The general director of Senegal digital SA, Cheikh Bakhoum, invited, on Thursday, African and Senegalese start-ups to work more on the creation of “one hundred percent Senegalese and African” platforms, to boost the sector.r cultural and creative industries and benefit as much as possible from its spinoffs.

“The platforms that exist are unfortunately American, European or even Chinese. There are no real platforms that are African or Senegalese. We have to get started, we have to put our start-ups on these issues and they work to set up 100% Senegalese and African platforms and on this basis, we will conquer the world by forcing others to use them,” he said.

Cheikh Bakhoum participated in a panel entitled “What networks, platforms, infrastructures, alliances and partnerships to stimulate growth and employment in the ICCs?” This panel was held as part of the third African Forum on Cultural and Creative Industries (ForAfricc). He presented on the hosting capacities of the Senegal Data Center.

The CEO of Senegal Numérique SA believes that “the cultural and creative industry is extremely important. We need to promote Senegalese culture more, there are a lot of innovations in our country and with the new digital revolution, we can impact the world.”

He notes that during the last decade, Africa has invested a lot in telecommunications infrastructure and in the digital sector, which he did not have before.

“In Senegal, he said, we have five to six submarine cables which arrive at our coasts connected to Europe, to the USA, to South America, to the world in general”.

A studio in Senegal can interconnect with a studio in Hollywood with unlimited speed, which was not possible before, he explains, adding that from Dakar, we can make creations and send them “ instantly in the USA”.

“This is possible because we have 12 thousand kilometers of optical fibers, latest generation Data Centers to be able to host local content. We must insist to ICC start-ups to tell them that they must not only be able to produce content, but so that this content can remain in Africa, in Senegal, without hosting them at the level of the platforms which are there. “foreign,” he insisted. According to him, mastering this chain “is the great challenge today to be able to benefit as much as possible from this industry”.

Cheikh Bakhoum indicates that the Senegal Datacenter, housed in Diamniadio, the new city located around thirty kilometers from Dakar, has the capacity to accommodate the entire cultural and creative industries sector, responding to a question from singer Youssou Ndour on the question.

With APS