(Business in Cameroon) - The Ministry of SMEs organized last week in Bafoussam, West region, a workshop with local craftsmen on the importance of packaging. "We want our craft products to be attractive not only in the local market but also abroad,” said Joseph Tchana, Secretary-General of the Ministry of SMEs.

This initiative is similar to the Cameroon Food Packaging and Quality (Campack-Q) program led by the Agency for the Promotion of SMEs (APME) to improve access to local and foreign markets for products made in Cameroon. APME recently selected 30 local businesses in the agribusiness and cosmetics sectors as part of its program. "We need to develop a strategy to strengthen footprints in our market and conquer others. The African continental free trade zone (AfCFTA) is giving us this opportunity,” said Louis Marie Badga, MD of APME.

Achille Bassilekin III, the Minister of SMEs, said during a similar workshop held on November 19, 2020, in Yaoundé that initiatives to improve the packaging of local products have multiplied in recent years because "95% of handicrafts do not manage to make a place on the market because of poor presentation.”

BRM