By Boris Esono Nwenfor
The Cameroon Economic Policy Institute (CEPI) of the Henri Kouam Foundation has intensified its efforts to enhance local business capacity for continental trade, organising a high-level training session for 26 Cameroonian entrepreneurs on the theme “Unlocking African Entrepreneurship through the African Trade Observatory (ATO).”
The capacity-building event, held at Hotel Franco in Yaoundé on September 13, brought together a diverse group of entrepreneurs eager to explore opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The session was led by Henri Kouam, Cameroon’s leading AfCFTA Trade Expert and Executive Director of CEPI. He opened with words of appreciation to CEPI’s partners, the Atlas Network and Phoenix Construction, for their ongoing support of economic policy development and entrepreneurship empowerment.
In his presentation, Henri Kouam provided participants with a comprehensive overview of the AfCFTA, explaining that the landmark agreement, signed in Kigali in 2018, aims to establish a unified African market allowing the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people across the continent.
He detailed the eight protocols underpinning the AfCFTA: trade in goods, trade in services, competition, intellectual property, investment, women and youth, digital trade, and dispute resolution.
A major highlight of the session was Kouam’s in-depth demonstration of the African Trade Observatory (ATO), a digital platform that centralises trade data and regulatory information from across Africa. He described the ATO as a vital tool to “reduce information gaps for entrepreneurs and support strategic planning for exporters,” showing attendees how to navigate the platform, use HS codes to identify export requirements, and access country-specific trade rules.
Participants engaged actively during the Q&A session, raising issues around market access, certification costs, and the scaling of agricultural productivity. Many called for stronger government support in research funding, fertiliser production, and seed development to enhance local competitiveness.
Entrepreneurs also made several policy recommendations, including maintaining VAT exemptions for locally made flour, improving transparency in export procedures, and publishing all import-export guidelines on the websites of the Ministries of Commerce, Economy, and Customs to make trade information more accessible.
CEPI assured participants that it has begun liaising with the relevant ministries to ensure entrepreneurs have free and complete access to trade and export regulations. The entrepreneurs described the training as “practical and empowering.” They urged CEPI to organise similar workshops regularly to help local businesses build the capacity, skills, and confidence needed to export competitively under the AfCFTA framework.
With Africa moving toward deeper economic integration, initiatives like this from CEPI are helping to ensure that Cameroonian entrepreneurs are not left behind in the AfCFTA era, equipped with the knowledge and tools to trade, compete, and thrive across borders.
