Turbine has the pleasure to receive 20 years old Matina Razafimahefa, CEO and founder of award winning best social enterprise of Madagascar, SAYNA. The competition was organized by “l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie” in March 2018 and a Madagascar incubator, Incubons.
Matina is spending one week at Turbine as part of her prize, the aim being for her to know better the entrepreneurial ecosystem, meet key people and make partnerships.
We bring you her exclusive interview with Turbine!
1. Hey Matina, tell us about you and what best describes you.
I am a young Malagasy woman, student in sciences politics at Sorbonne and a social entrepreneur! If I have to choose 3 words to describe me, I would say : fearless, crazy and adventurous ! I love having new challenges, being out of my comfort zone and I am not afraid of the unknown. I am passionate about meeting new people and knowing their story so that i can help them or learn from them.
2. Tell us about your start-up, SAYNA.
SAYNA means intelligence. I launched SAYNA in November 2017. However, SAYNA has been on my mind since 2013 when I discovered the educational system of France, which compared to Madagascar, is free and of great quality. Back then, I thought that being a woman and that too so young, I cannot do this project. I changed my mind last year when i met Emma Rosman who built the Welcome app which helps immigrants to find jobs, friends and family in Sweden, who also happens to be young and a woman. Inspired, I decided to go for my dreams and launch SAYNA. I am so happy I did. Sometimes, just a single step and a little encouragement lead you to dare and break barriers.
SAYNA help young people rise out of poverty by training them to be a web developer. We have 12 students finishing their 4 months intense training this week. They will each be joining a company, notably Acces Bank, La Star, Axian, P4H among others. We have 12 more trainees joining us as from Monday 18th June, pre-selected by the companies who will be recruiting them. The company pays for their training, which is 800 Euro per student, the most affordable code training in Madagascar.
SAYNA has educational partners such as the Hacking Project and hopefully very soon Simplon, who train the students at our premises in Madagascar.
SAYNA exists because I want be part of that generation that will make this world a better place and provide better quality education.
3. Tell us about the competition you won.
I am here in Mauritius and at Turbine because SAYNA won the competition of the best social company of Madagascar 2018 awarded by the « International organization of Francophonie» and « Incubons » a local incubator in Madagascar. Out of 30 projects, only 10 reached the final destination; the pitch. SAYNA came out as a star project. Check out the sneak peak of the award night here.
4. What brings you to Mauritius?
The prize was a business trip in Mauritius with Turbine so that I will be able to meet new clients, build new partnership and help create a good atmosphere of collaboration in our beautiful region, the Indian Ocean!
The things that I want to achieve here is simple : have new clients and partners & give the opportunity to the Mauritian firms to have a huge social impact beyond their borders by working with our students !
How is your journey in Mauritius so far?
It is totally crazy. I am meeting interesting people, potential big clients and partners. Turbine is really an incubator with a vast network. They planned all my visits, gave me contacts, invited me to their events and even gave me a Mauritian welcome lunch!
Turbine is really such a beautiful place, the atmosphere is so fun yet productive. People here are so helpful, constructive and amazing. One week here is too little. I am coming back for sure!
What is your vision of SAYNA?
I want to see SAYNA grow and have 10,000 digital workers all around the world in the next 6 years.
A tip?
Yes! Imagine what you would do if you get an unlimited credit card? And when you know what you would do, set your goals, plan, find the ways to achieve your goals and just go for it!
