Socium, founded in 2021 by Samba Lo and Serigne Seye, provides payroll, recruitment and workforce management software to businesses across 21 Francophone African countries.
Cameroon’s ultimatum comes just weeks after the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) initiated a similar regulatory crackdown across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
The company has raised $19 million since inception, supplemented by $20 million from contract chip design — a necessity in a region where deep-tech funding is scarce.
Africa’s mid-market businesses — often too large for microfinance but too small or risky for traditional bank lending — face an estimated $330 billion annual financing shortfall, according to the African Development Bank.
The 2025 Finance Act has been a game-changer, eliminating a 12.5% excise duty on EVs and offering a 50% tax break on batteries and charging infrastructure for two years.
Socium, founded in 2021 by Samba Lo and Serigne Seye, provides payroll, recruitment and workforce management software to businesses across 21 Francophone African countries.
Sixteen months later, on a hot July day in 2026, Egypt's finance minister, Ahmed Kouchouk, returned to a company whose public frustration had once laid bare the country's industrial bureaucracy.
