Foretia Foundation Hosts SBEC SME Forum to Boost Cameroon’s Private Sector

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

YAOUNDE, Cameroon – The Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation has once again taken centre stage in empowering Cameroon's private sector by organizing the 2025 SBEC SME Forum, aimed at strengthening the role of youth and women in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Themed “Scaling Up: Expanding Youth and Women-Led SMEs in Cameroon,” the forum which runs from April 29-30, is hosted through the Foundation’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center (SBEC), which focuses on building entrepreneurial capacity to spur inclusive economic growth.

Sylvia Namondo, Interim Director of SBEC said: “The annual forum is something that we do every year and this is the sixth edition. The main objective of the forum every year is to bring SMEs closer to different stakeholders, and policymakers, for them to understand the challenges that are faced by SMEs brainstorm troubleshoots and come up with good policies and advocate for a favourable ecosystem for SMEs.”

Cameroon, like much of Sub-Saharan Africa, faces a rapidly growing population of youth and women aspiring to participate in economic growth through entrepreneurship. Female entrepreneurs represent 24% of Africa’s workforce, with the continent boasting the highest percentage of female entrepreneurship globally, surpassing regions like Southeast Asia and Europe.

Despite this, Cameroon ranked third in Africa for female entrepreneurship and faces numerous challenges preventing the full realization of youth and women-led businesses' potential. Currently, a substantial proportion of Cameroon's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operate in the informal sector, with only 12% formally registered. Major obstacles—such as limited access to finance, inadequate business planning, a challenging tax structure, and weak infrastructure—stifle the growth of women and youth-led enterprises.

Sylvia Namondo added: “We cannot exhaust all the problems that SMEs face but we are hoping that by the end of the two days, we are going to have already come up with a roadmap on how to address and how to better advocate for favourable policies for SMEs and also we have brought some mentors.”

“This year is much different from the other years because there will be a speed mentoring session which is going to have a whole lot of people from the banking sector and other sectors and the goal is that they get to connect one-on-one with these SMEs, understand their challenges and come up with some kind of a roadmap on how they can go back and improve their skill and change their mindset to thrive in an economy like Cameroon which is difficult.”

Addressing entrepreneurs, policymakers, and development partners, Dr Denis Foretia, Co-Chair of the Foundation, emphasized the pivotal role entrepreneurship plays in driving national development.

“Entrepreneurship is the driver for economic development as it ensures that we continue to grow as a country and leads to the creation of well-paying jobs. Skills are one of the cornerstones of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center,” Dr. Foretia declared.

Acknowledging the difficult economic landscape over recent years—including the COVID-19 pandemic, tariff hikes, and changing economic dynamics—Dr. Foretia praised entrepreneurs' resilience.

He urged forum participants to capitalize on the opportunity to connect, collaborate, and strengthen their networks to navigate the business environment more effectively.

The 2025 SBEC Forum brought together participants from across the country, including young entrepreneurs, women-led businesses, and public sector representatives. The discussions focused on policy reforms, financial inclusion, education for entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, and promoting the "Made in Cameroon" brand.

According to the SBEC, despite women accounting for 24% of Africa’s workforce and Cameroon ranking third in Africa for female entrepreneurship, major challenges such as limited access to capital, informal business operations, and poor infrastructure continue to limit SME growth. Currently, only 12% of SMEs in Cameroon are formally registered.

Tita Bless Awa, a participant said: “As per this session, it's going amazing and more than what I expected. Coming to this very summit, I had a lot of expectations in my mind because engaging in many sectors of the economy from food to painting to training of youth like skill building. It gives me a lot of confusion at times like finding where should I focus and putting ideas together and the presentation so far, the guide so far have been hitting it hard that as an entrepreneur or as an aspiring entrepreneur, you need to have a plan to follow.”

Supported by the Rising Tide Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the Atlas Network, and the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation, the SBEC SME Forum marks a significant step in building a robust and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cameroon.