The Fund for Internet Research and Education – FIRE Africa – is Africa’s leading Grants and Awards programme designed to encourage, support and develop innovative online solutions to Africa’s education, information, infrastructure and communication needs.
Case Study: CarDispo is a web and mobile platform that connects taxi drivers to users in the cities of Yaounde and Douala in Cameroon.
Organization: Novazen
Country: Cameroon,
Category: E-Development, FIRE Africa Grant Winner 2014
Making it Happen
Novazen received US$ 10,000 Grant in 2014. This money was used to recruit developers to develop the CarDispo platform and to purchase the equipment required to complete the project (servers and GPS kit). Part of the prize money was also used to produce communications tools (brochures, audio and video clips) to help build strong partnerships with the two major transport unions and to establish a relationship between CarDispo and the Ministry of Transportation of Cameroon. "Thanks to the Project Management (Djibouti 2014) and Marketing (Tunisia 2015) workshops that were facilitated by FIRE Africa, we have aslo acquired the necessary knowledge to ensure the smooth running of our project both in terms of management as well as sales," says Bruno Souop Soufo, CarDispo project leader. "Simply put, FIRE Africa has helped us develop from an idea into a company of which we are extremely proud."
Update 2015
CarDispo is now a fully-fledged company with four employees and a database of more than 100 drivers. It serves over 100 clients each month. Several partnerships have been developed with the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure of Cameroon, travel agencies and town halls. Currently, the team is working on the diversification of service offerings based on new needs encountered in the field to better serve users and increase turnover. Investors are currently interested in the project and agreements are being negotiated. The team is exploring the possibility of deploying CarDispo in Gabon with the support of a local partner.
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More about FIRE Africa
FIRE Africa provides funds for projects, initiatives, tools and platforms that harness the power of the Internet to empower the local and regional community to solve the region’s unique online communications problems. Since we ran our pilot project in 2007 to identify innovative ICT solutions to the challenges faced by local communities, FIRE Africa has grown into a fully-fledged programme that has helped over 30 initiatives in 16 countries over the last eight years.
Calling all African innovators and Entrepreneuers
Have you got a great idea? Does it use ICT to solve an issue in your community? If your ideas are aligned with one of our funding categories, you could have the chance to win a FIRE Africa Award or receive a FIRE Africa Grant.
Calling all Potential Sponsors and Partners
FIRE Africa is actively seeking organisations and individuals to support Internet-based innovation in Africa. We have a wide range of sponsorship and partnership packages available and can tailor packages according to your needs. In addition to funding, FIRE Africa’s partners and sponsors offer their experiences, advice and regional insight so we are constantly aware of innovation initiatives taking place out in the community.
