By Ndumbe Bell Joseph Gaston in Douala
Hundreds of graduands who participated at the pilot incubation centers of the Chamber of Commerce’s Youth and Gender connect Archipelago program in collaboration with the European Union, flocked the chamber to receive their attestations after months of intensive training in the fields of agro-industry and auto mechanics.
In a ceremony that held at the Chamber’s headquarter precincts on Friday February 10, the 535 graduands of which 135 were of the female gender, were reminded of the Chamber’s broad objective of fast-tracking economic development and youth auto-employment in needy sectors of the economy.
Key speakers and partners who coordinated, supervised and trained the laureates in turns, cautioned and challenged the flag bearers to move their professions to excellence rather than mediocrity to exhibit the seriousness and image that the Chamber serves because of the resources and follow-up mechanisms that have been provided to ensure their success even after this.
group photo amongst officials
Amongst them were Hon. Dooh Collins, the Regional Delegate of the Chamber of Commerce in Douala who chaired the ceremony, the Coordinator of the Archipelago program Mme Diop Aissatou of the Chamber whose remarkable role has ensured the desired success, the communication Director of the Advanced Vocational Institute for Professional Excellence, the Representative of Minp Messa in the Region, the Representative of Espace Metier where computer studies was done, the Technical Adviser of the Chamber and other administrative officials.
Trainee representatives from all the internship centers of the program thanked the Chambers for upgrading their capacities up to the level of being able to formulate business plans for their projects.
Dooh Collins prided their efforts and disclosed the contributions made by the President of the Chamber Hon. Christophe Eken that took him to Bordeaux, France. He exhorted the laureates to respect professionalism and assured them of their assistance whenever necessary. In a briefing to the press Dooh stated that “ we have successfully ended archipelago one and you saw us handing over their attestations. We are ready to give our flagbearers the necessary support to help them install. Archipelago two is expected to go into fields like climate change and digitization.”
The representative of the Institute of Professional Excellence Mr Memong where internship on auto-mechanics and related fields were delivered, stated that all the thirteen out of twenty internees that ended the course had a grade point average of 75%. He warned against mediocrity to prevent the loss of lives and property especially in the field of auto-mechanics. He also assured laureates of the school’s readiness to address their difficulties raised.
In another encounter with the press Mme Aissatou recounted that when the project kicked off, it was expected to enroll 485 youths but because of the demand graduands are now up to 535 among which there are a total of 135 women. She further detaited that over 60 laureats have attestations in Douala. They have done so in Adamaoua, Bafoussam, and to go to Yaounde in the days ahead. Other opportunities for the youth have been arranged at the National Employment Fund and the National Youth Observatory. Internally displaced persons were granted favorable enrolment, the coordinator detailed.