By Ndumbe Bell Joseph Gaston in Douala
Women entrepreneurs across the nation have been encouraged to contribute their resources to assist government’s national development strategy towards the emergence date line of 2035, and therefore participate in the new era of the Trans African market (or Zlecaf) and import substitution program targeted by the State, among others.
These calls were made at the just ended Stand Up for African Women Entrepreneurs or SUFAWE 2024 organised by S.C.B Cameroun themed “WomenEntrepreneurship: An Acceleration of Inclusive Growth”. The event that started on Thursday February 22 and continued the following day in Douala was attended by a configuration of mostly women economic actors of all categories, international dignitaries from Africa and abroad and chaired by the Minister of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Achille Bassileke III.
The General Manager of S.C.B Alexandre Beziaud said the bank has been playing a key role to promote and support women entrepreneurs to attain their life’s aspirations in accordance with government policy priorities. He also thanked government for their facilitating and guidance roles. He said some of the challenges faced by ambitious women is the lack of upgrading their business skills, knowledge and the management of their businesses towards professionalism so that they can achieve better standards andimprove their relationships with the bank in order to reap better fruits.
The G.M of S.C.B said because of some these reasons and to promote national development, S.C.B organized this forum so that the various actors, partners and public or private collaborators can exchanges views, experiences, learn from each other and also concretize business deals during B2B sessions. He also acknowledged the fact that gaining knowledge and experience is through a continuous process. It is not a day’s job.
In a chat with the Minpmeesa before he left the scene, he declared that the efforts made by S.C.B Cameroun are highly applauded and should not end here. He said women are to be included in the development efforts of the state because they constitute a powerful force within the private sector echelons. So, there are structures put in place to promote the women’s role in the national development strategy, import substitution and so on.
The key panelists who are known to be successful and prominent as women entrepreneurs were Mme Kate Fotso, a Togolese Mme Ejara, and Mrs Mbolo. These women, during the question and answer session, urged women entrepreneurs to have a positive mental attitude when they experience failed projects. It is through failures that someone comes to succeed. They should not quit or allow failures to overcome their ambitions. Women should learn to transform their challenges to opportunities. Women should learn to become professionals by upgrading their skills, respect the regulations in force and do proper and transparent accountability so that when presenting their business plans for any particular project, banks will be convinced to approve financing.