(Business in Cameroon) - On November 24, 2021, Cameroon issued the first official approvals in its history to private incubators. The approvals were handed by Achille Bassilekin III, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts (Minpmeesa), to four incubators specializing in support for business creation or development. 

The recipients are notably jacky Felly Nafack Institute of Technology (JFN-IT: a university), the association Groupement des femmes d’affaires du Cameroun (GFAC), the Digital Transformation Alliance (an incubator whose aim is to produce cars designed and assembled in Cameroon), and the N'lonako Valley Authority.

"These approvals demonstrate the quality as well as managerial, technical, and technological excellence promoted by those respective incubators. Only legally established institutions will continue to operate in our country and be eligible for state funds and subsidies," explained Achille Bassilekin III.

The government reminded the recipients that their mission is to provide actors in the national entrepreneurial ecosystem an incentive framework for the creation and development of innovative companies as well as wealth and job creation. Once admitted into incubators, project carriers can finetune their business idea, evaluate the relevance of their project, and ways to find the resources necessary for the creation and development of their companies. 

As the spokesperson of the recipients, Alphonse Nafack, CEO of Afriland First Bank and promoter of JFN-IT, indicated that the approvals were an additional sign of institutional support. "Actors are henceforth aware of their terms of reference. They know what they are committing to and will abide by those specifications for the benefit of actors, startups, and companies," he said.

Let’s note that on January 22, 2020, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute signed a decree setting the guidelines of incubators supporting SMEs in Cameroon. According to the text, approved incubators must support the creators of small and medium enterprises by identifying their entrepreneurial potential. Also, they must develop the talents of SME promoters and assist them in the development of a useful network.  

To obtain the Cameroonian government’s approval as an incubator, an application must be submitted to the Ministry of SMEs that review it and issue the approval if possible.  

Sylvain Andzongo