Personality of The Week: Shinwin Soh Boma Donatus; Interim GM, Investment Promotion Agency.

But cast-iron facts are almost everywhere to ascertain that most institutions and public office holders in Cameroon are not just underperforming, moribund and wasteful but some of those who head them are inefficient and lost.

Thus, for decades, billions of FCFA are being pumped into several of such institutions with little or nothing to show for. Shockingly, the Boards of those institutions never raise a finger! Rather, Board of Directors are always in the news hailing managers while the population can’t testify of any gains made.

One of such areas that have been hollowing the public till is the many trips public office holders make abroad. As recent as in 2023 and 2024, the Head of State, Paul Biya, even came out strong, ordering for a cut in such foreign trips that have been judged fruitless.

In terms of contribution to growth and responsibility to inform the public, our institutions are outlaws. People act with impunity, lacking the humility to tell citizens what is happening where they have been placed to serve.

This week, something uncommon in Cameroon happened at the Investment Promotion Agency, IPA. The leadership of the institution found reason to update citizens about its recent outings at the African Chief Executive Officer, CEO Meeting in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, United Arab Emirates, UAE, and India.

It is a development that has broken the tradition of office holders thinking that once reports are sent either to the Head of State, Prime Minister’s Office, citizens are not entitled to know. 

The development under the able leadership of the Interim General Manager of IPA, Boma Donatus, sustaining good vertical and horizontal relations in terms of reporting on it works, has been elevated to high heavens.

At The Guardian Post, our readers, thousands of whom are spread across the Diaspora, have further judged the decision of the results-oriented Interim General Manager to communicate on the fruits of what he and his team used public money to do, as inspiring.

He told the nation this week that during the three-country trip, the IPA finalised four important deals and made contacts with 200 potential investors, who took interest in destination Cameroon. 

Boma mentioned AIM Foundation in Abu Dhabi, AMBAD Industries and Manufacturing Association, AIMA in India, Indian Golden Investment Consortium, IGIC, and Cobo Square as companies finalising work to invest in Cameroon.

The unassuming and level-headed public servant said the investors they engaged are in the sectors of road construction, agriculture, solar energy, ICTs, airport infrastructure, agro-industry among others. 

Across the length and breadth of our teaming audience, the reading has been resounding that Boma Donatus fits for another glowing experience, exposure, extra-terrestrial commendation and golden documentation as Cameroon’s undisputed personality of this week.

It is the second of such public applause fitting for Personality of The Week in seven months for Boma. But for the happenings and persons that are shaping 2025, he is the 18th choice of readers of The Guardian Post, the undisputed most regularly published, widely read and cherished newspaper in the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS.

Our readers say, Boma Donatus could be a quiet character, not regular on the screens, newspaper pages and radio airwaves but his appearance this season as Personality of The Week, is based on the undeniable evidences of his commitment to work genuinely and selflessly for country.

Admirers say while most persons spend time pontificating and gesticulating to love Cameroon, whereas they are wolves, Boma is the dogged hero excelling in solving the equation of boosting investments back home to create wealth and jobs for millions of unemployed Cameroonians.

At a time the country is racing to make meaning of the National Development Strategy, 2020-2030, SND30, accountable servant like Boma Donatus, our readers say, must be saluted for availing himself as a vital building block.

Your Personality of The Week, for many, is a wonder and an inspiration at the same time for deciding to give meaning to expenditures made on behalf of the people of Cameroon and at the same time showing the results of such outings.

Boma Donatus, they are saying, has shown that he is a character not only made of integrity but a patriot full of love, not just for country but for its people. 

He is being celebrated in several quarters as a man of high moral values for opting to update the public and not waiting to be running around like others when misinformation and rumour override good works. 

Many are hailing him as not just a good shepherd leading IPA but a restrained leader further expanding the shores of the institution placed under his control.

Your Personality of The Week is a seldom interplanetary icon who understands the secrets of business diplomacy and is conquering new terrains.   

He is the master of short term and long-term value creation across key sectors on which the country is leaning to build its future.  Boma Donatus, it being uttered loudly and rightly so, is shining this season because he is the servant that has been doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. 

He works with his conscience for the people and nation and not to be seen.  This exceptional negotiator, inviting personality and levelheaded marketer of brand Cameroon, those who know his parcour laced with humility says, he is a man who wants his country to be seen and not self-seeking.

Today, many say they are celebrating a refined Cameroonian with pristine leadership and rallying ideas that are putting the country in the heart and priority list of investors against all odds. 

How Boma and his team have been breaking records, conquering new markets and reaping billions to power new industries and plants that are keeping the economy resilient, is a story that has continued to attract praises for him and IPA.

Boma Donatus is the man making the marketing the work of marking Cameroon’s potentials easier and more attractive than authorities thought, our readers are asserting.

In this age wherein competition and protectionism are the new norm, the survival of Cameroon, especially in the long term, many are positing, can only be certain with the presence of strong and vibrant characters like your Personality of The Week.

When it comes to presenting strategic policy options of the Head of State to investors, Boma Donatus, has so far been the best of himself. 

Others say they are celebrating him for becoming all that he has the possibility of becoming as an international chief marketer. Many say they see him as the man who has defined the problem of attracting investment correctly and is implementing the solutions excellently.

While many in public offices idle around, dreaming of a quantum leap, Boma Donatus is a man with dogged persistence that produces uncommon results. 

Your Personality of The Week is a man who builds harmony in the face of discord and triggers opportunities when difficulties arise. Boma Donatus does not negotiate when it comes to quality and investors are coming in droves to negotiate the price. 

When it comes to wisdom, cultural sensitivity, goal achievement, adaptability, personal and professional integrity, your Personality of The Week is a highflyer.

He is a native of Mezam Division of the North West Region. He is Founder of the Central African Trade and Investment Facilitation Consultancy, CATIFAC. 

Boma has been at the IPA since it saw the light of day in 2010. He served under his late boss, Marthe Angeline Minja, as Deputy General Manager of the cooperation.

In the first quarter of 2024, he was named Interim General Manager of IPA. The trajectory of IPA, under his command, admirers are saying, has continued to give meaning to his mastery of the Agency’s mission and aligning such with government policies in boosting investments back home and stepping up Foreign Direct Investment.

Our readers say they are honouring him this season, not just for today but for the future and posterity as a veritable nation builder of immense influence, who has continued to remain humble and selfless. 

Boma Donatus for many, is a name and personality to study and encounter, when it comes to ethics, discipline and rallying a team to deliver for an entire country without cutting corners or tempering with the image of the country. 

Even as many say he has given them reason to hope that good things and people still exist in Cameroon, this week, Boma Donatus and the IPA, it is being said, have shown genuine character in service and put himself and the institution in the golden ethers of the country’s honour volt. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3459 of Friday May 30, 2025