A digital adventure from north to south of Benin
There are no more secrets on TikTok, Canva, Facebook, Whatsapp Business, and Google My Business. The BeniBiz training program helped them build a digital marketing culture and deepen their understanding of the economic opportunities of the web.
A total of 676 beneficiaries (mainly promoters of agro-industrial micro-enterprises) acquired strategic and practical skills in digital marketing.
One of the trainers, Melvin Cumañon, traveled throughout northern Benin to train rural entrepreneurs.
“We know that it is not easy to grow a business if you live far from the center of Cotonou. But thanks to the web, social networks and artificial intelligence tools, entrepreneurs can “We now have access to tremendous growth opportunities,” she said. “Borders are abolished, giving you the chance to develop your brand, visibility and customer base.”
This program, which combines training and coaching sessions, demonstrated that entrepreneurship in Benin is a women's art. In fact, her 56% of participants were women, which comes as no surprise to Melvin.
“Women in Benin are very active in buying, selling and processing agricultural products. I am happy that this type of training can benefit a mixed community of entrepreneurs who are driven by the desire to make their projects successful. think.”
Technoserve Benin organized this training as part of the BeniBiz project, funded by the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Benin. To increase the scope and pool of resources, this training course was also supported by his NTF V FastTrackTech project.
Make digital a stepping stone to success
Just three months after the training course, 522 beneficiaries, including 290 women, saw the first results. Some entrepreneurs have already gained new customers and increased sales after listing their companies on Google My Business.
For Fernando Sessou, founder of the startup English for Busy People, the training broadened his horizons.
“Before the training, I barely looked at Facebook. Now I can pinpoint customer profiles and create a well-structured editorial strategy,” he said. “Together with our team, we formalized our editorial direction and publication schedule. We focus on useful content that entertains web users and makes their daily lives easier. Since then, our engagement rate has clearly increased. did.”
More traffic to your site, more subscribers to your page, and more engaged users. This is what Fernando has achieved by taking care of his content marketing and branding his image. The young business owner, who knows how to use Canva, is currently trying his hand at TikTok and plans to release a series of videos as early as 2024.
“For me, it's all about reaching my customers where they are. This training gave me the means to take control of digital tools to get me closer to my goals.”
About the project
The Dutch Trust Fund V (NTF) program (from July 2021 to June 2025) is based on a partnership between the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Trade Center. NTF V supports small and medium-sized enterprises in the digital technology and agribusiness sectors in Benin, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Uganda. The goal is to contribute to the comprehensive and sustainable transformation of agri-food systems partly through digital solutions, improve the international competitiveness of local technology start-ups and support the implementation of export strategies of IT&BPO companies. That's it.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Trade Center.
