Revolutionize Africa with drones? This is the ambition of William Elong, 22, an entrepreneur and the youngest graduate of the Paris School of Economic Warfare. Portrait.
The course is extraordinary. Bachelor at fifteen, holder of a double diploma from the Haute école de commerce de Yaoundé and the École supérieure de commerce de la Rochelle three years later, youngest graduate in strategy and economic intelligence from the War School economist of Paris at twenty and founder of the start-up Will & Brothers, specializing in economic intelligence and technological innovation, William Elong has the confusing speech of an early child.
This eldest in a family of five children, born in Eboné, between Douala and Bafoussam, in Cameroon, of parents working in consulting and the petroleum industry, was quite gifted. Bored by college lessons, which he finds too light in content, young William is at the center of bullying and mocking of his comrades. Passionate about computer science and astrophysics in particular, he took refuge on the web, where he randomly studied subjects “out of simple curiosity”.
An encyclopedic approach
“My father gave me a lot of history books, encyclopedias that I devoured with a smile,” he recalls. “I wanted to study a science that would allow me to combine technology, history, business, investigation and psychology. I only had one option left: economic intelligence, “said the young entrepreneur.
William Elong then turned to the stranger. Too young – he was only 18 years old -, handicapped by the reputation of the African team, he first faced refusals, “from Asia to America”. “It is fundamentally unfair. The teachers who forged me came from all over Africa. I don’t think I was less well trained, “he said indignant today. However, he was accepted in France, at the School of Economic Warfare, one of the best training on the planet. He flies away on a Saturday evening from Yaoundé, the start of the academic year being scheduled the following Monday in Paris.
Lord of drones
William will spend two years in the French capital. He graduated as the youngest graduate in the history of the institution at twenty. Before returning home, scalded by the experience of job discrimination in France. Passed by Thalès at the age of 18, then by Oracle, he created in France Will & Brothers, a start-up oriented towards economic intelligence and technological innovation. In parallel, this enthusiast is also developing DroneAfrica, an initiative aimed at offering services associated with drones in tourism, agriculture, meteorology, defense and even mapping.
“To have maps of our own countries, today we have to pay exorbitant sums to providers,” he said. “Drones can also celebrate the architectural beauty of our cities or cover fairs, parades, events that will enhance local culture internationally. After all, the image of a country is a decisive element in its economic development, “added this lover of video games. “I would like Africa to have eyes in the sky,” he says.
Gift from heaven
DroneAfrica fundraising launched, with a goal of 300,000 dollars, William Elong hopes today, despite the lack of investment by Cameroonian banks in the private sector and the gaps in information technology, to deploy drones at national scale. A use that could range from monitoring road traffic to fighting Boko Haram.
“Africa still has a long way to go in terms of economic intelligence. Our States must use it to make a place of choice on the world stage, “analyzes the young Cameroonian who intends to play a leading role. Involved, via the RASP4DEV community, in the dissemination of Raspberry technology, a low-cost mini-computer, it seeks to improve the conditions of education in rural areas, using new technologies. William Elong hopes to “break the inferiority complex of young Africans vis-à-vis the foreigner”. And to conclude: “Technology in my eyes is a gift from heaven that belongs to no one, it is up to us to exploit it. ”
read on: http://www.jeuneafrique.com/272338/societe/william-elong-drone-de-camerounais/
Leave a Reply