By Sah Terence Animbom
Ambe Stanley Chenwi, one of five winners whose business idea sailed through the 2019 National Business challenge is yet to receive his start-up capital of FCFA 3.1 million. Ambe, together with four others was crowned one of the best five candidates, following a competition organised as part of activities marking the National Youth week earlier this year in February. The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, in partnership with the UN Systems in Cameroon and the National Youth Integration Fund known by its French acronym FONIJ. The National Business challenge provided good startup capitals allocated for youths who present outstanding and most feasible business ideas for funding.
Coming from all over Cameroon, youths competed within two weeks of incubation processes with their business ideas and at the end had some best five candidates chosen to be awarded funding to the tunes of millions each, with others to be given consolatory prizes. The five winners were Ambe Stanley Chenwi, Meyeba Ntyame Serge Stephane, Matassai Louise, Mbegou Jules Steves, and Tabue Kamga Alphones. These outstanding Cameroonians were awarded tickets for the funding of their business ideas on February 9, 2019 at the Yaounde National Museum.
The Sun Newspaper is reliably informed that four of the five winners have already had their funding and are presently executing their businesses, while the lone Anglophone winner, Ambe Stanley Chenwi, Four months after, is yet to receive his.
It is worth mentioning that Ambe Stanley actually only succeeded to take part in the Competition due to his persistence and resilience after many from the Anglophone regions had given up due to what they termed negligence and discouragement even from regional delegates of Youth Affairs.
Four months after, Ambe Stanley has done all that he was required to do in order to receive his Funding, from preparing necessary documents to creating a bank account but nothing has happened. He has on many occasions tried to meet the regional delegate of Youth Affairs and Civic Education for North West to no avail. Yaounde, too, has not been saying things clearly, as Stanley at the moment cannot say whether his Money is in Yaounde or in Bamenda.
The SUN spoke to the regional delegate of Youth Affairs for the North West recently on the subject and she expressed shock that the young man had not yet been funded and promised she was going to call Yaounde to find out what was the situation. The SUN also spoke with a certain Madame Carole who was the coordinator of the FONIJ programme in the ministry and she said she had been promoted to another office and was no longer in charge of the office. When this reporter asked to be linked to the present coordinator, she said it was not possible.
The SUN went on with investigations and another official said the money had been sent to Bamenda already, but Banenda seems to be saying Yaounde is yet to send the Money.
Some Journalists, who had learned of this award in February, have been trying to find out what young Ambe has been doing with his funding, only to find out that he has not yet been funded. Wondering why this was the case, it was questioned in a radio programme ‘Frank Talk’ on one of the leading private radio stations in Bamenda, during which some journalists condemned the situation and challenged the North West regional delegate of youth affairs to do all within her powers to see that Ambe Stanley receives his money. This however did not go well with the delegate, as The SUN has gathered that she stormed the premises of the radio station with seemingly some law and order forces and left a note that has been interpreted as a convocation to the journalists who partook in the programme, demanding their presence at the North West governor’s office tomorrow Tuesday June 11, 2019. The said journalists are yet to know why they have been summoned, talk less of who is summoning them.
Ambe Stanley Chenwi is a senior Agriculture Technician whose agro business idea titled “Breeding of 1000 broiler birds for Commercialization in the North West Region of Cameroon, increasing the living standard of families, while creating jobs for other youths in the region to ensure Zero Hunger by engaging youths in agriculture”, came out as one of the best among the chosen five. He has studied agriculture both in the country and in Israel where he gathered a very rich agricultural experience.