“Youths Are Enterprising By Default”
By Victorine BIY, Cameroon Tribune
Prof. Fondo Sikod, Economist, University of Yaounde II, Soa, spoke to Cameroon Tribune on youth entrepreneurship in Cameroon.
How do you appraise the youth entrepreneurship situation in Cameroon?
The
youth are very enterprising because they need to survive. They are
enterprising by default. They are involved in various economic
activities like motorcycle taxi business, hawking, farming, and various
types of odd jobs.
These show the entrepreneurial aptitudes and
tendencies of the youth. Unfortunately, these activities are all in the
informal and very precarious sector. These young people are into these
activities to give themselves dignity.
Two
major problems of youth entrepreneurship in Cameroon, like in most other
Sub-Saharan African countries, stand out: guidance, especially for
those with some reasonable level of education, and financing of their
activities.
Government
has put in place programmes and projects (PIFMAS, PAJER-U, PIASSI to
mitigate the situation. What, according to you, has changed thus far?
As
mentioned above, the fundamental problems that young entrepreneurs face
is the lack of guidance and proper training and inadequate or complete
lack of financing. These programmes and projects targeting young
entrepreneurs is the government’s way of providing a solution. They show
the good intentions of the State. Unfortunately, like most other State
activities, these are likely to be plagued by management and corruption.
There is also the lack of real goodwill on the part of those managing
them. Emphasis should therefore be placed on follow up and evaluation of
these projects so as to measure their real impact in the development of
the entrepreneurial abilities of the youth. I would encourage that the
private sector be given the opportunity to lead and manage these
programmes and projects. Changes so far are not yet visible.
Taking
a closer look at these projects and programmes, are you convinced that
their conception and execution could boost entrepreneurship and solve
the problem of unemployment? If not how could they be readjusted?
It is
undeniable that these government programmes and projects, that is,
PIFMAS, PAJER-U, PIASSI and others like PAIJA, PADER, are instruments to
fight youth unemployment. These programmes and projects are lodged in
various government ministries and the National Employment Fund [(PIFMAS,
PAJER-U in MINJEC; PIASSI in MINEFOP; PAIJA in MINADER; PADER in FNE).
This is a dispersed way of handling such an important issue, not to
mention the fact that in the ministries, it is managed by civil
servants. It would be important to revisit the organisational structure
of these programmes and projects. An autonomous agency with a
clearly-defined measurable mandate dedicated to guiding and job-creation
would be a more effective approach.
What should be the new approach in tackling youth entrepreneurship vis-à-vis government’s development objectives?
Given
that Cameroon is in the process of decentralizing, the new approach in
the development of entrepreneurship for the youth is for the State to
transfer some competences (know-how) to the decentralized local
communities in order to create therein, productive network centres
dedicated to the development of entrepreneurial activities specific to
each community.
The
educational system needs to be revisited. The objective of education in
Cameroon is not very clear, and yet it provides the base for the
production of know-how and job-creation. Quality education is needed.
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