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Introduction
The Cameroon’s government in its new National Development Strategy 2020- 2030 (NDS30) desires to change the structure of the country’s economy in terms of value-added and employment. By defining the objective of increasing manufacturing production to 25% of GDP by 2030, the government has set
itself the goal of shifting the production system from the primary sector (raw material exported) to a manufacturing sector, with high added value and massive job creation for all. To achieve the growth objectives set for 2030, the Cameroonian government and all other actors of the Cameroonian entrepreneurial ecosystem should succeed in unleashing the enormous potential of SMEs. This would enable them to manufacture competitive finished products to be put on the market, and to offer high value-added services, creating more growth and jobs.
In the course of this transformation process, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially those led/run by women and youth, are recognized as key players, based on the fact that, they represent over 98 percent of the business population. Unfortunately, most of these SMEs lack finances and expertise, hence remain trapped in the informal sector. Additionally, young people and women represent more than 60% of the population, but are still the most economically excluded (BUCREP, 2005). This is a challenge for a country that wants to become an emerging country by 2035, because most of these SMEs founders are Introduction 5 2023 SBEC Annual Forum Report not well equipped to market their products. Hence, the need to major contribution to the economic modernization that is needed. The goal is to take advantage of the recent spread of digitization, of regional and continental integration by boosting national markets, increasing trade and investment flows, reducing infrastructure deficiencies. Based on this background, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center (SBEC) of the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation organized a twoday SME Forum that gather input from stakeholders to boost the structural transformation of the Cameroonian economy with the financial support from the Rising Tide Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation.
On the 3rd and 4th of August 2023, the SBEC of the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation organized a 2-day Forum at Djeuga Palace Hotel in Yaounde-Cameroon. The theme of the Forum was ‘Boosting the Competitiveness of SMEs to Accelerate Structural Transformation and Inclusive Development in Cameroon’. The objective of the Forum was to discuss with the different actors of the Cameroonian entrepreneurial ecosystem the levers to be implemented in the short term, to have a critical mass of enterprises “national champions” representing flagships or leaders in the key sectors of the Cameroonian economy.
This report documents how the programme unfolded over the two days. The first section covers all events carried out on the first day of the 2023 SBEC Annual Forum, which started and ended with welcome and closing addresses by the Interim Chief Operating Officer at the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation. Section 2 reports the day-2 activities beginning from a networking session to closing remarks, and the way forward for the 2024 SBEC Annual Forum.
