Nominee: Amandine Pinto
Category: Woman Entrepreneur of the Year
Country Represented: Senegal πΈπ³
Introduction: An entrepreneur with a cross-continental vision
Entrepreneurship is not only about creating businesses. It is also about identifying opportunities, connecting people with resources and building systems that allow ideas to grow into sustainable ventures.
Amandine Pinto has built her professional journey around this broader vision. An entrepreneur and innovation ecosystem builder with roots in Martinique, she has developed initiatives connecting Senegal, the wider African continent and the Caribbean through technology, investment, business development and cultural enterprise.
Her work spans startup support, investor connections, entrepreneurship programmes and platforms that promote business communities. Through ventures including Dira Partners and Yama Hub, she has pursued opportunities to help entrepreneurs structure their businesses, connect with investors and engage with wider markets.
Her nomination for Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at WAFRIC Awards 2026, representing Senegal, recognises a professional journey shaped by initiative, cross-border collaboration and a commitment to developing entrepreneurial opportunities.
A family background that nurtured an entrepreneurial mindset
Pinto’s relationship with business began early. In an interview published by EWAG in 2024, she described growing up around her parents’ commerce and marketing activities and spending time helping her grandparents manage their service station.
These early experiences exposed her to the practical realities of running a business and interacting with customers. They also helped shape an approach to entrepreneurship that values initiative, adaptability and the willingness to take responsibility.
Her interests eventually extended beyond her home island. Influenced during her teenage years by the writings of Frantz Fanon and AimΓ© CΓ©saire, she developed an interest in the historical and cultural connections between the Caribbean and Africa.
That interest became more than an intellectual pursuit. It informed her decision to explore professional opportunities across the continent and helped establish the cross-cultural perspective that characterises much of her entrepreneurial work.
In 2021, Senegal became an important base for her ambitions. Pinto has described the country as a dynamic environment for entrepreneurship and innovation, and it was there that she developed businesses intended to connect founders, investors and wider professional networks.
Dira Partners: Helping startups prepare for growth
One of Pinto’s major entrepreneurial initiatives is Dira Partners, a business she co-founded in 2019 with associates from Senegal and Mauritania.
The firm focuses on supporting startups as they structure their businesses, prepare for growth and improve their ability to attract investment. This work addresses a significant challenge faced by many founders: having a promising idea is only one part of building a viable company. Entrepreneurs must also develop clear business models, communicate their value to potential investors and establish the structures needed to grow.
By working at the intersection of startup development and investment, Dira Partners positioned itself as a link between entrepreneurs seeking resources and the people or institutions capable of supporting their ambitions.
Pinto’s experience in the startup environment also informed her interest in building connections across geographical boundaries. Her professional vision recognises that businesses can benefit from access to wider networks, knowledge and capital beyond their immediate markets.
The company’s work reflects a broader understanding of entrepreneurship as an ecosystem: founders need more than motivation. They also need the relationships, expertise and resources that can help turn ideas into sustainable businesses.
Dira.ai: Using technology to connect entrepreneurs and investors
Pinto’s work also extended into digital innovation through Dira.ai, a tool launched in 2021 to connect entrepreneurs with investors using artificial intelligence.
The initiative sought to address the challenge of matching business projects with relevant investment opportunities. For founders, finding suitable investors can be difficult, particularly when networks are fragmented or when businesses lack access to established financial circles.
A technology-enabled matching approach offers a way to make these connections more accessible and systematic.
Dira.ai illustrates Pinto’s interest in applying digital tools to practical economic challenges. Rather than treating technology as an end in itself, the initiative focused on a specific need within the entrepreneurial environment: helping startups and investors find one another.
The Dira venture also received recognition at the Innovation Outre-Mer competition, where Pinto’s team won a Bpifrance innovation prize in 2021, according to her published professional biography.
This recognition provides a documented milestone in her journey and highlights the team’s work in developing solutions for entrepreneurs.
Sources: Diaspora Creatives β Amandine Pinto | SΓ©nΓ©galaises In Tech β professional profile
Yama Hub: Building a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem
Pinto’s work goes beyond individual businesses and digital products. She also founded Yama Hub, an initiative focused on supporting entrepreneurship and economic development through programmes, partnerships and events.
The organisation’s stated ambitions include helping startups access investment, developing projects and bringing together people working in innovation and the digital economy across Francophone Africa.
This ecosystem-building approach recognises that entrepreneurship flourishes when different parts of the business environment work together. Founders benefit from connections with investors, experienced professionals, institutions and other entrepreneurs who can share knowledge and open new opportunities.
By working to facilitate these connections, Yama Hub reflects Pinto’s wider vision of entrepreneurship as a collaborative process.
Her approach also highlights the importance of regional cooperation. Businesses operating in African markets can benefit from networks that reach beyond one country, while cross-border partnerships can create opportunities for knowledge exchange and expansion.
For Pinto, building these connections is an important part of helping entrepreneurial ideas move from early development toward wider economic participation.
Leadership in technology and the wider business community
Pinto’s experience also includes leadership within the technology and innovation ecosystem of Martinique. She previously served as the director general of Martinique Digitale and the French Tech Martinique label, where her work contributed to the development and visibility of the region’s startup and digital economy environment.
