"Unlock your potential", "Become the star you are"... At Irawo, the motto sounds almost like an injunction, an invitation to shine and unlock your potential. But what exactly is Irawo? Irawo, which means star, takes its name from Nago, a local Beninese language. The start-up defines itself as a community that helps young Africans make a living from their talents. For the founder, Mylène Flicka, each talent is a star that deserves to shine and actively participate in the economic growth of its country. And it is precisely with this in mind that she set up Irawo, which contributes to the achievement of the sustainable development goals. Irawo supports young people and fights against precarious employment.
Irawo, a constellation of African talent
The original vision of Irawo was based on this: to inspire young Africans and give them the visibility they need to realise their projects. Irawo had therefore set up a directory of African talents who shared their stories, their careers, their career paths and their successes. We remember in particular the story of Maureen Ayité, founder of Nanawax, or that of Yannick Kenneth, a famous Beninese humorist. Irawo wanted to be a constellation of stars made in Africa that would shine to inspire other young people.
By telling the stories of these talents across Africa, Irawo has enabled thousands of young people to find role models who look like them and who inspire them to persevere or take the plunge themselves. But after five years on this path, Irawo has made a change of course. The desire to help African talent was still there and remains at the heart of the mission. But more than anything else, Irawo wanted to make a greater impact. Motivation and visibility are good, but the talent needed more.
Irawo, a network to build the Africa of tomorrow
Over the years, Irawo has evolved and its process has been reviewed. From a blog to a media outlet to a company, Irawo has continued to move forward to better help young talents monetise their passion and know-how by enabling them to :
- have access to personalised support from renowned experts,
- receive support and move forward with a community of creative people who understand them,
- monetise their talents with resources, workshops and challenges.
In this new turn of events, in October 2021, Irawo is selected by the Ivorian project Eneza Education to represent Africa in the startup accelerator programme Future Of Work in Africainitiated by Village Capital and Investment.
Village Capital is an investment company that specialises in supporting companies that solve problems in the fields of health, agriculture, education, energy and financial inclusion. This is a great opportunity for Irawo to strengthen its business model and further propel the company in creating quality tools for young talents.
Tailor-made programmes for African talent
As a company, Irawo had to move beyond telling inspiring stories to providing quality resources to young people to enable them to monetise their talent. To achieve its mission, the company called on the expertise of coaches such as Ulrich Sossou, a famous Beninese entrepreneur. It also offers several programmes and workshops to support young people and help them find the technical and financial resources to develop their project and, above all, to make a living from it. One example is Irawo Taka, a mentoring programme aimed at any young entrepreneur or creator motivated to invest in themselves and boost their skills. Paid workshops are also offered on specific themes such as the development of creativity, branding and sales, always with a view to giving young talents practical and concrete keys for the development of their business.
Irawo also offers free challenges for its target group of African talent. Amongst these successful challenges, we can mention the one aimed at boosting productivity and fighting procrastination, or the one to win your first 1000 followers on social networks. One of the most recent challenges is aimed at young people who have not yet found their talents. Each challenge offers resources and strategies that can be applied immediately to enable participants to move forward more effectively, in line with the vision of founder Mylène Flicka.
Mylène Flicka, the young entrepreneur behind Irawo
Mylène Flicka, born in Benin in 1996, is a storyteller and digital marketing expert. She is known for her talent in developing innovative campaigns, as well as for her ability to connect talents and create active communities with high positive impact. It is undoubtedly this natural propensity and her generosity that led her to create Irawo.
Indeed, the young Beninese woman's desire for commitment, or rather her fight for youth, did not appear overnight. Since her teenage years, the young woman had already undertaken to carry the voice of young people and to defend their ideals. Before Irawo, she shared on her blog FounmiThe book is a collection of short stories written in her own handwriting, a way for her to denounce the violation of women's rights. She also discusses, in a straightforward manner, the various problems of her country, her dream and her vision for Africa. While her blog serves as a space for expression, the energetic author is disappointed by the lack of recognition and appreciation of the young talents of her time. So she launched Irawo to remedy this, attracting the attention of major media outlets and continuing her journey towards achieving MDG 8.
Irawo's mission is to propel African talent to the forefront by developing their skills and confidence. Each of its programmes is designed to help these young talents put in place reliable strategies to make their passion profitable. Irawo is creating a network of talent across Africa and its next destination seems to be the sky.
