Promoting ‘Made in Cameroon’: SMEPA donates equipment to SMEs, hands ILO certificates to business consultants.

The items were donated thanks to funding from the Government of Cameroon and the French Development Agency. 

The kits included simple refractory equipment for humidity testing, thermometres, scaling machines, alcoholmetres, cooling machines, sealing machines and others, to ensure quality control and proper packaging.

The donation of equipment follows a diagnostic study carried out in 2017 by SMEPA, which established that the Agro-Industrial sector is one of the major keys to boosting wealth creation and improving the living condition of citizens. 

Despite the role the sector is projected to play, local agri-food and cosmetic products, widely consumed by Cameroonians, are not present on the market because of poor packaging and inability to meet standards set by regulators. 

Presenting the items to the beneficiaries, the Deputy General Manager of SMEPA, Ewusi Eric Mbongo, said the equipment would help beneficiaries ensure an increase in the marketability of their products. 

“We gave equipment to enterprises that we have been training since 2019, where we have been having training with micro, medium and small enterprises in making them formal and for those who are formal, but have rudimentary equipment, to ensure that they improve on their equipment and activities,” Ewusi said.

He said the equipment will make local products competitive both in the local and international markets.

Ewusi enjoined beneficiaries to use the equipment wisely to benefit themselves and their communities. 

“…use the products wisely, it is a gift from the government because the government has a vested relationship with small businesses which helps to create employment and wealth,” he said.

Drive to promote Made in Cameroon

The donation of the equipment and the training offered to the SMEs, SMEPA officials said, is part of the government’s drive to promote the Made in Cameroon by inducing national industrialisation through the transformation and value addition of local raw materials, stimulating wealth creation in order to increase national GDP. 

SMEPA Deputy General Manager said the donation comes after four years of working closely with the SMEs in the South West, through the Integrated Programme for the Valorisation and Transformation of Farm products and Agrifood Industries, TRANSFAGRI. 

This, he said, enabled them to understand the needs of the enterprises such as equipment to upgrade their productivity and quality of products. 

Ewusi said the donation is a continuation of the numerous projects implemented by SMEPA in the region including the training of Business Consultants, Packaging and other Business Development Services. 

He said in line with the Programme Start and Improve Your Business, SIYB, which went operational in 2019, close to 200 SME consultants have been trained in the North West and South West Regions. 

Eighteen consultants were handed ILO certificates; seven from the South West and 11 from the North West Region.

Deputy GM with beneficiaries after the ceremony

Beneficiaries thank SMEPA

Speaking to the press after receiving the equipment, Lekeya Foletia Catherine, said the items will enable them to produce products that can fetch them more benefits. 

“This equipment will be a great encouragement to my colleagues and me, because, for all these years, we did not even know where we were going. We are grateful for such a gesture, which will help us produce more and make more returns on our investment,” she said.

On his part, Nembu Milton, who received the ILO certificate, said the recognition was a welcome one, since it gave him the status to shine locally and internationally as an SME consultant. 

“This is a good gesture to Cameroon in particular and Africa in general, where 44 million small businesses are created every ten years and 70% close in the 10th year, we hope this endeavour will help keep more businesses in place,” Nembu said.