A workshop held on Monday, June 1st in Yaoundé brings together Cameroonian incubator managers and experts from the Aix-Marseille University innovation ecosystem, with the goal of sharing best practices to better support young entrepreneurs.
Better support young entrepreneurs to transform their projects into viable businesses. This is the ambition of the experience-sharing workshop taking place in Yaoundé, attended by Cameroonian incubator managers and representatives from the Aix-Marseille University innovation ecosystem.
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For three days, participants compare their experiences and explore new approaches to improve support for project leaders. Discussions focus notably on mentoring, access to financing, development of innovative companies, and strategies enabling young entrepreneurs to sustain their activities.
Beyond knowledge sharing, this meeting aims to provide concrete solutions to the challenges faced by support structures. For sector actors, it is essential to strengthen their capacities to better meet the expectations of a youth increasingly oriented towards entrepreneurship.
“This workshop allows us to review the actions taken and prepare the next steps, notably by strengthening the resources of support structures. The goal is to ensure quality support to promote the emergence of sustainable businesses and the creation of a solid economic fabric in Cameroon,” explains Jean Patrick Kentcha, head of the Boukarou incubator.
While several young people have already succeeded in formalizing their activities and generating income through incubation programs, many challenges remain. Access to markets, development of partnerships, and scaling up remain major obstacles to business growth.
“Young people have started their activities, but they still face difficulties finding their place in the economic fabric. They need to access more markets and strengthen their production capacity. Many still operate as sole proprietorships. The challenge now is to support them towards stronger and more competitive structures,” emphasizes Danielle Madeleine Mveng, from the Ebolowa Regional College of Agriculture incubator.
Participants hope that this cooperation between Cameroonian incubators and Aix-Marseille actors will help improve support methods and offer more opportunities to young entrepreneurs.
The workshop is part of the startup 237 project: 100 projects made in camer, launched in 2023, funded by the French Embassy in Cameroon and implemented by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF). It aims to strengthen the capacities of entrepreneurship support structures and foster the emergence of a more efficient innovation ecosystem in Cameroon.
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