Wang Tingting (second left) and Tasneem Jakoet (second right), co-founders of the winner FeedHer, receive the award (COURTESY)

Ngelesi M. Pamidi is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2015, he came to China to complete his master's degree. A few years later, he started getting involved in China’s startup ecosystem. According to his observation, the development of African startups in China is transitioning from a nascent stage to a more established one. "In fact, a few years ago, it was hard to find an African person or group developing a solution to contribute to China-Africa cooperation, but now I can see more and more enthusiastic people trying to make a mark in that area," he said. 

As one of the judges of the third edition of Kente & Silk's Beijing Africa Week Startup Pitch Competition, he was excited to see five young African finalists present brilliant business solutions to social problems in Beijing on July 25. 

Need of the moment 

The first edition of the competition was held in 2018 as part of the finale of the Beijing Africa Week, a week-long cultural event. "We wanted to create a tangible impact at the end of the event, to go beyond the dialogue and cultural exchange," explained Miatta Momoh, co-founder of Kente & Silk, a social enterprise aimed at changing the narrative of Africa-China relations. “After being inspired by a Black Livity China article which called for group economics, we decided that we would celebrate and reward African entrepreneurship at a grand finale for this week-long event.” 

While the competition has traditionally been scheduled to coincide with the Africa Day in May, this year it was held two months later in July due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Also because of the epidemic, only one contestant could attend in-person the final event at Innoway, located in the heart of Zhongguancun, a technology hub of Beijing. The rest of the finalists had to pitch over a video conferencing solution, which presented its own technical issues. 

Despite all the hiccups, the team was able to deliver the event to a diverse audience comprising people in different stages of career and life,with a record of over 50 partners. "It was great to see so many people acknowledge the competition's value, which is encouraging for the development of Africa-China business," Momoh told ChinAfrica.  

The panel of judges of this year's Kente & Silk's Beijing Africa Week Startup Pitch Competition (COURTESY)

Focus on social impact 

To be eligible for this competition, applicants must be an African founder or co-founder of a business in China. Their business must have started within the past three years. They also need to have a clear business connection to Africa or Africans in China or Africa-China relations. 

For the first time, the organizer set the rigid criteria forcing all startup applicants to focus on social entrepreneurship, innovation and impact, which means that their business must create value for the well-being of the society. "This rationale was inspired by the need for people to develop solutions for today and for the future," Momoh said. 

In this regard, all of the five finalists have a solid understanding of the problems they intend to solve with their business. Agropod-Uganda is an agro-tech company that specializes in up-cycled shipping container indoor farming. Alpha & omega Nutrition produces and distributes a patented oligosaccharide fortified protein formula for malnourished children in Sub-Saharan Africa. ONE CLICK is geared toward providing innovative solutions for international travelers to China by creating a means for them to be connected to their respective embassies. Natural Assorted wants to bring about full agricultural prosperity by increasing the post-harvest benefits. FeedHer, the winner for this year, is a passion project of Tasneem Jakoet and Wang Tingting who love cooking and feeding others. 

Solving social problems 

"Problem-solving is creative, so I am excited and expecting startups that clearly communicate the foundation of what is driving their business and communities forward in these pandemic times,” Momoh said. 

FeedHer, the winner, seems to meet all of these requirements. It was actually started in Beijing in May 2020 during the epidemic. The two founders noticed that more people tend to rely on takeaways and less on home-cooked meals. But home cooking may not be easy for those living in a foreign country; expats face a language barrier and a lack of cooking skills and knowledge. FeedHer wants to close this gap through its WeChat official account (FeedHer) and a range of ready-to-cook vegan-friendly products that come complete with cooking instructions. 

Their account has various recipes posted in English & Chinese, along with keywords in Chinese to make the search for ingredients easier. They posted more recipes on it during the epidemic because they wanted everyone to be safe, comfortable and well fed within their homes. 

Pamidi thinks the team demonstrated enough strength to carry their business and to be sustainable on their own, at least in the near future. “Their idea is excellent; however, the market is full of competition.” To succeed, he thinks they need a good strategy and improve it. 

For Zhang Xuelei, another judge of the competition, FeedHer brought a solution to a practical problem which needed an urgent solution. He also praised the entrepreneurial spirit of the two founders. “With the current momentum of the development of social media platforms in China, it is only a matter of time before they realize their personal and entrepreneurial success.” 

An opportunity to expand 

As this year's winner, FeedHer was awarded a total of 10,000 yuan ($1,437), which comes from profits made from the Week. Aside from the prize, they have also got the chance to be mentored, funded, connected and registered as a promising Africa-China-related business in Beijing. 

The two founders admitted that they didn’t think much of the competition until friends and customers encouraged them to enter, since they noted the social impact of the business. "We further read about the stories of previous participants and their businesses and felt that FeedHer, too, wanted to be part of the Africa-China community which is full of wonderful, talented individuals." 

Before this year's finale, the competition has already seen two winners afforded the opportunity to grow their exciting new brands. The very first winner, Nani's Creations, focuses on delivering excellent African handmade accessories that have a vibrant look. Following their success on this platform, they have been able to expand their brand into new markets and also launch a new startup utilizing waste solutions for new energy. Last year's winner, Wenzhou Hams Information Technology, started expanding their services from the eastern coastal city of Wenzhou into Beijing following their competition win. Their CEO and co-founder, George Solomon, has also been very active in developing the Tanzania-China startup ecosystem and, following the company's exposure to this competition, he spoke at China's first-ever Africa-Tech Summit held in Shanghai last September. 

For African people who want to start their business in China, Pamidi thinks that they have the benefit of knowing both China and Africa, or at least knowing Africa well, and he strongly suggests they exploit that to their advantage. "China has a booming ecosystem for entrepreneurship, and it can benefit anyone who can display enough traction," he concluded.