At Chamber of Commerce, Douala:
African Innovators meet to push women, Youth SME projects for AfCFTA growth
By Ndumbe Bell Joseph Gaston in Douala
Women entrepreneurs and youth-led start-ups from across the Maghreb and Central Africa converged at the Douala headquarters of the Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Crafts on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, to showcase SME projects aimed at driving technological innovation and sustainable economic development across the continent.
The delegation, led by Tunisian Chamber of Commerce official Hichem Elloumi of Sfax, included participants from Gabon, Algeria, Congo Brazzaville, Tunisia, and Cameroon. They met with CCIMA Secretary General Halidou Bello, who represented President Hon. Christophe Eken, alongside members of the executive committee and private sector leaders. The discussions focused on building stronger bridges for intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area, known as ZLECAF in French.
In his welcome address, Halidou Bello said the Chamber was fully committed to integrating African regional markets, with a particular emphasis on expanding opportunities for women and youth entrepreneurs. He noted that several local initiatives had already been launched to support this goal.
Bello highlighted that the selected domains of health, agribusiness, energy, portable water, civil engineering and public works, green economy, and other local industries were chosen to accelerate regional development, create value chains, and generate employment. He added that the identification and support of high-potential women-led projects was being carried out through Afrique Innovante’s program at Lagidor Garden Resort and SPA de Bangou in the West Region. The aim, he said, is to prepare these projects for investor backing and to promote the transformation of local products for trade.
Head of delegation, Hichem Elloumi praised CCIMA’s work, particularly during the recent AFRIBAT event, and reaffirmed the long-standing trade ties between Tunisia and Cameroon. “Today we are here to develop intra-African trade relations because the future of the world economy lies in Africa,” he said. “We are capable of understanding our strengths and weaknesses and working in synergy with our counterparts on other continents.”
Mohamed Amine Chaib, co-founder of Afrique Innovante and General Manager of Challenge Centre, expressed admiration for the talent and dynamism of Cameroonian women and youth. Out of 300 applicants, 100 were selected for incubation. From that pool, nine champions were chosen for project refinement and financing for production. The top three “champions of champions” will travel to Algeria for an intensive mentoring program.
Marlyse R. Ndjenga of Group Fiscal.com, a partner to Afrique Innovante, outlined both the opportunities and the barriers facing cross-border entrepreneurship. She pointed to persistent challenges including visa and tariff restrictions, inadequate road infrastructure, inconsistent standards, telecom issues, quality control gaps, governance concerns, fraud, and the need for a better business climate.
“These are the protocols we must address if we want to move from potential to practice,” Ndjenga said. “Let’s change our challenges into opportunities.”
The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to align training, support, and financing mechanisms so that women and youth-led projects can scale beyond national borders. Participants agreed that practical solutions in targeted sectors would be critical to making AfCFTA (ZLECAF) a tangible driver of African prosperity.
Organizers said follow-up actions would include investor matchmaking, technical support for the selected champions, and continued dialogue between chambers of commerce to reduce trade barriers.
Chamber of commerce welcomes African delegates from Maghreb and Central Africa
