The African Development Bank (AfDB) has highlighted the success of its initiative aimed at enhancing job opportunities for young people in Cameroon.
A meeting was held in Yaoundé on April 9, 2024, chaired by Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, the Bank Group’s Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery, with stakeholders from various sectors discussing the Bank’s Program to Support Youth Employability in Cameroon.
The meeting had a notable presence of female entrepreneurs and young graduates who had benefited from work placements in projects financed by the Bank.
The gathering took place just before the official opening of the African Development Bank Group’s regional office for Central Africa, demonstrating the Bank’s unwavering commitment to regional development.
Alongside young interns involved in professional immersion within Bank-funded projects, the event also brought together male and female entrepreneurs in sectors like agriculture, fishing, livestock, fish farming, and young women supported by the Bank to establish their own businesses. Moreover, managers from project management units were in attendance.
Serge N’Guessan, Director General of the Bank Group for Central Africa and head of the Bank’s Country Office in Cameroon, mentioned that interns were engaged in various roles within projects, such as disbursement or contract award assistants, assistant engineers for road projects, archivists, among others.
N’Guessan disclosed that 284 young individuals had already benefited from 12-month placements, giving them valuable opportunities to integrate into different workplace settings, including projects funded by the Bank or other donors, as well as the private or public sectors. Notably, seven of them have secured positions within the Ministry of Public Works.
As the program gears up to welcome its seventh cohort of interns, it has significantly contributed to integrating the majority of beneficiaries into the workforce.
Dieudonné Toukea, one of the program beneficiaries, shared her experience, emphasizing the opportunities provided by her initial exposure to the workplace, enabling her to pursue her aspirations in the consultancy field.
Participants advocated for the establishment of a fund to finance entrepreneurs and for more opportunities to work on Bank projects. They also hoped that the process of creating a web platform for networking with former interns could be expedited.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade reiterated the importance of self-employment, especially for young people and women, emphasizing the Bank Group’s support through initiatives like AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa). She highlighted collaboration with commercial banks to facilitate access to credit for female entrepreneurs, stressing their reliability and better capability for loan repayment.
Furthermore, she encouraged the young people present to continue training and enhancing their skills to be more competitive in the job market, emphasizing the need to create employment for the 12 million jobseekers entering the labor market in Africa annually.
The meeting also featured Jeanine Nkodo, coordinator of the Agricultural Value Chain Development Project, highlighting efforts to support female entrepreneurs in the sector.
The Vice-President concluded by discussing the Bank’s recent adoption of its ten-year strategy, which prioritizes young people and women. She reaffirmed the Bank’s role as a key partner for Cameroon, particularly in infrastructure funding and support for regions in crisis.
The Bank is also eager to support large businesses, especially in the private sector, to promote greater opportunities for young people and women.
“The Bank is open to offering funding to support these interns’ projects to help them integrate into society and the workforce by starting their ventures,” stated the Vice-President.
“We provide guarantees to commercial banks so that they can lend to female entrepreneurs” – Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
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Media contact:
Romaric Ollo Hien
Communication and External Relations Department
media@afdb.org
About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is the premier multilateral financing institution dedicated to Africa’s development. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF), and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NSF). The AfDB has a field presence in 44 African countries, with an external office in Japan, and contributes to the economic development and social progress of its 54 regional member states.
For more information: www.AfDB.org