The systems engineer considers the digital sector a goldmine of opportunities for the Chadian youth. Instead of using words to convince the youth of that reality, he chose to take action and led the way. To succeed in his bid, he even took courses to ensure he can offer effective support. 

Hamid Khayar Defallah (photo) is the founder and CEO of incubator Chad Innovation. The software engineer created Chad Innovation in 2018 to help young people improve their living conditions. The incubator organizes training sessions, debates, and forums to let participants present their ideas, pick up project ideas and get support for the implementation of their various projects.  

Although Chad Innovation was created in 2018, it started breeding in its founder’s mind in 2014 when he made an appalling realization as a teacher at the University of N’Djamena. Indeed, it dawned on him that after graduation, it was difficult for most students to get jobs. So, he started reflecting on how such laborforce can be absorbed. “That is how I got the idea to create an innovation space where ideas can be discussed to detect the most innovative,” Hamid explains. 

He started maturing the idea in 2016 after he completed an entrepreneurship training program at the University of Texas. Two years later, the incubator was officially launched. However, it is not the first venture launched by Hamid. In 2013, the latter co-founded the IT service firm Africatech World of Technology, after years of polishing his skills in the digital sector considered a goldmine of opportunities for the youth.  

After an internship at the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), he joined the now-defunct public broadcasting corporation ONRTV in 2012 as a technical support engineer. 

He left ONRTV in 2015 and joined the Chadian research and development center CNRD as a research assistant and IT manager. While still officiating at the CNRD, he completed a two-month internship at the Global Entrepreneurship Network, learning how to build a startup ecosystem. When he left the CNRD in 2017, he was recruited as an IT manager for Radisson Blu Hotel N'Djamena.

Since December 2020, the tech entrepreneur is the director general of the Chadian digital transition agency. 

Melchior Koba