multiplying with Dangote, Elumelu… I turned to the private sector.
With a purchasing power of $1.5tn, the diaspora transfers nearly $100bn a year to the continent. « It has the potential to be a game changer in US-Africa relations, » she says. Having become an important group of voters in the US, a number of these African-Americans hold key positions in the Biden administration.
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Bertin Nahum The MedTech 4.0 revolutionary
A passionate advocate of investment in Africa, French-Beninese Bertin Nahum has won international acclaim and numerous awards for his MedTech Quantum Surgical.
It is a success story that his adopted country, France, his country of origin, Benin, and Africa in general can claim. But above all, the founding president of Quantum Surgical, a company specializing in the development of medical and surgical robotics, is a passionate advocate of the power of the African diaspora in the development of the continent. On 27 October last year, in New York, his company was awarded the Prix Galien USA 2022 in the category of medtech start-ups, considered the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research, for its Epione® robotic platform, dedicated to the curative and early treatment of abdominal cancers, particularly liver cancer.
The Franco-Beninese company makes no secret of its ambition to become a world leader. And always with an eye on Africa. At the 2nd Economic Forum of the Francophonie in Paris, he told the audience: « Above all, it is necessary to place emphasis on innovation, and when we talk about innovation, it is not necessarily technological innovation, but the development of projects in various fields that can develop African countries economically and create jobs.”
World’s 4th most revolutionary high-tech entrepreneur after Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and James Cameron
Born in Senegal to Beninese parents, he grew up in France and studied at the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Lyon. The young engineer then obtained a Master of Science in Robotics from Coventry University (UK). He began his career in large surgical robotics groups before taking the entrepreneurial step and creating his first start-up: MedTech, which was bought by the American group Zimmer Biomet for 164 million euros. In 2017, he launched Quantum Surgical, where he developed the latest innovations that have been recognized worldwide. In September 2022, the Canadian magazine Discovery Series ranked him as the world’s fourth most revolutionary high-tech entrepreneur, after Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and James Cameron.
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Sérilo Looky, the active diaspora
From entrepreneurship to media and politics, Sérilo Looky is active on all levels. All with the same goal: to promote the African diaspora in France.
A computer scientist by training, Sérilo Looky came to France in 1993 to study. Involved in several scenes, he created his first structure »PHYS Organization » for IT services in 2013 and then »Beleez Group ». At the same time, he participated in the creation of the « French Gospel Federation » in 2006, with the creation of a magazine called « Gospel News » in 2011. He became, in 2017, the diaspora coordinator within AGYP powered by MEDEF, which led to the creation of the »Alliance Diaspora » structure in 2019.
Meanwhile, determined to change things in France, in February 2022, Sérilo created a micro-political party called « Tous Cœurs de France », with which he ran in the June 2022 legislative elections in the 10th constituency of the French abroad, « without much success », he admits.
“DIASPORA HABARI », the voice of the diaspora
But Sérilo is not one to be discouraged. In January 2023, he launched « DIASPORA HABARI ». This magazine aims to be the voice of the diaspora, so that they can express what they want and speak for themselves, without having to let others speak for them, » he explains. It will, therefore, highlight the stories and journeys of its members to show that the African diaspora is present, active and involved in all aspects of society. But also that it wants to be at the forefront of passing on its history to future generations. He further noted: « The African diaspora in France is very present, but not fully highlighted. It is making progress despite many obstacles. I’m thinking, for example, of the creation of the ‘Efficient Africa Funds’, which should have been set up with the help of several bodies (AFD, Société Générale, BPI France, L’Elysée and many others…), but which is still awaiting completion five years later!”
With this magazine dedicated to the diaspora, « we want everyone who reads it to be aware of the fact that the African diaspora lives in France, in Europe and even in Africa, but also that these people can transfer this aspiration and change their way of life and their actions on a daily basis, why not… ».
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Mahi Binebine: Africa in letters
A renowned Moroccan writer and painter, Mahi Binebine is a passionate defender of African artistic creation, organizing the first Festival of African Literature in Marrakech (FLAM).
The famous Moroccan writer and painter, whose books have been translated into a dozen languages and whose paintings are included in the permanent collection of the Guggenheim in New York, had the simple idea, only a few months ago, of creating an African Book Festival in Marrakech (FALM) from February 9 to 12. It is a South-South event to discover the works of African authors from both sides of the Sahara. « We realized that we didn’t know each other… We African writers must believe in our potential, and stop looking up. Why can’t an African artist emerge without going through Paris? » he says.
“We African writers need to believe in our potential”
He arrived in the French capital with his baccalaureate in hand to study mathematics and became a teacher in a crammer. Although he had always been attracted to art, he finally opted for artistic creation, encouraged by his artist friends. In 1992, he moved to New York, where his career took an important turn. He returned to Paris in 1999, but left France soon after. « When Jean-Marie Le Pen was in the second round of the presidential elections, I felt betrayed and decided to return to Marrakech, where I was born. A « whim » that turned out to be « the best decision of my life ».
The lover of Paris settled permanently in Morocco and decided to develop his South-South relations. With his friend, the Moroccan director Nabil Ayouche, he created the cultural centers of the Ali Zaoua Foundation, of which he is co-president. These are cultural centers for underprivileged children in Morocco. « I myself was born into a poor family. Giving these children the opportunity to open up to culture is extraordinary! It is precisely at the very heart of Marrakech that renowned artists and guests to FLAM will gather around these children.
