Economy

Entrepreneurs drilled on business managerial skills to enhance economic freedom.

Participants during workshop in Mbalmayo

Some entrepreneurs in the Nyong and So’o Division of the Centre Region have been equipped on business managerial skills in order to foster their economic freedom.
This was during a two-day workshop organised in Mbalmayo by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Centre, SBEC, of the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation.
The workshop, geared towards addressing some of the root causes of SME underperformance and access to employment in Cameroon, also targeted the empowerment of both women and youth entrepreneurs in the country.

The two-day capacity building programme ended Thursday May 16.

According to participants, the workshop was a welcome initiative that will bring a new dynamic in the functioning of their businesses.

One of the trainees, Anne Marie Makollo, head of an artisanal cereal processing enterprise known as Farine Bamisa Cam-Mbalmayo, applauded the timing of the training which ease them out of some challenges they have been faced with.

“We are going to change the way we do things. With the digitalisation system that is recommended to us, we believe that the work will be easier,” she stated. “Specifically, today's gain is the management spirit, projects will be more transparent and future projects will be facilitated,” Makollo assured.

In the same vein, another trainee, Kossi Valérie, a producer of natural pharmacopoeia and cosmetic products, highlighted that the skills acquired will optimise her business potentials.

“I learned how to use the Android phone wisely in my business, how to publish my products on Facebook, WhatsApp, and other digital platforms,” the entrepreneur explained.

Kossi further indicated that the workshop has enabled her to have a better mastery of writing a business plan for her business, which necessary in securing access to funding for her business.

“It was a very informative seminar, it enlightened me because sometimes we get confused, we don't know where to start, or where to go. I believe that at the end of this training, I would have a good level to be able to make my business prosper”. Kossi told reporters.

Entrepreneurs immortalising SBEC training workshop

Going by statistics from the National Institute of Statistics, NIS, about 90% of the labour force in Cameroon remains trapped in the informal sector, with women and youth being the most represented in this sector, due to several challenges they face.

According to the SBEC Assistant Manager, Nsengue Laurent Brice, the objective of the workshop was to empower the entrepreneurs with some business managerial skills.

“The entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country is not too favourable for the development of entrepreneurship for now. We made sure we gave the entrepreneurs the means to overcome these difficulties and make sure that their businesses are sustainable,” the SBEC Assistant Manager said.

He reiterated that: “Entrepreneurship is the base for all sustainable economies in the world, and Cameroon will not be an exception. Entrepreneurship creates jobs, fights against poverty, favours economic inclusion and that is what is necessary for an economy to grow”.

The Mbalmayo workshop is part of a projected being implemented by SBEC titled “Powering prosperity and economic freedom for women and youths in Cameroon.” The project offers a comprehensive training programme for young entrepreneurs for a period of six months to enable them to acquire viable skills in management and business, regulatory processes, finance and other capabilities necessary for overall improvement.