There was excitement around digital technology from the first day of the FrancoTech Show, which took place on October 3 and 4 at Station F in Paris. Between the stroll of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, in the presence of Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie, and Xavier NIEL, founder of Station F, in parallel with the Francophonie summit; through panels, thematic workshops, B2B meetings, and an exhibition space, Station F demonstrated the current range of economic and technological issues. The Congolese delegation led a workshop where it was a question of drawing up an inventory of Tech in the Republic of Congo.
The programming of the FrancoTech initiators made it possible to discuss and outline contributions to all themes: whether it is artificial intelligence, a field through which to explore the opportunities and challenges related to the development of digital technology, with data security and the integration of AI in businesses and the medical world of the French-speaking world; or whether it is rather the energy transition, a field where discussions on solutions and initiatives aimed at accelerating the energy transition in French-speaking countries must be encouraged; without forgetting human capital, logistics in relation to food security, including financing innovation.
For the Republic of Congo, a Congo numérique conference, initiated by the Club Congo France Numérique and the Osiane platform, was held at midday in the “Junior” room, on the first floor of Station F of the FrancoTech Show. During this workshop entitled “The unsuspected opportunities of Congolese Tech”, Luc Missidimbazi, head of the Congo numérique delegation, promoter of the Osiane Tech Show, immediately set the scene in support of a film in anticipation of the Osiane Show 2025.
The panelists, through their contributions, expressed the ambition to increase cooperation and collaboration between Congolese and French-speaking actors to create, through technology, innovation and the economy, economic development partnerships. In support of their remarks, innovative solutions were discussed, supported by a diverse representation of Congolese actors, composed of business leaders, startups and non-profit organizations from the most dynamic organizations in Congo. At this meeting in front of the Tech and innovative community of the Francophonie, they presented to the decision-makers of French-speaking Tech the Congolese achievements in digital and Tech. It was also an opportunity to discuss business opportunities.
In addition, this gave rise to various stories on the evolution of Tech in the Republic of Congo. With figures to support his argument, Pierre Roy Constantin, from the Vivendi Africa Group (GvA), indicated that the Republic of Congo is a digital country. According to the statistics in his possession, the country has more than 400,000 subscriber households. For Francis Seck, it is time to expand the implementation of the World Bank Project entitled Project for Acceleration and Digital Transformation, abbreviated as PATN, dedicated to the connectivity of rural areas. Other testimonies focused on numerous actions to be carried out such as the digitalization of the Council of Ministers and the optimization of business processes.
Regarding the startups already operational, the six representatives briefly presented their digital experiences. Omer Crépin Nguimbi Nsihou, General Manager of Infracom Congo and DRC, recalled that in the Republic of Congo, to date, 50,000 connections have already been made by his organization. To close this workshop, the NGO Pratic signed a memorandum of understanding with the Center of Excellence in Energy Efficiency -C3EQuebec- known for lithium battery storage. The opportunity for the representatives of the Deloitte firm to announce a partnership agreement also with the NGO Pratic to accelerate the commercialization of good practices.
In support of Congolese startups, Michel Djombo, president of Unicongo, expressed the firm desire of Congolese employers to support them and facilitate the integration of gender into the Congolese digital ecosystem.
