University of Ebolowa: 70 MFCFA for business incubation projects.

The support, which includes the setting up financing, monitoring and technically evaluating projects at the institution’s incubation centre, was as a result of a partnership agreement between the MINPMEESA and the University of Ebolowa.

Signed recently in Yaounde, the agreement also provides that MINPMEESA will issue ENSET Ebolowa a grant of 70 million FCFA for the current academic year, as well as ensure that training modules and support systems comply with current standards. 

According to the Rector of the University of Ebolowa, Prof Etoa Etoa, the partnership will be gradually consolidated in the months ahead. He commended MINPMEESA for its commitment to the Head of State’s vision of having student entrepreneurs.

“This opportunity offered to us, to support our students with an entrepreneurial spirit, will ensure that student entrepreneurs thrive and blossom in our environment,” Prof Etoa Etoa stated. 

He further assured Minister Bassilekin III that the university will ensure that students are supervised in accordance with the validated training modules and support systems.

Prof Etoa Etoa said the University of Ebolowa and ENSET will collaborate with MINPMEESA in the development of its incubation activities, making sure they are structured in compliance with regulatory requirements and technical specifications and to ensure that its teaching programmes in the field of entrepreneurship are consistent with the National Development Strategy, NDS30.

The Rector added that his institution will, at regular intervals, present MINPMEESA with an account of how the support granted is being used.

For his part, Minister Bassilekin III highlighted that the partnership is a part of his ministry’s dynamic collaboration with State Universities to promote entrepreneurship and incubation policies. 

Minister Bassilekin III added that it is for this reason that MINPMEESA has, for the 2023-2024 academic year, allocated 214 million FCFA to the incubation centres of the University Institute of Wood Technology in Mbalmayo and the National Higher Polytechnic Institute, NAHPI, of the University of Buea, as well as ENSET of the University of Ebolowa.

All these, he said, fall in line with the government’s determination, to enhance the employability of young people by putting in place an ecosystem conducive for the emergence of competitive entrepreneurs who can create jobs and wealth.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3151 of Thursday June 27, 2024