E-LEA (E-learning for Africa)

Every year hundreds of thousands of african immigrants travel clandestinely to Italy according to european news tv channels such as Euronews, Rai-2 and many others. These african immigrants travel because they face many challenges in their countries among which unemployment.

The african development bank group has published a statistic according to which Africa imports food for 30 billion dollars every year. 

Some of these foods are agri-foods that could be manufactured in Africa.

What is lacking is the knowledge to produce those agri-foods in Africa. My will is to provide knowledge to african inhabitants that will enable them to manufacture and sell those agri-foods in their countries and create good jobs for themselves. To do that, I intend to use an e-learning website through which knowledge on food processing from United States and European orgnanizations with know-how on food processing will be transfered to african unemployed men and women.

According to the french Tv channel called Euronews, in 2015 more than 200 000 african citizens travelled clandestinely to Italy through the mediterranean sea. Every year, many european tv channels report the landing of thousands of african immigrants in the italian city of Siracusa. These african immigrants travel because they are unemployed as many interviewed have said in the italian tv news channel called Rai-2.

These african citizens travel out of the continent in search of a job because their government aren't able yet to provide good jobs opportunities as many have said during their interviews.  

The solution is to provide an e-learning website dedicated to food processing which will help african inhabitants to learn how to manufacture new products which they will be able to sell with just a little investment. United States and European organizations will transfer knowledge to african citizens through courses made available on the website. Me and my partner we are selecting organizations with good know-how in food processing and we are inviting them to publish courses on my website in some food manufacturing. These courses will then be taken by culinary arts teachers who will update their knowledge and teach the courses to the rest of the population (unemployed women, men, young people). 

My solution is destined to african inhabitants mostly men, women and young futur entrepreneurs who are currently unemployed. They are among 136 million people living in central Africa. My solution will enable them to create several new small businesses and fight against unemployment which brings them to travel clandestinely out of Africa. They will learn for example how to manufacture cheese, butter and many other products which are commonly imported in Africa and with a little investment of their own they will sell those foods in their countries creating in such way new businesses and fight unemployment. With their revenue from their business activities they will be able to fulfill their needs such as their accommodation, nutrition, health insurance needs etc.   

Many products are manufactred abroad and imported in Africa and this creates unemployment in Africa. I want african inhabitants to manufacture most of these products and therefore to have good jobs. These african inhabitants live in Africa in countries which population is about 136 million people. By helping unemployed men, women and young african inhabitants to manufacture new products, they will create new jobs responding in this way to the MIT Solve challenge to create good jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities to marginalized population (men, women, young unemployed people).

Currently, some african citizens who have the will to acquire knowledge in food processing for example travel to the USA or to Europe where they take lessons in culinary arts schools. Not every african citizen has the possibility to travel because of the barriers represented by the visa application. 

Enabling all african citizens to stay in their countries and to take courses on food processing is an innovation of process as it opens the door to everyone who wants to learn a practical job without having the means to travel out of the continent. 

The main technology used in my solution to provide knowledge is an e-learning website. Organizations with good kno-how will publish courses on food processing on the website and culinary arts teachers in Africa will take those course. Once these teachers develop the required know-how to manufacture an agri-food product, they will teach the rest of the african population (men, women, young unemployed people). 

Edx.org is an e-learning website that hosts more than 2500 online courses. My website is designed to provide online courses too to its recipients.

Imported agri-food products are largely consumed in Africa. Giving the possibility to african inhabitants to produce localy these agri-foods will certainly help providing a good alternative to imported products thus creating jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for single citizens. Many small jobs will be created, revenues generated, lives improved, needs satisfied etc. In Kenya, an unemployed man learned how to manufacture cheese. He then launched a small cheese shop where the community of his town started buying cheese localy produced. The unemployed man created a good job for himself and improved his live with his revenues. I want many african citizens to learn how to manufacture more agri-food products and to have their own small shops where they will sell their foods.   

My solution doesn't currently serve anyone. It is destined to serve at least 1000 people the next year and hundreds of thousands of people in the next 5 years.

My goal is to expand my solution to the rest of the continent (54 countries). To do that I will need funds to invest in marketing and I will need to partner with culinary schools present in all the 54 countries of the continent.  

The only barrier that could limit my impact in the next year is the financial support necessary to make my food processing courses known to the african population. 

I plan to invest the revenues I will obtain from my courses fees in the marketing of the courses. I will save the 10% of the fees necessary to take a course and I will invest them on the marketing of my solution.  

3 people work full-time on my solution.

My solution needs a website and classrooms to be operational. I have a good experience on developing and administrating websites while my school partner has several classrooms and teachers in culinary arts.   

I'm partnering with a known culinary arts school in Cameroon named Cefor Hotellerie. The school will provide teachers and classrooms for my solution. The teachers are the one who will take courses on my website and then teach futur entrepreneurs on how to process food. 

• I intend to generate money from my customers who are unemployed men and women who are looking to learn a new and practical job to create their own personal business. They will have to pay a fee in order to take a course on my website. 

Customers will pay a fee to take a course. That's the only mean I will get money from.