Diabel Seckis a self-made-man PanAfrican business leader whose journey as the CEO of Oumou Group is a masterclass in resilience and diversification even though he has not attended the classic schools. He was born in Ngayène Darou in the Saloum zone of Senegal and he started as a street vendor selling plastic bags, opened a shop in Dakar and faced rejection after being turned away from the USA and enduring a brief unsuccessful stint in Europe. Returning to Senegal with a renewed focus, he founded what began as Oumou Informatique, a modest IT venture that grew into the multinational powerhouse Oumou Group, which he leads with his wife and vice-president Fatou Seck. By securing ISO 9001 certification and forming high-level partnerships, Oumou Group became a diversified conglomerate specializing in technological solutions for sustainable development across biomedical, IT, agricultural, and energy sectors. The ‘‘success story’’ of Diabel Seck, who was honored with several distinctions and has been received by several Presidents of Countries, proves that with bold dreams and local expertise, African companies can compete on a global scale.
