As an engineer with a passion for technology, he transitioned into entrepreneurship to address the practical needs of small African businesses. He now provides them with straightforward, accessible digital tools that simplify their management and facilitate their digital transformation.

Razak Hachimou, a Beninese telecommunications engineer and tech entrepreneur, is the co-founder and CEO of Iwo Group, a company established in 2020 that specializes in digitalizing and optimizing management processes.

Iwo Group has developed a fully digital accounting platform tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), self-employed individuals, and accountants. This comprehensive solution streamlines financial operations, enabling users to produce financial statements, manage daily accounting, and access expert professional support. A key advantage of the platform is its robust data security, safeguarding information against loss due to theft or device failure.

Among its features, the application includes a module called "la caisse" (the cash register), specifically designed to simplify accounting for users without a financial background. This system bypasses traditional debit-credit entries, making financial management more accessible.

"It offers an SME manager the opportunity to make minimalist accounting entries such as income and expenses, allowing them to access data like their revenue, profit, and expenses over a period through a dashboard, and to generate their financial statement (balance sheet) at the end of their fiscal year with a single click," Hachimou explained in 2024. "It also allows accounting firms to remotely monitor their clients’ accounts."

Before co-founding Iwo Group, Hachimou was the Deputy CEO of Wanee Sarl, a firm he co-founded in 2017, specializing in continuing education in digital technologies and computer engineering. He held this position until 2022.

Hachimou's academic background includes a higher technician diploma in industrial computing and maintenance, obtained in 2011 from the Cerco Institute in Benin. He furthered his education by earning an engineering degree in telecommunications in 2014 from the Multinational School of Telecommunications (EMST) in Dakar, Senegal.

Following his studies, Hachimou worked as a trainer for SES Satellites in Senegal and Niger. From 2015 to 2022, he also served as the West Africa representative for PoulSAT, a telecommunications company based in Washington D.C.

By Melchior Koba,

Editing by Sèna D. B. de Sodji