In February 2022, Benin hosted the Inspiration Tour for the first time as part of SusTech4Africa. A program, developed by Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO), to encourage start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs with African roots to be sustainable. Among the 14 projects that participated, the drive, innovative ideas and sense of entrepreneurship immediately stood out. The OVO team was reinforced by a team of volunteers who joined the Inspiration Tour as coaches. With the support of those volunteers, the Benin projects were given the opportunity to develop their business model and entrepreneurial skills during the Boostcamp.
After the successful first edition, OVO is preparing a second edition, which will take place from January 29 to February 5, 2023. Each registered project will be assigned a Belgian and a Benin coach. During the Boostcamp, our coaches will encourage participants to strengthen their technical and managerial competencies.
In continuation of the Boostcamp, each participating company receives individual online coaching. The objective of the coaching sessions is for each project to develop a financial plan and business plan. OVO funds all projects that are profitable and meet a minimum set of conditions. The OVO funding is issued in the form of a loan to be repaid over 1 to 5 years. This financing, which varies between EUR 5,000 and EUR 50,000, is provided by some 40 business angels and by the OVO Acceleration Fund.