26/05/2022
Meet Yves Cedric Ntsama, the Founder of Ecolia Labs and Kidoo Geek.
He is passionate about innovation and digital technology. He has a firm conviction that Africa, through these two elements, has the ultimate means of stimulating development that is at the same time sustainable, inclusive and shared.
“I founded the incubator Ecolia Labs with friends in 2014 after a great experience lived within several ecosystems of innovative entrepreneurs in Europe, notably in Sofia (Bulgaria), Paris (France) and Liège (Belgium) where I frequented co-working spaces and FabLabs, and I was able to see how these places where Young Innovators met to share their experiences and learn together, impacted the success of their projects, and that inspired and motivated me to also create an environment to help young Cameroonians to carry out their business projects. Since 2014, we have worked to structure our ecosystem, with collaborations with organizations such as UNDP Cameroon, GIZ, the International Organization of La Francophonie, the European Union, Facebook, and other multinationals such as Orange and Bolloré Transport & Logistics who are more involved in supporting innovative entrepreneurship among young people. This has enabled the training and support of thousands of young people in the creation of their businesses, and the emergence of several other incubators which have made it possible to strengthen, improve and increase the support offer for startups in Cameroon”
In his opinion, AfriLabs has played a catalytic role in the professionalization of their support offers. Ecolia Labs joined AfriLabs in 2018 and they benefited from several facilities. They were invited to Cairo during the AfriLabs Annual Gathering where they had the opportunity to meet other Young incubators from Africa, share their challenges, their best practice, and became inspired by their shared experiences. They also benefited from other programs such as the AfriLabs Hub Learning Week and the AfriLabs Capacity Building Program which enabled them strengthen their skills and become more professional.
In his words, this principle guides him “We are guided by empathy, … and by working together, we can make our wildest childhood dreams come true.”
When he's not working, he's always working, according to him, he loves what he does so much, that he doesn't realize that he's working. He also likes traveling.
