The Lomé campus combines pre-incubation, mentoring and funding, with CcHUB and a national plan also supported by the World Bank

A technological idea alone isn't enough: it must become a prototype, find users, compete with a market, and, if possible, transform into a business capable of growth. It's on this transition that the Djanta Tech Hub, inaugurated on May 7, 2026 in Lomé, is seeking to establish its role in Togo's digital ecosystem. The campus was launched by the Ministry of Public Service Effectiveness and Digital Transformation as the first step in a network of facilities dedicated to innovation and technological entrepreneurship.

The model doesn't just offer desks and connectivity. The structure combines pre-incubation, incubation, coaching, mentoring, training and access to funding opportunities, with programs aimed at both individuals starting with an idea and startups that already have a minimally viable product. The stated goal is to address the most fragile part of the innovation chain: the gap between a technically interesting solution and a business capable of finding customers, organizing itself, and generating revenue.

The project precedes the inauguration by years. In 2018, ministerial documents already described a campus of approximately 3.000 square meters in the heart of the capital, with coworking, incubation, acceleration, IT training, and prototyping. Since 2024, the activation has been entrusted to CcHUB, Co-Creation Hub, a pan-African organization active in various technology ecosystems.

Two paths separate ideas from startups already on the local market

The first distinction introduced by the campus concerns the level of maturity of the projects. Idea-Action This is the pre-incubation process: it lasts three months and is intended for groups that can apply even without having already established a business. The work is geared towards building the first prototypes, testing the idea, and defining a MVP, Minimum Viable Product, that is, a minimal but usable version of the product with which to concretely test market needs and reactions.

Innov'Action It is one stage further along. The program lasts six months and requires a demonstrable solution, a functional prototype, or an MVP. Selected startups work on the robustness of their business model, growing their customer base, operations, and scalability. The rules require an evaluation based on, among other criteria, relevance to national priorities, innovation, economic and social impact, team quality, technical feasibility, and project sustainability.

The sectors indicated give a measure of the program's cut: agriculture, education, tourism, finance, logistics, trade and crafts, creative industries, productivity and growth of SMEsIt's therefore not an incubator built around a single technology. Rather, the focus is on using digital technology to address a wide range of economic and organizational challenges, from supply chain management to training, from payments to distribution, and even the efficiency of small businesses.

Applications for the first round, which opened on May 7th, closed on July 3rd. Idée-Action planned a bootcamp on August 3rd and 4th, with a final pitch on the 5th; Innov'Action planned preparation on August 6th and 7th, with a presentation to the jury on the 8th. The official website now lists applications as closed.

CcHUB brings to Lomé a model already tested here and there in Africa

The management of the two routes is entrusted to CcHUB, a network founded in Nigeria and active in several African countries. Programs cover market analysis, product development, initial customers, operations, and growth. The Djanta Tech Hub includes four pre-incubation cohorts and two incubation cohorts over a twelve-month period.

The campus thus tries to reduce the distance between technical training and business buildingKnowing how to program or design a digital service isn't the same as knowing how to find customers, organize sales, raise capital, or define a revenue model. Effectiveness should therefore be measured by business results, not just the number of participants trained.

The project also maintains a physical dimension. In addition to structured programs, the Djanta Tech Hub offers coworking, workshops, and training activities. Its operational address is at 656 Avenue de la Nouvelle Marche, Quartier des Etoiles, Lomé. Consolidating services, mentors, and startups in the same space helps facilitate meetings and collaborations between different skills.

CcHUB provides the courses mainly in English, with occasional support in French. In a French-speaking country, this choice can facilitate access to international networks, but it can also create a barrier for those who lack a sufficient level of professional English.

The Start Fund adds small amounts of capital to the project's testing phase

Alongside the support comes the problem of initial capital. Start Fund It is designed to provide microfinancing for testing products and services on the market and expanding the customer base. The mechanism is supported, through the ProDigit project, by co-financing from Germany, Luxembourg, and the European Union. The campus website indicates that approximately twenty initiatives should be selected after pitch sessions in front of investors and entrepreneurs.

The number doesn't exactly match the one released at the time of the inauguration. The Togolese government's official communication actually spoke of a fund intended to support about thirty young entrepreneursThe difference may reflect a later refinement of the system or different counting criteria for people and initiatives; in the absence of an official explanation, it is more accurate to consider the two values ​​as references to different phases of the project, without adding them together or treating them as equivalent.

The Minister Cina Lawson, presenting the project, linked the very name of the campus to the idea of ​​entrepreneurial initiative:

“Djanta calls for the courage needed to undertake.”

The statement summarizes the project's political narrative, but the most significant test will be quantitative: how many ideas will succeed in becoming prototypes, how many startups will find customers, how many will survive beyond the incubation period, and how many will succeed in attracting capital without relying permanently on public or subsidized programs.

Behind the campus is a $100 million digital program

The Djanta Tech Hub is not an isolated intervention. Its activation is part of the Projet d'acceleration de la transformation numérique du Togo, or PANT, supported by the World Bank. In December 2024, the International Development Association approved an initial financing from 100 million dollars, approximately 62 billion CFA francs, to expand connectivity, strengthen digital skills and support technological entrepreneurship.

The scale is much larger than that of an incubator. The project plans to connect approximately 8.000 public institutions and to offer more than a million people new or improved internet access. Infrastructure, skills, and digital enterprise are therefore treated as components of the same system.

In 2026, Togo launched other initiatives along the same lines alongside the campus. In April, a Campus 42 dedicated to programming, data and artificial intelligence, while the Government has started the process to create six technological centres called Pods in the prefectures of Tône, Kozah, Tchaoudjo, Ogou, Kloto, and Zio. These should provide training and support for innovative projects outside the capital, reducing the concentration of digital opportunities in Lomé.

The regional network can change the nature of the Djanta Tech Hub. If the programs, mentors, funding, and expertise developed in Lomé were replicable in regional hubs, the project could support a less concentrated innovation market in the capital. The issue isn't the number of buildings, but the circulation of opportunities and expertise.

The project has now reached the stage where attention shifts from inauguration to results. The Djanta Tech Hub website describes already structured programs, completed applications, and a defined incubation process; the PANT provides a broader financial and infrastructural framework, while future Pods aim for regional expansion. The measure of effectiveness will be the continuity between these levels: connectivity, skills, prototypes, customers and sustainable businessesIt is on this chain, more than the simple number of startups admitted, that the new Togolese digital ecosystem will have to prove its effectiveness.

Djanta Tech Hub in Lomé: an ecosystem for startups and digital innovation

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