Cameroonian Wins Big Investment – And Canadian Hearts

A clip from a Canadian television show is being widely shared on social media, showing Cameroonian entrepreneur Gilles Tchiana winning $60,000 (£39,000) in investment – 10 times the amount he originally bid for.

The food manufacturer, whose company is based in the Canadian city of Toronto, also won the hearts of the investors by sharing his personal story of perseverance that led him from Cameroon to Italy and eventually to Canada.

Tchiana won the investment on Dragon’s Den, a programme in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors called “Dragons” in order to win financial backing.

Tchiana’s jollof rice recipe and business acumen led to an offer of $600,000 (£390,000) from businessman Wes Hall, prompting Tchiana to reply: “This is a great moment for me. Since I came to Canada, I have been dreaming of this,” moving the panel to tears.

Social media users have been sharing how inspired they are by Tchiana’s success story and even joking that the disputes over which African nation makes the best jollof may now be over…