During the fourth edition of Gitex Africa, held in Marrakech, Senegal featured prominently in the program. On April 9th, a Tech Talk brought together public authorities, entrepreneurs, and investors around the theme: "Senegal: An Innovation Hub." Several young Senegalese companies presented their solutions through short presentations designed to convince partners and stakeholders in the technology ecosystem.

Among the exhibitors was Ousmane Ndieguene, Chief Product Officer of Jamora Technologie. The company is behind the Sendon project, a digital platform dedicated to managing blood donations. The project is based on an observation made within the Senegalese healthcare system. Ousmane Ndieguene explains the origin of the initiative: “Sendon is an initiative that arose from an observation. We realized that in Senegal, when hospitals need blood, it is sometimes difficult to contact donors. Often, we resort to social media, posting on WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.”

According to him, this method of mobilization causes delays that can prove critical in certain situations. "And so, we realized that before a potential donor, a compatible donor, can receive the information and go donate, it can take time. And during that time, problems can arise. Therefore, we came up with the idea of a platform that would allow hospitals to send alerts directly," he continues. The proposed solution aims to facilitate connections between healthcare facilities and donors. "And we, for our part, will directly target donors who are compatible and who, therefore, will be able to come and donate blood," explains the project manager.

The platform anticipates the involvement of several actors in the blood transfusion system. Ousmane Ndieguene indicates that the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS) is a key partner in this system: “First, the platform must be managed by the CNTS, since it is responsible for managing all blood donations nationwide. But then, hospitals will use it under the CNTS's mandate. So the CNTS will authorize them to use the platform.”

Their project also relies on the creation of a donor database. The Jamora Technologie team plans an enrollment phase to identify volunteers. To this end, Ndieguene outlines the planned steps: "So we're going to try to have a fairly robust donor database, primarily in collaboration with the CNTS (National Blood Transfusion Center), a partnership we are currently seeking. Following that, we'll also launch an awareness campaign to encourage people to register on the platform." This database should then allow for the rapid mobilization of compatible donors when hospitals report a need. The project manager explains that the alerts will directly target donors matching the required medical criteria.

In recent months, Senegal has been severely impacted by cyberattacks. Given this reality, data protection is another crucial aspect of the platform, particularly through authorization and authentication processes. Data storage is also a key focus: "The data will not be stored elsewhere. Therefore, we will strive to store it in Senegal to contribute to promoting data sovereignty and, of course, to prevent the data from being transferred elsewhere."

The development team incorporates specialized skills in this field. Ousmane Ndieguene reveals that cybersecurity specialists are participating in the project to implement a system deemed robust and secure. The idea for Sendon also stems from a personal experience of a team member. "One of our team members has a personal story. His aunt needed blood. So he sent us requests asking us to resend the same WhatsApp post."

This situation highlighted the limitations of appeals disseminated on social media. Ousmane Ndieguene added that the team had already considered the issue before this event. According to him, simply posting a message does not guarantee that compatible donors will receive the information in a timely manner. This concern reinforced the desire to develop a more targeted tool. Technically, the solution comprises several components. The system includes two web applications for hospitals and a mobile application for donors.

The project is still in the development phase, but the minimum viable product appears to be complete. Jamora Technologie already benefits from government support through the Govathon program. The company is now seeking collaboration with the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS) or with hospitals to test the solution in the field and evaluate its performance under real-world conditions.