Message from Koichi Sato, CEO
August 2019, at Nadièye Satouré clinic
12 years ago, I started an IT consulting company in France and learned through involvement in ICT installation mission in French speaking regions in Africa, there are lack of grid power in local villages and 600millions of African living without electricity.
As a Japanese engineer who has business experience in French speaking regions, there must be something I can do.
In April 2018, I made a commitment to myself to promote co-creation project with government organization that would promote sustainability in Africa by first launching a Japanese company and then expanding into Africa as a public-private partnership.
Product demonstrations have already begun at health posts in un-electrified villages, and we have received positive feedback from local residents who have now an access to electricity and Internet.
The TUMIQUI Project is more than just an equipment supply project, it is a project to set up workshops/plants to make [Made in Africa] products, employ graduates of local technical schools, and in the future lead to independent and sustainable growth through technology transfer and eventually authority transfer.
In the future, we aim to promote the development of other countries outside of Senegal in order to contribute to create a better environment in health sectors, educational and agricultural fields and so on.
There is an African proverb that says, "If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together." Our style is, "The faster we go together, the farther we can reach.
Businesses that make a big impact need people you can trust. I would like to move forward on this path by sharing my vision and creating a community with the mutual passion.
Koichi Sato, President de SUCRECUBE Japon Inc.
The sky sunset of Senegal village
Electricity and Internet across the vast lands of Africa.
The TUMIQUI Project's journey began with an encounter with Africa. Encountering Africa, that is to say, confronting many social challenges. The lack of electricity and internet is especially pronounced in Africa. In the vast land, there are many areas without electricity, and even in urban areas, power outages are frequent. For example, it is normal that electricity and water go out for two or three days.
When I visited clinics in un-electrified villages in Uganda and Senegal in JICA study tour, I heard that people had to hold a cell phone or a lamp in their mouth to give birth in the dark because there is no electricity. I felt strongly some lives could be saved if they are equipped with proper electricity.
Therefore, we decided to first focus on the UHC (Universal Health Coverage) field and establish our business base in Republic of Senegal with a focus on West Africa.
December 2019, Bohé Baledji clinic
Recognizing the need for public-private partnerships to solve social issues, and sustain our own business, we began collaborating with domestic and international government agencies and ministries and international organizations such as UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) in April 2018, when we established SUCRECUBE Japon, the company promoting the TUMIQUI Project.
After two months of negotiations with the Senegalese Ministry of Health, we signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to conduct trials of our equipment in health posts. We were also successful in gaining a confidence of our business partner in Côte d'Ivoire and signed a MOU to promote business locally. In January 2020, we also signed an MOU with the city of Sandiara thanks to the coordination of UNIDO, and became the first Japanese company to participate in a smart city project in Senegal.
May 2019, with Mr Mbengue of the Senegalese Ministry of Health
Solving the issues of SDGs with electricity and Internet
Let's consider electricity and Internet, using mobile phone data as an example.
Africa has 456 million mobile subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa in 2018. ＡIt is said to exceed 600 million by 2025, and about 50 percent of all sub-Saharan Africans will have a mobile phone. (From GSMA)
However, only 239 million people use the Internet on their mobile phones, which is 23% of all sub-Saharan Africans. The reason is that the infrastructure is still inadequate in many ways, such as weak communication, or lacking money on prepaid phone (even if you have a mobile phone), or the distance they have to make recharge the telephone batteries.
Today, the internet is an infrastructure as important as the pavement of the road in developed countries. and it is the same in Africa. They use cell phones for mobile money via SMS, they all love to take photos and selfies, exchange messages using application such as WhatsApp (equivalent to LINE or messenger), and enjoy social networking services such as Facebook. If the electricity and Internet are more available, they are able to exchange with their families and friends living far away from one another.
If we can supply equipment that generate electricity with solar power, we can not only charge mobile phones, but other devices such as PCs in educational fields, medical devices in health posts, Fintechs for efficient agriculture operation.
TUMIQUI equipment providing battery and solar power will deliver electricity and Internet to unelectrified villages in Africa and become local ICT platformers while solving the issues of SDGs.
TUMIQUI Philosophy pyramid
TUMIQUI philosophy
Our goal of sustainable business is linked to the development of Africa. In this context, sustainable business means not only delivering goods, but also increasing local employment and help them lay the foundation of their own business so that each country can be more independent.
Now that the certain level of economy is reached, it is important for each society to take social actions considering the balance of the worlds’ needs and contribute to each issue in front of us.
We would like to create as many happy businesses as possible where people of different races can deepen their understanding of each other and find motivation and fulfillment in their work by contributing on issue solving.
TUMIQUI's philosophy is to find the right solution in West Africa and accumulate various ideas and technologies based on electricity and communications.
