By NDUMBE BELL GASTON
In line with the fact that Small and Medium sized Enterprises SMEs and industries can jointly contribute 90% of the nation’s economy, the Cameroun Bank for small and medium sized Enterprises (BC-PME) brought together an ecosystem of SMEs and SMIs (Small and Medium size Industries) at the headquarter precincts of the Chamber of Commerce Douala recently, to create a strategic development plan to revamp and stimulate their growth in the medium term come 2020-2024.
In the presence of Chamber of Commerce facilitators like Mme Ekoka Ekodo Embolo and the BC-PME consultant and organiser Pierre Sam Ndoumbe who is also Associate Professor of the Catholic University of Yaoundé, participants such as drivers and leaders of enterprises in the timber, transportation, environmental sectors, TIC, textile, agro-industry, energy, environmentalists and distributors of inputs, were told that one of the principal objectives sought at the seminar was to identify the first eleven sectors and set out a cartography of action to accompany them within the different levels of their chain of production.
The session was characterised by the presentation of the bank’s financial strategy including the introduction of financial mechanisms for each of the sectors in the 2020-2024 period. Leaders of enterprises and some cooperatives regrouped into smaller discussion groups to make observations, seek advice, suggest, make recommendations and exchange ideas on the bank’s presentations.
Issues related to major challenges that limit access to bank credit such as lack of information, absence of business plan, accounting systems, absence of competent expertise on the part of heads of enterprises, the lack of mastery of the sector’s market, good governance, the cost of procedure and others were discussed.
In a press briefing at the end of the seminar, the BC-PME bank consultant Sam Ndoumbe told The SUN that they have improved their relationship with the private sector and identified the need to train actors of the different sectors to become more competitive, but the most important problem identified by the bank is the call for financing. The SUN equally learnt that the bank is going to find solutions to all the problems discussed with their participants.
The representative of the Chamber, Mme Ekoka observed that she found the discussion fruitful while Mr Embolo joined in promoting the activities of CCIMA.