SMEs membership into Approved Management Centres: Minister Bassilekin III launches 9th edition of awareness raising caravan in Kribi.

The opening ceremony took place on Tuesday, October 8, in Kribi, Ocean Division of the South Region. 

This year’s edition of the awareness raising caravan is under the theme: “AMCs, an essential link in the SMEs structuring and formalising process in the port of Kribi”. 

Stakeholders in this edition, include MINPMEESA, the Ministry of Finance, several other ministries, private institutions like Boissons du Cameroun, the National Social Insurance Fund, CNPS, and others. 

The other players involved are employers' associations such as Union of Cameroonian Enterprises, GeCAM, the AMCs umbrella organisation, financial institutions and insurance companies, approved public and private incubation structures, AMCs and development partners.

The meeting, we gathered, is holding at a time when the mission of the AMC is being disseminated among the production units located near the Kribi industrial port zone. 

This, it was said, is in order to encourage SMEs to join these centres and contribute to improving their structuring, profitability and competitiveness. 

Zoom on objective 

Established by the 1997 Finance Law governing the country’s financial system, AMCs are private bodies in the form of associations approved by the Ministry of Finance, MINFI. 

The purpose is to provide them assistance in accounting and tax management, and the fulfilment of various administrative obligations to individuals or legal entities with an annual turnover of 100,000,000 FCFA or less. AMCs also offer substantial tax benefits to member companies. 

According to the ministry, the choice of the port city of Kribi, for this 9th edition, is explained by the fact that it has seen an acceleration in the establishment of companies, particularly those in the processing sector, since it facilitates access to inputs and the proper export of goods to international markets.

The aim of this year's event, MINPMEESA furthered, is to encourage more of very small and small enterprises located around the Kribi industrial port zone to join the AMCs. 

The ministry said it will help to strengthen the structure of their businesses and ensure their migration from the informal sector to the formal economy. 

This, it was revealed, will involve deploying awareness-raising caravans on AMCs in the surroundings of regional and local authorities and in the city of Kribi. 

There are also plans of disseminating and raising awareness on AMCs among the main targets and the entire national entrepreneurial ecosystem; informing and raising awareness among at least 2,000 stakeholders about the tax benefits and other incentives inherent in membership to AMCs, the procedures to be completed in order to benefit from them, and the tax innovations in the Finance Law for the 2024 financial year. 

During the caravan, there will also be sessions on informing and raising awareness among stakeholders about the procedures for setting up an AMC, the services offered and their missions; building the capacities of AMC promoters with regard to the provisions of the new AMC terms of reference and the assistant inspector's guide; increase the number of operational AMCs and the number of new memberships, amongst them. 

The 9th edition of AMCs is structured around three types of activities. They include; training activities in the form of seminars and thematic workshops.

It also includes support and networking activities based on exchanges between all stakeholders and finally exhibition and promotional activities punctuated by an AMC and entrepreneurs' village and a mobile awareness-raising caravan on AMCs in the city of Kribi.

Since 2016, MINPMEESA has organised eight awareness-raising caravans in almost all regions of the country, in conjunction with sectoral administrations, public and private organisations and various partners. 

The chief towns of the Centre, Littoral, Far North, East, North, Adamawa and West regions hosted one edition. 

The towns of Kribi and Limbe, in the South West Region respectively, hosted these caravans. The 8th edition was held in the North West Region in Bamenda last year from July 4 to 5.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3255 of Thursday October 10, 2024