SBEC National Forum Wraps Up with Commitments to Boost Support for SMEs in Cameroon

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

YAOUNDE, Cameroon – The fifth edition of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center, SBEC, National Forum, has wrapped up in Yaoundé, drawing to a close, two days of discussions, and networking on the theme: "Strengthening Cameroon's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem."

The forum, which ran from September 11-12 at Djeuga Palace in Yaoundé, attracted a diverse group of entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and industry experts from across the country, aimed to chart a path forward for Cameroon’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as drivers of economic growth.

The main objective of the 2024 SBEC National Forum was to promote policies and discussions aimed at enhancing Cameroon's entrepreneurial ecosystem for sustainable economic development. Discussions during the two-day event were centred on public-private partnerships: enhancing the entrepreneurship ecosystem for sustainable development in Cameroon; strengthening the role of the press in promoting entrepreneurship development in Cameroon; enhancing financial support for SMEs by leading financial institutions; the role of startups in creating employment for women and youth in a council area; evaluating the effectiveness of government policies on SMEs in Cameroon among others.

Ada Sylvia, Deputy Director of Operations of the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation said: “This year's forum aims at bringing together SMEs from different sectors to connect, to network, to bring them closer to government stakeholders, parliamentarians and other decision makers because there are a couple of problems faced by SMEs in Cameroon and this is the kind of platform that SMEs need for exposure to discuss these challenges and can have hands-on deck solution on how they can do to build a good ecosystem.”

“We cannot ignore the role of SMEs in growing our GDP and also emerging like we have the dream to emerge, so this year's forum aims at bringing SMEs together and under a common umbrella. This is the fifth edition of the SBEC forum and each year we try to look at what is trending, and what is the main challenge that SMEs are going through. This year is unique because we have our network and before the end of the day, we are going to discover that we are going to be recognizing the efforts of some good SMEs that are within our network.”

Throughout the forum, numerous speakers addressed the myriad of challenges that entrepreneurs face in Cameroon. The success in creating and developing businesses relies on a conducive policy environment that provides adequate physical, financial, human, informational, and relational resources in quality and quantity. In Cameroon, as in many African countries, high taxes on SMEs have been identified as a major impediment to a competitive entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Consequently, there is a dominant informal sector, employing over 9.5 million Cameroonians (90% of the working population) and contributing more than 57% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). There are many other challenges, notably difficulties accessing credit, deep levels of corruption, underdeveloped business support structures, serious administrative bottlenecks, and a persistent lack of managerial capacity among entrepreneurs and SMEs.

Dr Denis Foretia said: "The ecosystem is making a lot of efforts to improve, to ensure that it is stronger and can work with more coordination, at the same time there are a lot of challenges that the system as a whole continues to encounter. Primarily you have issues regarding the SMEs, the small SMEs themselves trying to strengthen themselves, the collaboration amongst SMEs, the access to finance, the financing mechanisms in the country to support their work."

"There is a lot of challenge that is faced there and the other most important, critical area is the area of regulation, state regulation of small business functioning and what level of taxes they are expected to pay and how that is enforced. So, those are key areas that the ecosystem is struggling with and those are areas that need to be supported."

After the event, organizers presented a set of policy recommendations to the government and private sector stakeholders aimed at further strengthening Cameroon's entrepreneurial ecosystem. These recommendations include increasing public-private partnerships to improve access to financing, enhancing technical training programs for entrepreneurs, and creating an enabling regulatory environment that supports innovation and competitiveness.

As the 2024 SBEC National Forum came to a close, attendees left with a renewed sense of purpose and optimism about the future of small businesses in Cameroon. The event not only highlighted the challenges but also provided a roadmap for building a more vibrant and resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem—one that could play a pivotal role in Cameroon’s economic development in the years to come.