The Challenge:
Cybersecurity is a necessary foundation for tech-enabled growth. It underpins secure digital services that can be powerful tools to fight corruption, strengthening a country’s business environment. Cybersecurity can also support job creation, an urgent need on a continent where 60% of people are below the age of 25. The Government of Burkina Faso sought to improve the country’s cyber security through the development of internet infrastructure and a data center. Cybastion Institute of Technology, an American small business, put together a technical proposal to help the government achieve its goals. Cybastion CEO Thierry Wandji, who immigrated to the U.S. from Cameroon, combined technical expertise with cultural fluency to both identify this opportunity and develop the proposal. The Government of Burkina Faso expressed interest but wasn’t convinced that Cybastion had sufficient funding needed to implement the project.
“We don’t have significant exposure into smaller countries; quite frankly, we’re unfamiliar with them. This is something Prosper Africa was able to do very well. They were able to assist us in effectively validating what we were being told.”
John Salmon Business Development Lead, Cisco
Our Solution & Impact:
Prosper Africa introduced Wandji to U.S. Government officials in Burkina Faso and potential investors to help bridge the financing gap. As a result, Cisco Capital went on to provide much of the equipment needed to implement the project while Vista Bank provided the financing. This partnership held the key to unlocking the deal and beating our Dr. Wandji’s competitor. The U.S. Ambassador in Burkina Faso also attended the launch of the project to reaffirm the U.S. Government’s commitment to advancing two-way trade and investment between the United States and Burkina Faso.
“If we didn’t have the U.S. Ambassador, it would have seemed like the U.S. Government didn’t trust my company, or that they just weren’t interested. It was very, very important to have her there with the Prime Minister to show the U.S. was backing this.”
Thierry Wandji CEO Cybastion Institute of Technology