Chad’s Young Entrepreneurs on the Go to Fix Their Country’s Biggest Problems

Young locals in Chad grew up witnessing problems with electricity, waste and unemployment go unsolved. Now, they’ve decided to take the matters in their own hands, setting up startups that are both profitable and helpful to the community.

The country is one of the least developed in the world, with little to no local business and where most people grow up planning to join the civil service. But young entrepreneurs are beginning to break this pattern, using their businesses to help create jobs and provide services including electricity and waste management, which most of the 16 million locals live without.

Among this generation of entrepreneurs is 30-year old Youssouf Ali Mbodou, who founded a solar power startup called Kouran Jabo – or “Power is Back” – using his own savings to provide homes with a pay-as-you-go solar kit solution for electricity. Mbodou hopes to power around one million homes by 2030 with the help of investors.