[CEO Interview] Sharon Dipita, Founder/CEO, DIPMAN, Cameroon
Sharon Dipita is CEO of DIPMAN, a communications and marketing agency in Cameroon. He also founded in 2013 the Cameroonian Youth Synergy, a participatory platform for the development of youth entrepreneurship.
His interview with Africa Business Communities:
Would you please introduce DIPMAN?
DIPMAN is a communications and marketing agency which focuses on new media and trends. We always find innovative solutions to promote brands to consumers and users of their universe. Moreover, we make a point of honor to enrich the relationship between companies and their most profitable public during the numerous daily experiences in contact with products and services.
In which industries does DIPMAN operate and who are your clients?
DIPMAN is a 360° agency. We see a perfect integration of communication and marketing disciplines. However, our areas of expertise are at the crossroads of digital marketing, mobile marketing, street marketing, sensory and experiential marketing, and revolutionary communication methods.
Our creative team has worked for several campaigns launched for the banking and energy sectors, SMEs, a prestigious American university and non-profit organizations. We are currently aiming for the giants of the continent, including the neighboring Nigerian market.
What are the USP’s of your business?
The particular character of our agency is to gather a multiplicity of skills ranging from communication and marketing to IT and project management. We converge professionals in our core business with a variety of artists and creatives in music, picture or screenwriting. With a broader vision of corporate functions due to our various academic and consultant careers, with our unique expertise on mixing art, technology, creativity and marketing, we achieve a more comprehensive consideration of the business of our customers.
Furthermore, our outstanding quality is that there is no insubstantial budget. We work with resources entrusted to us by customers and we strive to optimize.
Why did you start DIPMAN?
I will begin by telling you a little story. My first and last (sole) boss – before I started my own company – was offering traditional services of advertising. I advised her to set LED screens in two major cities of Cameroon to deliver video advertising. At that time, there was no company offering this kind of service. The lady rejected my proposal, arguing that the digital would not find a favorable response from advertisers. Two years later, the first LED display was installed by a startup in Douala. After three months, all its advertising slots were bought for at least one year.
I realized early on that my role was not to execute strategies developed by others but to run my own business. I wanted to contribute with this depth of vision to the development of the profession at a regional scale. To the end of the story, I stayed a total of nine months in the company.
Have you started any other company or organization?
In recent years, I became interested in youth empowerment issues and the idea that governments, institutions and youths must collaborate, work hand-in-hand. As stated by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a few days ago, young people today are "the first generation that can put an end to poverty and are the last generation that can put an end to climate change". We must therefore act with young people.
So I founded in September 2013, with a dozen young leaders of my country, the Cameroonian Youth Synergy (CYS) – a participatory platform for reflection, proposals and actions where young Cameroonians from various ethnic, linguistic, academic or philosophical backgrounds contribute their talents, skills and energies for the benefit of cultural, economic and social development of Cameroon. "Mutualize!" is the leitmotiv of our organization.
What can be done by entrepreneurs and government to stimulate the business environment in Cameroon?
To achieve Cameroon’s goals of emerging economy in 2035, it is appropriate that each actor, both Government and the private sector, invests properly in the application of different options available to us. We urge the leaders at the top of the State to create conditions necessary for the emergence of our human capital talents. Cameroon has 8.15 million humans between 15 and 35 years, 34.80% of its current population. If we invest more in education, health, information technology, transport infrastructure, we would be halfway there.
On the other hand, young entrepreneurs must be more daring. We tend to get a bit too comfortable in our local markets. The geographical area formed by the EMCCA countries, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola has 320 million people spread over 7.5 million square kilometers (the US population is estimated at 319 million inhabitants for a much larger area).
A road and rail network, a low-cost airline, more diligent administrative measures and those facilitating the flow of people and goods on our roads, in our ports and airports would cause the explosion of the current overall GDP in this "new economic community".
What can you say about the targets, plans and ambitions of DIPMAN for 2015?
The year 2015 marked the starting point of the conquest of the continent. By dint of solutions we will deploy this year, including mobile marketing, we primarily choose to dwell in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We will move on to other pastures where indicators continue to point greener.
Do you believe Social Media and the Internet to be a plus to the business environment, as it applies to your industry?
The advent of the internet, mobile and social media has democratized business creation. Many initiatives have emerged in Africa from nothing. Without pre-formed capital, it is possible to create a structure providing services from any corner of the continent. I myself started DIPMAN in my bedroom before I rented offices in the most exclusive area of the Cameroonian economic capital. Over the Skype calls, discussion forums, postings on the web, we get noticed; we come to interest someone and a window of opportunity opens to you.
Which African countries will perform best in 2015?
I would like to offer Cameroon amongst the countries that will make great progress in 2015, but to remain objective I think we still have much to do. South Africa I have much admired in recent years is slowing literally.
Having not yet read the very recent report "African Economic Outlook 2015" published jointly by AfDB, OECD and UNDP on May 28th, I will venture to include Mozambique, Rwanda and Ivory Coast based on forecasts for this year. These three countries are at respectively 7.6%, 7.5% and 8.3% in relation to their GDP growth rate for 2015.
These countries all made a choice to stow with technological change, promote the creation of Labs and co-working spaces, maintain a supportive ecosystem for innovation, and work effectively on their image in order to attract investors.
www.linkedin.com/in/sharondipita
http://fr.slideshare.net/DIPMAN
Africa Business Communities is conducting a series of interviews with CEO's in Africa. Are you a CEO in Africa and interested in an interview? Please send an e-mail to Andrea Ayemoba at andrea@africabusinesscommunities.com