Boris de Fautereau, Resident Representative Guilde du Raid & Solidarité Technologique, tells us about Solidarité Technologique and its projects.

1. interview
Boris de Fautereau
Resident Representative
Guilde du Raid & Solidarité Technologique
Good morning Boris, first of all, can you introduce yourself?
Good morning. I am a 30-years-old Frenchman and I have been living in Africa since 2012 with my wife and
young children. I have an engineering degree as well as a master in development management. My first job
was in Togo, after which my NGO called me to Yaoundé to work with the association Solidarité Technologique,
within which I am resident representative in Cameroon.
Can you tell us more about Solidarité Technologique?
Solidarité Technologique is a French non profit organization aiming to promote professionnal integration
for disadvantaged youths, to close the digital gap and to protect the environment. It is currently running two
structures in Yaoundé, a professionnal training center in informatics for marginalized young people and an
electronic waste recycling centre, the first of its kind in Central Africa.
What brought you to work for such an organization? Why do you believe in this project?
Initially, I came here for one year to complete the pilot recycling project. But we progressively realized the
huge potential of e-waste recycling for developing countries. Indeed, Africa has been importing technology
products massively without the means to manage their waste properly, and the situation is getting
worrisome on the whole continent. Therefore my mission has extended towards new goals : we aim to
make the activity financially sustainable and to develop new projects to upscale it and duplicate it in other
developing countries. Our partnership with SPB allowed us to make significant progress, although these
goals are not yet accomplished. I believe that the e-waste sector will know a strong and continuous growth,
globally during the next few decades. Our position of pioneers is ideal to be a leading part of it.
Solidarité Technologique recently won the SUEZ-Institut de France prize for social entrepreneurship,
this is a beautiful reward.
Yes, we are very happy and grateful for this success! As pioneers without other structures to compare
ourselves to, it feels good to know that a major environmental company values our work highly. The prize
is also a financial bonus which will boost our development over the next semester. In spite of its rapid
progress, Solidarité Technologique is not financially viable at this date and funding is a vital necessity for us.
What are your next projects with Solidarité Technologique?
As a first order of business, we work hard to ensure Solidarité Technologique’s stability in Cameroon by
developing its activity. We are transforming this small charitable association into a full-fledged social
enterprise, which will be able to keep growing without the need for external support. We also have important
project opportunities in a few African countries. The most interesting is taking place in Cameroon and will
consist in setting up, in just 5 years, the very first industrial e-waste recycling structure in all of sub-saharan
Africa. The final goal is to demonstrate both to public and private actors that e-waste recycling can be a
viable source of green growth for most developing countries. A feasibility study is in progress at the moment
and we are gathering funds to complete our budget. More news coming soon…
In brief, the show has only just begun, and we hope that SPB will stay at our side on this path towards new
horizons !
Find out more about Solidarité Technologique : www.solidarite-technologique.cm/contenu-anglais/