For the final interview in its series at the Bridge Africa Summit in Morocco, AFRIK 21 spoke to Olivier Bassock. The most optimistic thirty-something of his generation has not yet given up on education, digital technology and urban development in Africa.
For the final interview in its series at the Bridge Africa Summit in Morocco, AFRIK 21 spoke to Olivier Bassock. The most optimistic thirty-something of his generation has not yet given up on education, digital technology and urban development in Africa.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi: The Bridge Africa Summit organised by Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) came to a close on 8 May 2024. You were one of the 140 young Africans selected. Tell us about this adventure and your expectations.
Olivier Bassock: Bridge Africa is an innovative event, a first for Africa. It’s a platform that aims to bring together today’s leaders who are providing solutions that are transforming Africa in a number of strategic sectors. My expectations were simply to be able to meet these people, to be able to exchange ideas, to be able to work together to create a new vision that can drive the social, climatic, environmental and economic development of our continent. So at the end of these days of exchange, I’m fully satisfied, not least because I’ve been able to strengthen the collaborations I already had with some of the people I met.
Morocco has become a second home for you over the last ten years. Why did you choose to settle there rather than in a European country?
Contrary to the usual rhetoric we hear, I firmly believe that Africa is a continent that has a lot of opportunities, that really offers us a wide field of action. I chose Morocco because this kingdom demonstrates that Africa can be developed by Africans. My background is quite atypical and represents the vision of the Bridge Africa programme. I obtained a master’s degree in Computer Science and Information Systems in 2015 and was then recruited by an international organisation where I worked on technology issues within local authorities before setting up my own company in 2017.
You’re probably talking about the Rabat-based organisation United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG-Africa). Is that correct?
Yes, that’s right. It was from there that I launched “L’entrepreneuse”, which aims to bring together innovative ideas from young people. I launched my start-up Buntou, which develops an application to secure remote sales, purchases and investment transactions; a kind of artificial intelligence (AI) in digital payment. But beyond all these initiatives, the hat I wear best is that of a distributive social entrepreneur, someone whose mission is to respond to society’s problems.
As you know, the majority of African countries today are navigating between youth unemployment, the risk of food insecurity and climatic hazards. You believe that educating adolescents and young people is the key to economic and environmental resilience. Why do you think this is?
I realised very early on that the first battleground is education. For me, we can do anything, but the first weapon we can use today to change the world, to change the continent, to have an impact on society, is education. That’s why in 2019 I’ve decided to help strengthen the education system by respecting what our governments are already doing, in particular through the Schule-Z Africa programme. It is operational in three countries (Cameroon, Morocco and Benin).
In concrete terms, we go into secondary schools to introduce young people to leadership, entrepreneurship, technology and ecological responsibility. As part of this, we often organise international competitions here in Morocco to enable high school students from different countries to come and showcase their potential, and share their differences and similarities.
How can digital technology help develop sustainable cities on the continent?
Your question comes at just the right time and is at the heart of the discussions we are having with young people on how to tackle the issues they face in their communities. I’m sure you’re aware that Africa is undergoing rapid urbanisation, which is bringing with it new challenges. And today, technology is enabling us to develop solutions that will enable people to reduce their electricity consumption and provide them with new green energy solutions.
Cities that focus on digital technology could also create new jobs, keep people busy or reintegrate people who have not been able to go far in their studies (through short, practical training courses), people who were on the margins of society. From an environmental point of view, technology is already helping to combat global warming and environmental pollution, and to reduce electricity consumption with green solutions that are extremely interesting in terms of regional adaptation. So it’s important to take this into account in urban planning and governance.
Today, everything is ‘smart’. We have a new generation in Africa that is hyper-connected. But a connected generation living in a disconnected world or in a disconnected community is a generation that will be lost. So it’s important today to offer these young people tools that work with their aspirations so that they can flourish.
How can the countries of Central Africa, particularly your native Cameroon, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030?
We need to fund social structures as a priority, get them involved, bring them to the negotiating table so that their pleas are heard and they can participate in decision-making. Every time decisions are taken without our presence, they will be against us. This is how we will gradually achieve the SDGs. At the political level, the will is there. Cameroon has adopted a National Development Strategy to 2030 (SND30). For our part (his company, editor’s note), our ambition is to reach one million young people before that deadline. At the moment, we’ve already reached almost 40,000 people.
What would be your priorities if you were at the head of an African city?
Immediately, I’m thinking of an economically stable city where all city dwellers can have a decent job, where everyone can have access to a stable job, where access to basic services, especially electricity, is not a lottery (referring to electrical load shedding, editor’s note), because we have enough natural resources to meet our basic needs. So eating enough to eat and getting an education shouldn’t be the hardest things to do. So I dream of a city where concrete results go beyond words and promises.
Interview by Benoit-Ivan Wansi,back from Morocco
