United Kingdom (Commonwealth Union)_ A three-day digital business bootcamp trained thirty-four women from across Cameroon with the skills necessary to expand their businesses internationally. The Commonwealth Secretariat collaborated with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) on the bootcamp, which took place in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and focused on enhancing the skills of women business proprietors. According to research, women entrepreneurs are disadvantaged when it comes to accessing digital infrastructure and engaging in e-commerce platforms. The bootcamp intended to address this deficiency by imparting entrepreneurial skills, financial literacy, and digital proficiency.
One of the businesswomen participating in the bootcamp, Buma Emeline from the Fonds Régional Pour la Promotion de Santé du Centre, which is an organization operating in Cameroon to monitor whether patients have access to high-quality medication and health facilities, stated that the workshop would be useful for marketing her products and medical advice more effectively and learning how to get more partners to reach more citizens.
During the launch of the bootcamp workshop, Brusil Miranda Metou, Secretary General of Cameroon’s Ministry of Trade, stated, “To better leverage the benefit from e-commerce, you need to master its contours… The training that you will receive over the next three days will allow you to diversify your activities and facilitate your inclusion in the national, regional, and global value chains.”
Ms. Metou expressed gratitude to the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) for conducting the workshop. According to her, it would improve the role of women in Cameroon’s e-commerce process as well as contribute to the country’s development. The bootcamp was part of a larger initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the ITFC, which have been providing technical assistance and capacity development to the government of Cameroon regarding trade opportunities. As part of the initiative, the Secretariat and ITFC facilitated the development of an e-commerce strategy for Cameroon, created a training manual on maximizing e-commerce capabilities, and convened two training sessions for Cameroonian women entrepreneurs. Through this bootcamp, the initiative has trained 100 entrepreneurs, with the aim of educating at least 50 additional women.
Addressing the bootcamp event, Opeyemi Abebe, Head of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Trade Competitiveness Section, expressed optimism over training the businesswomen. He said, “To facilitate trade and e-commerce, our focus should not only be on developing modern digital infrastructure and restoring the financial systems but also on embracing skill development”. He added, “The lack of knowledge of business management, marketing, finance, and logistics particularly impedes the progress of women entrepreneurs. Bridging this gap will enable women entrepreneurs to succeed and grow their businesses exponentially, and this is what we collectively aim to achieve through the bootcamp.”
According to Nasser Al-Thekair, ITFC’s General Manager of Trade and Business Development, e-commerce is widely recognized as a potential tool for innovation, competitiveness, job creation, and economic growth. This program will provide Cameroonian women entrepreneurs with the opportunity to expand their horizons and increase their participation in the global e-commerce trade. A significant part of Cameroon’s private sector comprises micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. These enterprises make a substantial contribution to employment creation and poverty reduction in Cameroon. If these businesses are capable of making use of domestic and export market opportunities and engaging in global supply chains via e-commerce, their influence on the economy could be significantly amplified.
The objective of the initiative is to make it simpler for more Cameroonian enterprises to grow their market reach and make their products and services available worldwide. Further, at the completion of the workshop, the entrepreneurs will depart the bootcamp with excellent business skills and resources, such as how to attract a global audience, how to navigate payment systems, supply chain management advice, and a website prototype. This training will eventually create more high-skilled women entrepreneurs in the nation.
