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STARTUPPER OF THE YEAR BY TOTAL - [SIERRA-LEONE]
STARTUPPER OF THE YEAR BY TOTAL - [SIERRA-LEONE]
Winners revealed! Congratulations to the winners, the Top Female Entrepreneur and the Grand Regional Winners! Thanks to everyone who participated and helped make this Challenge a success! Come back to the website regularly for more information on the next Challenge.
THE CHALLENGE
EDITION 2015-2016
The first Startupper of the Year by Total Challenge, held in 2015-2016, involved 34 African countries. It aimed to encourage social entrepreneurship and help under-35-year-olds develop their concepts or start-ups less than 2 years old.
More than 11,000 applications were received; 6,642 met requirements and were examined. They covered a wide variety of areas, from health and e-business to education and more.
The 102 winners of the Startupper of the Year by Total award were provided with three types of support by Total in their country: financing, coaching and media promotion.
We are pleased to share some of their success stories:
GiftedMom Project: A mobile app to provide health information and provide emergency consultations for pregnant women and new mothers.
Founded by Alain Nteff - Cameroon
"The Challenge was a wonderful opportunity for us to get our message out and increase the number of subscribers to our service. It gave us a lot of national and international exposure. An advertising campaign strengthened our image. And thanks to the award, venture capitalists that might invest in the start-up have contacted us."
BioAbundance Project: Recycling agricultural waste by producing biomass briquettes.
Founded by Astou Ndiaye Fall - Senegal
"The Challenge came at the right time for us. It let us present our project to a jury of specialists well acquainted with the subject. We want to recycle agricultural waste and in doing so help diversify our country's energy mix. Like Total, we want to work to achieve better energy. Being named Startupper of the Year here in Senegal gave us enormous exposure. It also helped us a lot with networking, so we could meet people in the renewables sector, and gave us real credibility. The technical and managerial support will move us forward."
Fitco Technology: Table-top gas (LPG) stoves.
Founded by Owosho Opeyemi – Nigeria
"The Challenge's publicity and visibility were incredible. I'd been trying without success to get a loan from a local bank for months. Now they're finally listening to me, because they've heard and read on the Internet that we'd won an award from Total. Plus, the jury's chairwoman was also the Chair of FirstBank’s Board of Directors. She is highly respected here in Nigeria. And now she talks about us at conferences she attends! It's amazing."
Sun City Energy: Mobile solar pumps to supply small farmers with energy for their irrigation systems.
Founded by Ahmed Abbas – Egypt
"I thought the Challenge would be just another start-up contest where you only have a few minutes to pitch your idea. Actually, Total gave me time to present my product, and the jury, which was quite diverse, really delved into the project's technical and financial details, asking very specific questions. With the financing we've received, we're going to be able to finalize the prototype and bring the product to market without risking our personal savings. The enthusiasm and passion of Total's teams were fascinating to me. A mentor from the company will now coach and support us and we have a free place to work. All this will help us a lot."
THE 102 WINNERS FOR EDITION 2015-2016 ARE
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Nassim
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Islem
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Samia
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Eugénio
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Lopo
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MTume
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Blimpo Bertrand
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Kolsouro Ernest
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Benjamin
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Alain
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Olivier Guillaume
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SERGE
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Krishné
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Jacket
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Rachetée Rachel
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Caroline
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N'GUESSAN JEAN RAYMOND
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Marie Paule stephanie
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Ahmed
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Ahmed
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Amena
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Kaledawit
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Biniyam
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Henok
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Boris
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Aubin
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Edouard Claude
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Joshua
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Salma
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EUNICE
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JOSE A.
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Consuelo
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elvira
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Alpha
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Samba sory
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Camara
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Samuel
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Susan
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Kevin
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Andrianina
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Andriatina
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Rinasoa
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Stephen
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Mixon
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Benedicto Benson
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Ousmane Natha
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Korotoumou
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Ladji
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Gajadhursing
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Karen
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Jessan Kumar
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Ibrahima
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Bocar
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Papa kadé
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Titos
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Emidio
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Langa
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Collin Nico
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Peter
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John
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ABDOULKADER
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Daouda
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BOUBACAR
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Esaie
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Marina Eunice
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frederic
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Clément
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Samuel
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Benjamin
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Astou
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MEDOUNE GAYE
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Mondoukpè Gracias
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Bathabile
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Themba
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Oyena
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IDDI
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Mercy
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KRANTZ
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BANYO
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Ramadingué
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Didier
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Dodzi
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kodjo toussaint
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Kokou Mawulikplimi
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khaled
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Sofiane
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Mohamed
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Samuel
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Gloria
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ARTHUR
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Andrew
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Mwila
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Andrew
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Mkhululi
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Musaida Mercy
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Tawanda
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Omar
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Amine
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Omar
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OPEYEMI
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Uzoma
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Emeka
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