For over 17 years, he worked in the African telecommunications sector. As the head of Silikin Village in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he is working to create a dynamic entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Raymond Mendy (photo) is a Senegalese entrepreneur and business leader. He is a graduate of the University of Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC), where he earned a master's in administration (1999). He also holds an executive certificate in international marketing (2009) from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. In 2020, he was appointed as the head of the incubator Silikin Village based in Kinshasa, DR Congo.

As the general manager, he oversees the development and implementation of the incubator’s strategy to search, attract and integrate deserving and qualified entrepreneurs and startups. He also supervises the development of partnerships with other incubators and accelerators to build entrepreneurial programs supported by donors and development partners. 

Silikin Village, which he manages, is an entrepreneurship and innovation hub established in the heart of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the TEXAF Group, a publicly traded company focusing on real estate and the digital, among others. It claims to be a catalyst for start-ups and companies whose mission is to identify talent and develop innovative products and services.

“With the challenges related to access to infrastructure, youth employability, and competitiveness facing the Congolese economy, Silikin Village offers its support service for the development of the economic fabric by providing workspaces as well as training and coaching for entrepreneurs/start-ups and SMEs,” Raymond Mendy said in  2022.

Currently, apart from his duties at Silikin Village, the entrepreneur is also a strategic advisor to e-waste management startup SetTIC and Maishapay Fintech. He is also one of the directors of the digital communication platform LAfricaMobile. In 2018, in Senegal, he co-founded Di-Smart, a digital company offering website creation, mobile application development, and business automation services.

He entered the professional world in 1999 when he joined the telecom company OneTel as a business process analyst. In 2001, he joined Millicom as a revenue assurance manager before being promoted to the position of financial analyst in 2003. In 2005, he was hired by Celtel International as a revenue assurance manager. 

In April 2006, he became the Country Manager of Exp Agency in Cameroon. Seven months later, in the DRC, he was appointed Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management Manager by telecom operator Zain. In March 2009, he was promoted to head the company's marketing segments.

Eight months later, he joined Airtel DRC as Marketing Manager. Then, in 2011, Airtel appointed him as marketing director in Niger before he became the CEO in 2014. In 2018, he was hired as the regional business development manager of Wari, in Senegal. The following year, he was appointed general manager of startup incubator CTIC Dakar, a position he held until 2020. 

Melchior Koba