Rodrigue FouaFou is the CEO and one of the global visionaries behind HartNamtemah Inc. a Startup Consulting and investment firm based out of Toronto, Canada which specializes in vetting, mentoring, investing and strategic planning for African Startups.
HartNamtemah does not only invest in people from a financial perspective but also believes in investing in relationships by getting to know the person behind the idea and vision. Our philosophy is that through the mentorship and development of strong leaders and entrepreneurs, combined with sharing our network of connections, we can shed light on the amazing continent that is, Africa. Africa is a region on the move and we must allow it to shine. Over the last six years, we have invested close to $675K USD and mentored over 20 + entrepreneurs
Rodrigue, affectionately addressed by his colleagues as Rod, has spoken at multiple conferences worldwide on the topic of investing in Africa; including the Annual African Angel Investment Summit in Cape Town- South Africa, the NACO World Angel Investment Summit where he represented Africa and at the Africa Trade and Investment Speaker (ATIGS) in DC, ADIC (Africa Development and Investment Conference) in Zurich and on schedule Africa Financial Services Investment Conference ( AFSIC) in London 2019
A successful software engineer. Rod’s heart lies helping other entrepreneurs and Startups which is evident in his work as a mentor at the World Bank’s XL Africa a program that works to bridge the gap between African entrepreneurs and worldwide investors. And his work continues to embody leadership by providing support and funding for promising African Entrepreneurs.
Co-Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of Africa Angels Alliance (AAA), an upcoming angel investors’ network based in North America targeting African Startups, set to launch in February 2019.
Partner and Chief Operating Officer at OASIS Africa Innovation, The Leading Incubator and Accelerator for African Startups.
Partner and Chief Operating Officer at CBBC: Cameroon Blockchain Business Council
HartNamtemah in collaboration with AAA would be hosting the first Africa Startups Summit in Toronto in summer 2019.
For more on Rod follow AfricaConnects on all major social media outlets.
HOW CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ORGANIZATION?
OASIS Africa Innovation, The Leading Incubator and Accelerator for African Startups specializing in Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the two key dimensions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0)
CBBC (Cameroon Blockchain Business Council), The Cameroon Blockchain Business Council (CBBC) brings together enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, business leaders and leading businesses to highlight the latest innovations and advances in Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology.
HartNamtemah Inc. (HN) , To cultivate and connect visionary Entrepreneurs of tomorrow to our network of Leaders and Experts that can help them evolve and grow their ventures through mentorship and funding. At HartNamtemah, everything we do is to build strong leadership and cooperation to ultimately create an inclusive continent for all.
Africa Angels Alliance (AAA), Our vision is to make investing in Africa not only accessible to everyone, but also advance the African Market as THE next Global Macro investment asset class.
DIAPORAFORCHANGE Initiatives
WHAT IS THE VISION FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS?
To unlock Africa’s true potential with bigger projects (via Infrastructures, Connectivity etc….) HN expects to launch a VC Fund in 3 years.
WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE WITHIN THE DIASPORA?
Quite recently at the ADIC 2018 (Africa Development Investment Convention) Event, I had the pleasure to speak on “How to harness the investment potential of Diaspora for Africa’s economic future?”. I got the opportunity to share my story; the daily hustler and my strong conviction of the great future of our great Continent. I hosted a symposium called, #diasporachatwithrod with African Diaspora and Africa Student in Zurich. At the symposium, there was a lot of enthusiasm, passion and motivation to return home and do business there. Thankfully, I kept in contact with a number of those students, many of which are now a member of the Diaspora Movement that we are empowering.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU FACE WITH BUSINESSES AND ENTREPRENEURS?
Well, I will talk about my experience, and how it all began. I started an online cooking video channel which then became one of the most popular Cooking website in the world within a period of 5 years. Utilizing the power tools of social media search engines via PR, Online Marketing, SEO, Google Campaign, etc. … to become number 1 on Google Search on the keywords “Cooking Recipe Video” . We held this top spot for several months.
Then ranked #4 worldwide (behind Food Network) in online popularity in the food vertical. Source (from The New Yorker) : http://bit.ly/23h0IYY
WHAT IS YOUR NETWORKING PHILOSOPHY?
Focus on Quality not Quantity.
Target Networking
Prior to any networking event, read much more about guests/panel/organizer/people attending. Ready to conduct an interesting conversation with them.
Always follow up less than 24h after our meeting.
Always ask of myself - What am I offering to bring value to other people?
On a regular basis checkup randomly on at least one person in my network.
With more than 40,000 followers on all social network channels, my goal is to leverage that equity into becoming the most connected African in the world in at least 10 years time frame. #AfricanInfluencers.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE AT A MANYATTA EVENT
My first experience with Manyatta was in Ottawa in 2015. My good friend Bonito referred me to the group and I was impressed and truly enjoyed meeting like-minded people from our community.
I look forward to attending many more Manyatta networking events here in Toronto and I am very excited to see what the future has in store.
WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU ONLINE?
Linkedin: http://bit.ly/1qzPaSj
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RodrigueFouafou
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africaconnects
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodrigue.fouafou
Angel Co: https://angel.co/africaconnects
Personal website: RodrigueFouafou.com
Biz Websites:
CBBC.cm
OASIS.cm
Hartanamtemah.com
AfricaAngelsAlliance.com