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Young graduate of the Ecole Supérieure des Jeunes Dirigeants du Bâtiment (ESDJB) in Manosque, France, Messina Paratte Guikoume, is a civil engineer. After her studies, she decided not only to secure her job by creating her business but also to put her know-how at the service of the continent where she came from. Eight years later, MESSIBAT INTERNATIONAL is making its way in an environment hostile to women. First in Cameroon and now in Benin and Togo, it is as a knowledgeable entrepreneur that she tells us about her young and ambitious company.
MESSIBAT INTERNATIONAL, what is it?
MESSIBAT INTERNATIONAL is a construction company launched since 2008 in France and Cameroon. That same year, she was a finalist for the Women’s Business Creation Prize in Marseille. It is the ambition of a modern, sustainable and ecological habitat and all its accessories (construction of boreholes, supply and installation of solar panels, etc.) whose leitmotif can be summed up in three key words: Respect, Rigor and Success ..
How does a company with innovative ideas like yours manage to find its place in a country where absolute anarchy reigns in the construction, urban planning and civil engineering sectors?
Paradoxically, in an environment hostile to innovation, as regards the building sector, there are now notable advances even if a lot remains to be done. However, it took me some daring and tenacity to start a business. For almost ten years, I have demonstrated that a woman can succeed and impose herself in this exclusively male and macho environment. However, for me, it is not about claiming equality, but about arguing for complementarity and showing that there are no areas of competence exclusively reserved for men.
Your flagship project is called "AFFORDABLE HOUSING". These are less expensive houses made from local materials such as stabilized earth bricks and stones. What are the advantages ?
Earthen houses are amazing and valuable in that they are durable and inexpensive because the main element is the earth which is initially free. Stabilized earth bricks are above all an ecological building material, very insulating and resistant. By having the land for free, it is obvious that this lowers the cost and therefore allows us to offer our services at non-competitive prices. Hence the project "AFFORDABLE HOUSING" to which we invite all those who intend to build a box to subscribe.
Who is your main target? Have you been inspired by a model like mushroom villages in the West for example?
Our main target is the peri-urban and rural African population. She who needs more decent and modern housing.
Demographic forecasts predict the African population will double by 2050. The demand for housing is therefore growing, and the local institutions responsible and concerned with the well-being of their populations are looking for economic solutions for the construction of social housing, solid, at a controlled cost. The idea of mushroom villages appeals to me but it was not an inspiration for this project.
MESSIBAT INTERNATIONAL wants to provide African solutions to the problems we have in Africa in terms of housing. We have the expertise, the ability and the skill.
After Cameroon you are on the verge of internationalizing MESSIBAT by opening the doors to West Africa. Should we believe that this region offers more opportunities and guarantees of success in the field?
Yes ! Today, MESSIBAT INTERNATIONAL is going international and opening two subsidiaries in West Africa: TOGO and GHANA.
West Africa has a much healthier business climate than Cameroon.
There is a real political will to support entrepreneurs unlike Cameroon, where nothing is easy.
In West Africa, to name only TOGO and GHANA, we were very well received by the Ministers of Housing who are truly committed to a housing policy for all and ecological for their populations.
There are many scams in real estate projects. Our compatriots in the Diaspora are regularly paying the price. Why trust MESSIBAT INTERNATIONAL?
MESSIBAT INTERNATIONAL's references speak for themselves. Customers in our portfolio such as TOTAL, SOGEA SATOM, SOCIETE GENERALE, ORANGE to name but a few and many individuals, for whom we have successfully carried out construction sites are proof, if necessary, of our professionalism, seriousness and good faith.
What guarantee do you offer to those of the skeptical compatriots of the diaspora and how to contact you?
As a pledge of our seriousness and our professionalism, to our diaspora customers in addition to a construction contract in good standing and a ten-year insurance from which each of our customers benefits, we also offer site monitoring to remotely, thanks to our video system which allows our clients living abroad to follow the stages of the construction of their property in real time. We also provide our clients with a work execution schedule that allows them to pay for their site as the work progresses.
Our goal is to provide a realistic housing solution combining affordable prices and respect for the environment in cities and rural areas in Africa.
