[Startup Interview] Angele Messa, Founder, Kamerbigbang.com, Cameroon
Angele Messa runs Kamerbigbang.com an online business in Cameroon that works with the youth by equipping them with practical skills necessary to gain quality education which then facilitates their inclusion into the job market or transforms them into job creators.
Her target is to change the African youth unemployment narrative by allowing the young people to tap into the power of technology to create jobs for the continent.
Tell us a bit about your company
Kamerbigbang.com is an online platform which seeks to bring Cameroonian youths to the spotlight by connecting them to entrepreneurs and opportunities. For several years, many youths have been depending on the government for jobs; meanwhile the public service is not able to employ 1/5th of its job seekers. Kamerbigbang.com, sees quality education as a means to transform these youths from job seekers into job creators through entrepreneurship.
At kamerBigBang, we believe that everybody is born intelligent but many people need assistance to develop their full potential.
That is why our education support services (professional translation to and from French, English, Spanish and Chinese and ghost writing), training programs (business start-up instruction, English classes and home tutoring) and coaching services (orientation on choosing a field of study at University that goes in line with career objectives) and Application development for education are geared towards reducing academic failure and facilitating the insertion of recent graduates, job seekers, women and youths into the professional milieu.
We’ve recently developed a search engine which automatically searches the web to pick up and publish on our website new job opportunities, scholarships, public exams and projects for which Cameroonian youths are eligible. This is to make sure that youths don’t miss up on any opportunity.
Where is the company located?
We are located in Yaounde, Cameroun. However, our company is an online based platform Orders and payments are done online. It’s possible to benefit from our services right from the comfort of your room
When was it founded and by who?
I founded kamerbigbang.com in 2016 assisted by a friend and web developer.
How is the company funded?
We make profit by selling our services to our target for more than its cost of production. We are currently working on raising funds in order to develop all aspects of the company.
What are your company’s Unique Selling Points?
Kamerbigbang.com is a new concept in Cameroon which offers competence based short courses using the internet and its social media platforms to enable recent graduates and job seekers build marketable skills and facilitate their insertion into the job market.
Our main selling point is online, through our website. Customers can always place their orders online and we have a customer care which responds to clients every 5 hours at most.
How has the market responded to your services?
When we first started, we received mixed feedback from our audience. While some believed our services were necessary to curb poverty in Cameroon and give youths the opportunity to be self-employed, a few others believed our services aimed at challenging the status quo to put an end to formal education. We had to use time and strategies to sell out our vision.
Everybody knows that education curricular is more of theory than practise. This has made it difficult for youths to join the job market immediately after their studies and most of them go unemployed given the public service’ inability to employ everybody. Our programmes are therefore complimentary to formal education because it equips the recent graduate of job seeker with practical tools necessary to either enter the job market or to become a job creator.
Our goal is to help youths transform their skills into businesses using internet tools. However, many of these youths are not computer literate. We are looking at ways of filling this gap because if all youth become computer literate, there will be a boom in our sector
Who are your clients?
Our services target a wide-range of audience: Pre-schoolers, recent graduates, single mothers, working students, job seekers, and academic institutions.
What are the ambitions of the company going forward?
Kamerbigbang.com’s vision is to use the internet to curb academic and career failure by equipping youth with practical skills necessary to gain quality education which will either facilitate their inclusion into the job market or transform them into job creators.
A bulk of the African population is made up of youth and the growth of the continent is on the youth whether educated or non-educated. Whether we want it or not, every person has a specific skill which if given the real assistance or mentorship could be relevant to the development of the continent.
We’re targeting the Central African region in the next five years. In this light, any youth from across the world will be able to benefit from our services despite their geographical location.
What does your company need to grow and prosper?
In order to grow our business or take it to the next level, we need assistance to better implement our marketing plan so as to attract new customers by extending our market reach, tech partners and investors who will put in the necessary human, material and financial resources needed for the company’s growth.
What is the latest news?
Kamerbigbang.com is currently building an online CV generator available for free to all its users. We’ve discovered that many of our audience lack skills in building CVs or writing cover letters. This doesn’t make them incompetent.
We’ve seen many great candidates lose jobs and other opportunities because of these lapses which don’t make them less intelligent than other applicants. Our CV generator will be available for free to all our registered users.
Also read:
[Startup Interview] Tope Hassan, Founder, ISOKO Africa, Nigeria
[Startup Interview] Hope Okoronkwo, Founder, L’insoumis Ghana
[Startup Interview] Axel Peyriere, Co-founder, AfricarGroup
[Startup Interview] Brenda Achere, Chief Engagement Officer, Africa, MEDxCare
[Startup Interview] Damian Avar, Founder, DoctorsHub, Nigeria
Africa Business Communities is conducting a series of interviews with startup businesses in Africa.
Are you a startup in Africa and interested in an interview? Great! Send an e-mail to bas@africabusinesscommunities.com
