(Business in Cameroon) - For the first time, Cameroon has acquired a pavilion at the Paris International Agricultural Show (SIA). This year, the event will take place from February 25 to March 5 in the French capital.

"There will be 16 international pavilions this year, way more than in 2020 and 2022 where there were a dozen (...) Cameroon and Armenia will participate for the first time," Valerie Le Roy, the Director of SIA, said during an interview.

Speaking about the show, Alain Beko'o Abondo, the head of the division of economic promotion of the Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forestry of Cameroon (Capef), said: "for many years, Cameroon has only been in attendance as a visitor. But this time, thanks to the Chamber of Agriculture, the country’s economic operators have the opportunity to present their projects and products, and negotiate mutually beneficial business partnerships with their national and international peers.”

On January 24, the President of Capef, Martin Mindjos Momeny, announced that Cameroon has acquired a pavilion at the SIA 2023 with the support of the government. He indicated that this opportunity will allow the showcasing of Cameroon’s know-how in this key sector.

As a reminder, during the opening of the 2020 edition, French President Emmanuel Macron stopped at the booth of the young Cameroonian engineer Flavien Kouatcha. With his startup "Save Our Agriculture", the entrepreneur presented the results of his works on aquaponics. This is a technique that combines both fish farming and vegetable cultivation. The young Cameroonian's work has been awarded the EDF Pulse Africa Prize, organized by Électricité de France, and the first Pierre Castel Prize in 2018.

The other Cameroonian product that is usually exhibited at the show is the internationally renowned spice Penja pepper. Let’s note that the exhibition of Penja pepper at the Paris event was often financed by AFD, which notably enabled the labeling of this product from the volcanic lands of Moungo, in the Cameroonian Littoral. The Cameroon pavilion could provide an opportunity to discover other wonders of Cameroonian agriculture.

The SIA is a place of business, exchange, and search for partners for the financing of projects. It is a reference event in France and abroad that brings together each year the actors of the agricultural world. It receives an average of 600,000 visitors annually.