Economic model and funding search on offer for the beneficiaries of the Citizen Connections 2 project

On the agenda: choosing your economic model, mobilising your ecosystem, promoting gender equality, finding funding, and much more, all in the hope of ensuring that the initiatives develop towards their objectives and become viable. The sessions, run by the Makesense Africa, teams, also offered the project owners an opportunity to benefit from inspiring contributions from various stakeholders in the Togolese civic tech network and the beneficiaries from the first wave.

This training week culminated in a judging session to award start-up assistance in which the panel showed great interest in the projects presented and interacted continuously with the beneficiaries. The panel was composed of Thierry Vallat, Chairman and Managing Director of CFI; Émilie Laot-Yahou, CFI Deputy Director for Africa; Nelly Agoro, from the Cultural Action and Cooperation Department of the French Embassy to Togo; Tatiana Maniez, project manager for the social sectors and CSOs at the AFD branch in Lomé, and Richard Komlan Folly, a data scientist.

During the formal yet friendly session, the 22 project owners received a certificate from Thierry Vallat confirming the provision of assistance to launch their initiatives, ranging from 4000 to 7000 euros.

“We spoke about non-violent communication, a very important issue. [...] We took part in exercises in which we had to convey a message in a way that created a peaceful atmosphere [...] This is knowledge that I intend to put into use in my day-to-day life, and when I need to talk to sponsors or people interested in my project,”
Nelly Kighana, project owner (Democratic Republic of the Congo)