SMEs minister, GECAM explore cooperation avenues to support local businesses.

This was the focus of an audience SMEs boss, Achille Bassilekin III, granted the new team of the Board of Directors of GeCAM. The meeting was held on June 11 in Yaounde.

Speaking during the audience, Minister Bassilekin III pointed out that the aim of the meeting was to develop useful and effective synergies and strategies that will place SMEs at the heart of public economic discourse.

He said GeCAM's desire to work with SMEs will enable these small businesses attract the attention of public authorities and support the actors who are on the front line of entrepreneurial activity in the country to find their rightful place.

“I realised that with GeCAM, there will be a more sustained dialogue than we have had in the past, which will be useful for the expansion of the economy and especially the achievement of the National Development Strategy NDS30,” the Minister stated. 

The President of GECAM, Célestin Tawamba, on his part, thanked the minister for the audience, which he said was an opportunity to present to him the new Board of Directors, and also to define a roadmap for their collaboration.

“We have diagnosed and understood several problems SMEs face today and we think now is the time for action to seek solutions for these challenges faced by small scale entrepreneurs. We believe we can bring concrete and quantifiable results by working closely together,” Tawamba stated.

He added that the collaboration between GeCAM, MINPMEESA and SMEs will cover several axes including strengthening mutual partnerships between stakeholders, raising awareness among SMEs on the legal and financial aspects of running small businesses, organise workshops and programs in favour of SMEs, and grant them access to the SME development centre that GeCAM created in 2016.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3141 of Friday June 14, 2024