Cameroon Growing In Start-up Invention

The likes of Michael Boyo abound in the University Town of Buea with proven potentials in money making ideas.

The dynamism of Cameroonians in the creation of ICT start-ups is evident with platforms in the clouds. Buea, the regional capital of the South West Region, happens to be safe haven for inventors in the sector with more than eight start-ups on the market.

Their platforms and services are offered as solutions to current problems observed in society. One man who has taken the bull by the horns in the ICT sector in Buea is Michael Boyo who crafted, “MTN Mobile Money” start-up and the community of the University of Buea (UB) has been using it since 2013. Boyo and his 10 engineers, framed as the Go-group, based at Malingo Street-Buea, introduced the MTN Mobile Money device which is currently used by some 20,000 students of UB.

As confirmed by the university authorities the device has stopped queues, saved time and checked errors in the payment of fees and the registration of courses. Even more to it is the fact that the students from far away can cross-check their results using the Go-student start-up.

It is evident now that the students in their numbers need less and less of any interface when going about their academic activities. The Go-group is still planning more at their laboratory. But their uphill task now is just to convince Cameroonians to adhere to their creation, believe in them and save the double-fold as compared to platforms bought from foreign firms.

The advantages consuming local made software are enormous. In terms of cost, money is saved by the buyers as the local producers of software are still finding a market and can offer cheaper to make them known. Second, the local manufacturers of software are readily available in case they are urgently needed to improve, debug or update software on the spot.

Buea As Leading Technological City

A report by Dzekashu Mac Viban on the social media presented some eight start-ups as an IT revolution going on in Buea. They include the Agro-Hub striving to break the cycle of poverty by providing information on markets for their produce. The “Bisou” which is an experimental illumination and sound device, provides an innovative approach to street safety. The “Fee Perfect” is the brainchild of Fritz Ekwoge, a Polytechnique graduate. Ekwoge then developed an app called “Find Me”, in 2011, which is a smart mob...