The Solemn Launching Ceremony of the Business Mission of the French SMEs of Aix-Marseille-Provence in Cameroon was presided over by the Minister of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts Achille Bassilekin III on 16 June 2021 in the Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Handicrafts of Cameroon (CCIMA) in the presence of the representative of the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, of the General Manager of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Promotion Agency and the Vice-Chair of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Marseille.
The goal of the Mission was to create opportunities in terms of strengthening access capacities to technologies to facilitate the interaction of Cameroon’s SMEs in foreign markets and to forge partnerships geared towards more competitiveness.
According to Minister Achille Bassilekin III, this initiative by the Cameroon Government means a lot from several perspectives. It notably helps to encourage and valorise local initiatives in favour of the promotion of private investment in our country, support the materialisation of integrated and growth friendly projects. “This important project has the potential of endowing our SMEs and start-ups with a formal exchange and sharing framework with international networks. Moreover, it seeks to step up the development of their skills” he declared while reminding corporate managers present in Cameroon through this Mission that Cameroon is resolutely bent towards creating an environment conducive for the promotion of its SMEs in order to render them more competitive and prosperous at home and abroad, hence helping to conquer the vast continental market.
Mr. Frederic Ronal, Vice-Chair of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Marseille recalled that it is a matter of connecting Cameroon’s SMEs to those of Europe and Africa via the platform which also hosts enterprises operating in Mauritania, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Djibouti. ‘The idea is to maintain this connection with the other entrepreneurs’ he said. It is in this light that the AfricaLink Committee, representing a community of African and European entrepreneurs, is ready to materialise concrete and prosperous business relationships so as to enhance job and added value in both continents.
The general objective of this business mission is to develop business opportunities between Cameroon and European SMEs and to step up foreign direct investments in Cameroon. Moreover, it involves capitalizing business opportunities for local SMEs; forging fruitful business partnerships and direct relations between Cameroon’s SMEs and enterprises of Aix-Marseille-Provence, attracting foreign direct investments, extending the business networks of local SMEs, promoting products and services of Cameroon’s SMEs and developing Cameroon’s renewal energy sector with the ultimate aim of resolving the country’s electric power deficit.
These business meetings will enable Cameroon’s SMEs to capitalise on the numerous business opportunities. Several business partnerships and direct relationships between Cameroon’s SMEs and Aix-Marseille-Provence enterprises will also be forged; foreign SMEs will invest in Cameroon; business networks of local SMEs will be diversified; the products and services of Cameroon’s SMEs will be valorised, etc. Meetings around the business trip are destined to SMEs and start-ups of sector activities retained by the Africalink Committee, employers’ syndicates, professional associations, Government and French enterprises mobilised within the framework of the said mission.
Before the solemn launching ceremony of the Business Mission of French Aix-Marseille-Provende SMEs in Cameroon, members of the said mission led by the Vice-Chair of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry were received in audience by the Minister of SMESEHs. The exchanges centred among other things on the rationale of the Mission and the collaboration axis in order to help Cameroon’s SMEs to interact on foreign markets and to forge partnerships with European and African SMEs to enhance their competiveness