Philippe Simo is a Cameroonian Youtuber, entrepreneur and influencer known for having founded the famous platform "Invest in the Country". Thanks to his YouTube channel, the thirty-year-old has established himself as one of the ambassadors of a concept that seems to have been forgotten by many Africans in the diaspora: that of returning to the country to invest. Going back to one's roots to contribute to the economic development of Africa through entrepreneurship, or failing that, investing on the continent from one's host country, for Simo, this is possible and within everyone's reach. Most of his work therefore revolves around the popularisation of this idea. Fanaka&Co takes you to (re)discover the man who tells the stories of successful African entrepreneurs like no other.
Philippe Simo, the debut of the diaspora's star coach
Philippe Simo is 37 years old and knows how to inspire. He has vision and a lot to say. Before launching his YouTube channel "Invest in the country", the young Cameroonian had a very simple life. He grew up and studied in Cameroon, his home country, where he obtained his DUT in 2007. He flew to France to continue his higher education at the University of Technology of Troyes (UTT) and to obtain the title of Industrial Engineering Engineer. This was the beginning of his discovery of the job market.
At the beginning of his career, the young man worked as a consultant for consulting firms in the energy sector. Philippe Simo has worked in companies specialising in the oil, gas and nuclear industries. He worked as an industrial buyer for Engie, the French manufacturer of semiconductors for renewable energy, from April 2015 to September 2016. Philippe was then hired by Areva (now Orano) as an order and shipment manager. He stayed for more than a year with this specialist in the nuclear fuel industry. After seven years of experience as an employee in his field of training, Philippe resigned to set up his own business. He then began a new chapter in his life: that of entrepreneurship.
Practice makes perfect
Philippe is not the first to extol the virtues of entrepreneurship. Many people have done it before him, but not all of them have had a strong personal experience as an entrepreneur. Remaining an energy consultant and employee no longer suited Philippe Simo. So he started to invest in the country. As a good lover of Africa, he bought land on the continent from France to engage in income-generating activities such as real estate and livestock. Very quickly, another desire was born in him, that of impacting the lives of Africans by creating jobs through his investments. He soon realised that to achieve this, he had to move from being an investor to an entrepreneur. He took the plunge, worked his way up, and soon realised that entrepreneurship is not intuitive: you learn on the job, but it is important to be prepared for the realities of this world, especially in Africa. And he wanted to pass this on to his compatriots, to enable them to gain years and above all to avoid painful experiences.
With this ambition and his experience as an entrepreneur, Philippe Simo decided to launch training sessions for Africans in the diaspora in order to share the knowledge he has acquired in the field. During his coaching sessions, he talks about the realities of entrepreneurship in Africa, the pitfalls and scams, but also the mistakes to avoid if you want to be sustainable.
Later on, he will also give the opportunity to his students to be accompanied by himself or a member of his team, in order to launch their business in the sector of activity of their choice. This phase of intervention was deployed after the installation of Investir's offices in Africa, from where its collaborators take charge of materialising the projects of Africans in the diaspora.
Unique and inspiring interviews
Perhaps the most visible part of the Cameroonian entrepreneur's work is his YouTube channel "Investir au Pays". With a community of 651,000 subscribers, he shares original interviews with African entrepreneurs with inspiring backgrounds. His videos have an average of 150,000 views. Philippe collects testimonies in order to inspire more and more compatriots, and to prove that the concept of returning to one's roots through entrepreneurship is not just theory, but a profitable option.
He has interviewed the most proactive entrepreneurs and businessmen, giving us a new perspective on Ayité Maureen, Thione Niang and Scheena Donia. In addition to these videos of interviews rich in lessons, Philippe advises, motivates and boosts the morale of entrepreneurs and project holders. He does not hesitate to drag his camera into his own businesses to show Internet users the reality on the ground in Africa.
His vision, his audacity and his actions have enabled him to federate a real community around his page "Invest in Africa". Because he himself has become aware of the greatness of the ideal he advocates, the thirty-year-old educates Africans in the diaspora about the opportunities in Africa and the urgency of investing there. In doing so, he contributes to the economic development of the continent through his own activities and those of the people he trains.
What about today?
Today, Philippe Simo has moved with his family to the Ivory Coast. For a lover of Africa, this was to be expected. He continues to manage his numerous businesses and has remained the Swiss Army knife we know today. Yes, Philippe is involved in training, agriculture, livestock, catering, real estate and vehicle rental. His companies are in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and France.
You'd think it would be easy to run several companies around the world. But it's no picnic, and Philippe Simo has never hidden that fact. This is probably one of the reasons why he has managed to build a strong and loyal community on the Internet. More and more people want to know the truth about entrepreneurship in Africa. So the trainer does not hesitate to tell them, sometimes illustrating it with concrete examples from his life as an entrepreneur. In order for his vision of seeing the African continent developed to come to fruition, the serial entrepreneur is aware that today's business leaders must be efficient but above all, well informed about the realities on the ground. He has therefore chosen to provide them with the weapons to do so, and so far he seems to be doing quite well.
As you can see, Investing in Africa is more than a YouTube channel. It is both a thriving African business and a community of determined Africans in the diaspora. Contributing to sustained, shared and sustainable economic growth, ensuring full and productive employment for Africans and decent work for all, this is the true ideal to which Philippe Simo aspires with "Invest in Country".
