(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon’s government has launched a nationwide program to enhance skills, boost productivity, and expand access to professional training nationwide. The initiative “Un Jeune, Un Métier, Un Employ” (JEME), which roughly translates to One Youth, One Skill, One Job,” was introduced in Yaoundé by the acting Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Mounouna Foutsou. Its goal is to equip young Cameroonians with the practical skills needed to enter the labor market.

With a budget of FCFA 17.720 billion, the program adopts an integrated import-substitution model for the agropastoral and fisheries sectors. This approach emphasizes the power of combining training, job placement, and community-based support. Its structure positions vocational training as a key driver of competitiveness and economic inclusion.

JEME aims to serve out-of-school and low-skilled youth through local training centers that offer modular, hands-on, and certification programs. The scheme includes establishing training centers and workshops that enable learners to gain skills through production activities, operating under the principle of “learning to do, doing to live.” It also plans to create community digital hubs and mobile apprenticeship systems to provide pathways into new trades, including in remote areas with limited infrastructure.

Foutsou described the initiative as a response to the structural challenges faced by rural areas, where gaps in training limit economic potential and employment opportunities. The program seeks to rebuild social and economic ties by fostering an ecosystem where the government, local councils, businesses, families, and communities work together to support youth employment and stimulate regional growth.

The launch event also included the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training and Saya Sarl, a company specializing in agricultural equipment. As part of this partnership, public vocational training centers received equipment packages to strengthen hands-on learning and operational efficiency. Facilities such as SAR SM in Kamba, Mefou, and Afamba benefited from items including tractors, molding machines, wheelbarrows, picks, toolboxes, helmets, protective coats, safety shoes, and humidity testers.

Officials noted that this equipment support will enhance practical training capabilities, improve value-chain productivity, and help align local skills development with national production targets. Through this investment, authorities aim not only to increase youth employability but also to boost rural economic activity by promoting professional training within communities.

Mercy Fosoh