Pilot programme
An assistant in your city, on your working day, invoiced in your currency.
Vetted assistants in Cotonou, Lomé and Abidjan, working with businesses across the CFA franc zone. One working day, one language, and no cross-border transfer to explain to your bank.
The pilot
What this is, plainly
We place vetted assistants with businesses across Francophone West Africa, working in French, on your hours, billed in your currency.
- Assistants apply from Cotonou, Lomé and Abidjan. Every one of them is interviewed by a person before appearing on this page.
- Clients are businesses in the eight countries of the West African Monetary Union, which share one currency.
Vetting, counted
1
applications received
0
accepted
Both numbers are read from our database when this page loads. They are the same numbers our own team works from.
Pricing
What it costs
- We charge the client 15% of billed hours. The assistant is charged nothing.
- We take no foreign-exchange spread. Inside the CFA franc zone there is no conversion to take one on.
- Quotes and invoices are in CFA francs (XOF). The assistant sets their own rate; we do not set it for them.
- Pilot pricing. If it turns out to be wrong for this market we will change it and say so, rather than discount quietly.
Scope
What we sell, and what we do not
What we do
- A named person in Cotonou, Lomé or Abidjan who does the work you hand over, in French.
- Hours you can see. The assistant records them and invoices through us; you approve the invoice.
- One working day and one currency, so a call is not at three in the morning and a payment is not a cross-border transfer.
What we do not sell
- Access to your systems. An assistant works in their own tools, and in yours only where you invite them, one account at a time.
- A team you never meet. You interview the person who will do the work, and you know their name.
- Anything the assistant has to pay for. No training fee, no certification fee, no placement fee, not now, not later.
If one of those three is what you were hoping to buy, we are the wrong supplier. We would rather say so on this page than in month three.
How it is arranged
How the work is arranged
- Your data stays in the systems you already use. We hold your contact details and your engagement records, and nothing else.
- You set the scope and approve the work. The assistant sets their own rate and their own hours, invoices you through us, and is neither our employee nor yours.
Questions
Four questions this page does not otherwise answer
Do I have to be in the CFA franc zone?
For the pilot, yes. It is the eight countries that share the franc, and that is the whole reason there is no conversion in the middle of your invoice. If you are outside it, write to us and we will tell you honestly whether we can help yet.
What if nobody in the cohort does the work I need?
Then we say so, and you keep your money. This is a small first cohort by design, and telling you it is the wrong fit costs us less than placing someone who is.
Which hours does the assistant actually work?
Theirs, and they overlap with yours: Cotonou, Lomé and Abidjan share your working day. Exact hours are agreed with the assistant before anything starts, and they set them.
What happens after I join the list?
A person reads what you wrote and replies, usually within two working days. If there is somebody suitable, you meet them and decide. If there is not, we tell you that instead.