Her professional journey illustrates how entrepreneurship can intersect with institutional leadership. While building businesses requires the ability to develop products and pursue opportunities, ecosystem leadership involves bringing organisations together, supporting programmes and helping a wider community gain access to resources.
Her experience across startups, business support and institutional leadership has given her opportunities to work with different stakeholders and consider the conditions that help businesses develop.
This combination of practical enterprise and ecosystem development is a defining feature of her professional profile.
SΓ©nΓ©galaises In Tech: Expanding opportunities for women
A further dimension of Pinto’s work is her engagement with women’s participation in technology and entrepreneurship.
She is identified as the founder and president of SΓ©nΓ©galaises In Tech, a professional community intended to connect women working in technology and related fields. Its stated mission includes improving access to markets, role models, networking, advocacy and training opportunities.
These priorities address barriers that can limit women’s access to professional networks and business opportunities. Connections with experienced practitioners, mentors and potential partners can help women navigate their industries, develop their ideas and identify pathways for growth.
By supporting a community built around women’s participation in technology, Pinto has extended her entrepreneurial interests into the development of a wider professional network.
This work also complements her experience in startup support. Business growth depends not only on individual effort but also on the opportunities, relationships and knowledge available to entrepreneurs.
Her involvement in initiatives that promote women’s visibility and professional connections reflects a belief in building environments where more people can participate in innovation and economic development.
Source: SΓ©nΓ©galaises In Tech β Amandine Pinto’s professional profile
Beyond technology: Creating value through culture and luxury
Pinto’s entrepreneurial interests also extend into cultural and creative industries.
She co-founded Martinique Luxury, an initiative intended to showcase the Caribbean’s premium products, artisans, business leaders and cultural expertise. She has also developed Sunu Luxury, a platform focused on highlighting luxury-related businesses and creative talent in Senegal and the wider African context.
These initiatives reflect another dimension of her approach to entrepreneurship: identifying ways to give visibility to local expertise and connect it with broader audiences.
The luxury and creative sectors can provide opportunities for artisans, designers, entrepreneurs and cultural businesses to communicate the value of their work. Platforms that bring these players into view can help strengthen professional connections and support the development of a more organised business ecosystem.
For Pinto, this work sits alongside her technology and startup initiatives as part of a wider effort to build relationships between Africa and the Caribbean.
Across these different ventures, a common theme emerges: creating platforms through which people, businesses and ideas can reach new audiences and opportunities.
Sources: Diaspora Creatives β Amandine Pinto | EWAG β Amandine Pinto, entrepreneur beyond the seas
A vision connecting Senegal, Africa and the Caribbean
One of the most distinctive elements of Pinto’s career is its cross-continental character. Rather than focusing exclusively on one market or sector, she has pursued initiatives that connect people and opportunities across Africa and the Caribbean.
Her work in Senegal has involved startup support, investment facilitation, technology and professional networking. Her wider Caribbean activities have included digital-sector leadership and initiatives promoting cultural and business expertise.
These different experiences reflect a professional outlook that sees geography as a potential source of connection rather than a barrier to collaboration.
For entrepreneurs, cross-border relationships can create opportunities to exchange knowledge, reach new markets and identify partners with complementary expertise. Building those relationships requires an understanding of different business environments and the ability to bring people together around shared objectives.
Pinto’s career has been shaped by this type of work. Her businesses and professional initiatives provide examples of how entrepreneurship can combine commercial ambition with the development of wider networks.
Why Amandine Pinto is nominated for Woman Entrepreneur of the Year
The Woman Entrepreneur of the Year category at WAFRIC Awards 2026 offers an opportunity to recognise women whose entrepreneurial journeys demonstrate initiative, leadership and contributions to business and innovation.
Amandine Pinto’s professional record includes co-founding Dira Partners, launching Dira.ai, founding Yama Hub and engaging in initiatives that support women in technology and promote Caribbean and African business communities.
Her work spans several areas, but its connecting theme is the development of opportunities: helping entrepreneurs reach investors, encouraging collaboration between business communities and building platforms that bring professional talent into view.
Her nomination, representing Senegal, provides an opportunity to highlight this cross-border journey and invite audiences to learn more about her work.
It also draws attention to a broader understanding of entrepreneurship, one that includes not only the creation of companies but also the relationships and systems that help other businesses and professionals progress.
Support Amandine Pinto at WAFRIC Awards 2026
Amandine Pinto is nominated for Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, representing Senegal, at WAFRIC Awards 2026.
Her journey across startup development, digital innovation, business networking and ecosystem building offers supporters a story of initiative and cross-border collaboration.
Supporters can participate in the ongoing public voting through the official WAFRIC Awards voting platform. Follow WAFRIC Awards’ official channels for voting instructions, updates and announcements, and share her nomination with others who believe in celebrating African entrepreneurship and women’s leadership.
Celebrate women who build businesses, create connections and open new possibilities. Support your nominee at WAFRIC Awards 2026.
WAFRIC Awards 2026 β Celebrating African excellence, creativity and impact.
