Our Purpose
Unleash the constraints of the rural Africa
There are disadvantages that people have to tolerate by living in a rural area. Even if they choose to go to cities for job opportunities, they have to pay a high cost of living and live away from their family. Dots for Inc. exists to eliminate such disadvantages and build a world for everyone to choose where to live without feeling inconvenience.
Message From CEO
What is the image that comes to mind when you hear the word “Africa?”
When we start talking about Africa, many people seem to think first of either a “poverty-stricken Africa” or a “rapidly developing Africa."
But when we actually visit rural villages, we find an Africa that is neither.
We see people who are poor, but who live really happily, talking with their families and neighbors over a cup of tea, laughing, singing, dancing, etc. On the other hand, they are stuck in poverty for reasons beyond their individual control and are in a very vulnerable position where the slightest negative impact, like a car accident or bad weather, can put a family's livelihood at risk. Many adults are forced to leave their families and migrate to cities to work, seeing their families only a few times a year.
We, Dots for, believes that communication and digitalization are the key to changing these lives. We want to create a world where people in rural Africa can stay with their families and friends in the villages where they were born and raised, while being connected to the world, and having access to a variety of opportunities and income increases taken for granted. We will realize this world, which has already been established in most countries and regions, especially in developed countries, in rural Africa where people have been left behind because of their low income.
CARLOS OBA
Benin office
Our Core Value Statements
Everything for customers
Everything we do is done to maximize the value delivered to our customers.
Trust all "dots"
We treat everyone with respect and believe that each of them is a "Dot" with the potential to change the world.
Shake your heart
We create moments that make our heart tremble as we pursue our beliefs.
Prove your value for the world
We must have a mission to prove the meaning of our existence through our own actions.
Tumble first
We are not afraid to fall down. A failure is not a failure if we have the opportunity to get up and learn a lot.
Be modest explorers
We must realize that we don't know what we don't know, we continue to search for a better world and continue our adventure to expand our world.
Stand on your feet
We doubt the well-known problems and taken for granted, and act based on your own experiences and thoughts as the party concerned.
Our Mission
Bridging the Digital Divide: Closing the Information and Opportunity Gap for 3.5 Billion People Through the Power of Connectivity and Technology
Today, around 3.5 billion people around the world live in what is known as the digital divide — a state where individuals are unable to access or benefit from digital technologies and internet connectivity. Due to both economic and geographic barriers, they have been left behind by the wave of digitalization and access to communication networks. This situation has created a huge information and opportunity gap between rural residents and the rest of the population, which in turn has created a serious income disparity. In Africa, internet penetration remains below 30%. However, traditional telecom operators have little incentive to make large investments in infrastructure for these regions, where populations are widely dispersed and income levels are low. As a result, the digital divide continues to persist with no clear sign of improvement.
Dots for uses a local communication network to build digital platforms for rural users who cannot access the internet. Through these platforms, we provide a variety of useful smartphone-based services, helping to close the digital divide and solve the challenges that rural communities face through the power of communication and technology.
Our Approach
From Isolation to Connection
In the past, information was mainly exchanged in person within the village. Dots for enables access to information and opportunities beyond the village through digital communication. This helps bridge the information and opportunity gaps, and brings new options and perspectives to rural areas.
Our Services
The distributed wireless network technology "d.CONNECT"
d.Connect is a distributed wireless network technology that selectively transmits through multiple wireless routers in a distributed manner, unlike the conventional star network centered on a base station. d.Connect will be installed in each rural village scattered across Africa, where the Internet communication network is still underdeveloped, using this technology, which is now in widespread use, to provide constant Internet access and various online services running on it.
Digitalization of Rural Areas realized by "Smartphone Installment Sales”
To facilitate access to our d.Connect and better navigation for villagers, we sell them smartphone for which they are required to pay per week.
Digitization of rural areas achieved through the sale of the very low-cost internet connection
Achieving digitization in rural areas hinges on the widespread availability of extremely affordable internet connections. By making these connections accessible at minimal cost, rural communities can harness the transformative power of digital technology to bridge socioeconomic gaps and drive inclusive development.
