{"id":14222,"date":"2023-11-06T15:16:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T15:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/?p=14222"},"modified":"2023-11-15T10:36:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T10:36:16","slug":"sbec-forum-2023-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/","title":{"rendered":"SBEC Forum 2023 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1248px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:10px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:10px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/download\/2023-annual-forum-report\/\"><em>Download full report<\/em><\/a><\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The Cameroon\u2019s government in its new National Development Strategy 2020- 2030 (NDS30) desires to change the structure of the country\u2019s 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<br \/>\nitself 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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0 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 two\u0002day 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.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2018Boosting the Competitiveness of SMEs to Accelerate Structural Transformation and Inclusive Development in Cameroon\u2019. 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 \u201cnational champions\u201d representing flagships or leaders in the key sectors of the Cameroonian economy.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":14224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_eb_attr":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[710],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sbec-policy-brief"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SBEC Forum 2023 Report - Denis &amp; Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SBEC Forum 2023 Report - Denis &amp; Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Denis &amp; Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-06T15:16:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T10:36:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Davila Djomou\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Davila Djomou\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Davila Djomou\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/6aec14390a267c5e3c8077160e80675d\"},\"headline\":\"SBEC Forum 2023 Report\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-06T15:16:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T10:36:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/\"},\"wordCount\":1457,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"SBEC Policy Brief\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/\",\"name\":\"SBEC Forum 2023 Report - Denis &amp; Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-06T15:16:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T10:36:16+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/\",\"name\":\"Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa's Economic Transformation\",\"description\":\"Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa's Economic Transformation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Denis-Lenora-Foretia-Foundation-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Denis-Lenora-Foretia-Foundation-Logo.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa's Economic Transformation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/6aec14390a267c5e3c8077160e80675d\",\"name\":\"Davila Djomou\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9249b5d15abfddc7f99c4fb295c2623e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9249b5d15abfddc7f99c4fb295c2623e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Davila Djomou\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/author\/ddjomo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SBEC Forum 2023 Report - Denis &amp; Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SBEC Forum 2023 Report - Denis &amp; Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation","og_url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/","og_site_name":"Denis &amp; Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation","article_published_time":"2023-11-06T15:16:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-15T10:36:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Davila Djomou","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Davila Djomou","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/"},"author":{"name":"Davila Djomou","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/6aec14390a267c5e3c8077160e80675d"},"headline":"SBEC Forum 2023 Report","datePublished":"2023-11-06T15:16:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T10:36:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/"},"wordCount":1457,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg","articleSection":["SBEC Policy Brief"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/","url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/","name":"SBEC Forum 2023 Report - Denis &amp; Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-06T15:16:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T10:36:16+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-forum-2023-report\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/","name":"Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa's Economic Transformation","description":"Catalyzing Africa&#039;s Economic Transformation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#organization","name":"Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa's Economic Transformation","url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Denis-Lenora-Foretia-Foundation-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Denis-Lenora-Foretia-Foundation-Logo.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa's Economic Transformation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/6aec14390a267c5e3c8077160e80675d","name":"Davila Djomou","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9249b5d15abfddc7f99c4fb295c2623e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9249b5d15abfddc7f99c4fb295c2623e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Davila Djomou"},"url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/author\/ddjomo\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/53100521700_65ec2b87fb_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14222"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14259,"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14222\/revisions\/14259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}