Our News
Dots for launches printing and copying business in rural Africa through capital and business alliance with Brother Industries
Dots for has entered into a capital and business alliance with Brother Industries to promote a "village printing service" that enables printing and copying in villages through the digitization of rural Africa, utilizing Brother's inkjet multifunction printers. One of the information and opportunity gaps in rural Africa, caused by a lack of basic infrastructure, is the inability to copy and print within the village. The two companies believe that a partnership will significantly contribute to resolving printing and copying issues in rural areas, and have therefore decided to further this initiative through this capital and business alliance. Read the full article here 🔽 https://global.brother/en/news/2025/250805cba
Dots for won prize at Osaka EXPO 2025 "Business Idea Contest Aiming to Solve Refugee Issues”
Dots for was a finalist and won the "Business Idea Contest for Addressing Issues in Refugee-Affected Areas" (hosted by JICA and co-hosted by the UNHCR Japan Office and Welcome Japan) held at the Kansai-Osaka Expo on Sunday, August 3rd. Tomoka Dusabe and Ange NOUTCHOGBE participated on behalf of Dots for. They chose Uganda, home to 1.9 million refugees from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as their stage, and explained how their decentralized communications and digital services can help bridge the income gaps faced by refugees due to information and opportunity gaps. As a result of their winning, they have received support for travel to Uganda. They plan to set up DC Boxes in refugee settlements and begin providing services immediately. Related links: 🔽 https://theme-weeks.expo2025.or.jp/program/detail/671a0e8bdac57.html
Dots for Inc., Republic of Senegal / Study to verify the effectiveness of a charging platform that solves the issue of non-electrification in digitized rural Africa, selected for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's FY2024 supplementary budget Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation Project Subsidy (Small-scale Demonstration/FS Project)
Dots for Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Hiroya Oba) announced that its Republic of Senegal / Study to Confirm the Effectiveness of a Charging Platform to Solve the Issue of Un-Electrified Rural Africa was selected for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's FY2024 Supplementary Fund for Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation Projects (Small-Scale Demonstration/FS Project). The project aims to investigate the effectiveness of a smartphone charging station in the Republic of Senegal that utilizes surplus power from the company's wireless communication and power supply one-stop product. https://gs-hojo-web-fspoc.jp/index.html
With APTO,We have started a business partnership
APTO Inc. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative: Ryo Takashina ) has entered into a business partnership with Dots for to strengthen AI data collection, creation, and dataset provision. Starting with this partnership, we plan to expand our image datasets captured in African environments, acquire multilingual audio data, and provide natural language data. To date, sample image datasets of "African road signs" and "vehicles" have been released (featured on Hugging Face). Read the full article here 🔽 https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000117.000053927.html
Our CEO, Carlos Oba appears on J-WAVE STEP ONE's SAISON CARD ON THE EDGE radio show
Our CEO, Carlos Oba appeared on J-WAVE Radio's "SAISON CARD ON THE EDGE." He spoke about the local reality and possibilities of doing business in West Africa. Listen it here🔽 *Distribution has now ended. http://radiko.jp/share/?sid=FMJ&t=20250623100840
Take the right step,
do the big things.
Villages visited
Paying customer
Countries
Customers data
We are available year-round to respond to inquiries regarding partnerships, market research, and investment opportunities in Africa.
Blog
June 27, 2025
At Dots for, we believe that transformation has no borders. What began as a bold idea in Japan has now traveled across the African continent—from Benin to Senegal and now, most recently, to Zambia. Just days ago, our team successfully installed the first DC box in Zambia. A new geography, a different rhythm—but the same mission and the same village-centered approach. We still follow the same commitment to building trust and our belief that technology, skills, and opportunity should be within everyone’s reach, no matter where they live didn't change. By expanding our reach, we’re connecting all the dots. From East Asia to West Africa and now Southern Africa, our model adapts, but our vision remains: unlock rural potential by enabling people, empowering communities, and creating access to a better future. As one school principal in Zambia shared after experiencing our DC video service: 🗣️ “I am proud that what you have developed in Benin and Senegal also works in Zambia, far away from where we are.” Crossing borders doesn’t mean changing who we are, it rather means bringing our purpose to new places, with humility, passion, and people at the center of everything. We’ve only just begun. 🌍✨
June 13, 2025
At Dots for, progress is built on shared effort. Small, purposeful actions that link together across time, space, and roles. Tasks started by one are pushed forward, piece by piece, by others in the chain. One person begins a task, another picks it up. A teammate supports from the ground, another brings it to completion above. When one part is done, it flows naturally into the next. This is how we move: together, in perfect relay. From Benin to Senegal and more, every service we deliver and every life we impact is the product of this chain. We work hand in hand—passing ideas, responsibilities, and support across borders, departments, and time zones. This spirit is not only practical but also symbolic. It reflects what we believe in at our core: collaboration, trust, and shared purpose. This chain is the reason we’ve come this far on our journey to unleash the constraints of rural Africa. It’s what allows us to keep growing, adapting, and innovating—without losing pace, quality, or care. And like any strong chain, its strength lies in each link—each person, each contribution, each “dot”.
May 16, 2025
At Dots for, we believe that true progress comes from bringing people together. In rural Africa, we are working to bridge generations, genders, and communities through our services. One of the most remarkable things we witness in the communities we serve is how our services become a focal point for everyone, regardless of age or background. You might see an elderly person standing side by side with a teenager, both engaged with one of our devices, or young children curiously watching as we set up new connections. All of them are drawn to the same spot—a single “dot” where our team members are tirelessly working to make connectivity a reality. Our initiatives naturally create linkages. In many villages, you can find men and women, young and old, gathered around one of our dedicated team members, sharing stories, learning new things, and finding common ground. These spontaneous gatherings remind us that technology has the power to connect not only places but people of all kinds. Every connection we make is about creating moments where diverse individuals come together, share experiences, and find new opportunities. That’s the heart of what we do at Dots for: connecting communities, connecting all dots.
What is our corporate color would be
?
At first we chose green as our African color, but after a while we noticed that the color of the walls and roofs of the houses where our customers live in rural villages was “Aka-sabi” (rust-red). Aka-sabi really matches our vision
We picked up "Aka-sabi" from the below two reasons:
- In the field, we can see this color very often.(road, house, roof & etc.. ) I think this color definitely represents the daily lives of our customers. We chose this color considering our most important core value, "Everything for customer".
- When you see Google map, you would notice you can see many dots with this color. This color represents "dots" having the potential to change the world.