Theme: Youth Entrepreneurship for Sustainable development

Title: Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development Centers, the Way Forward For Sustainable
Development and Emergence in Cameroon By 2035
Submitted by: Verkijika Divine Nyuyki
All around the world, young people face numerous challenges, especially the changes during
adolescence and the weight of teenage life. In Africa, the challenges faced by these young people
are amplified by poverty, inadequate education, inadequate access to information and resources,
poor health conditions, but most of all lack of proper guidance, support and orientation towards
making important life choices, such as career, health and social issues.

In Cameroon, many young people go and leave school without an idea of what they are supposed to
do, nor proper knowledge of what careers they should follow, and a majority of those privileged
enough to graduate end up jobless, underemployed, or keep on moving from job to job trying to find
what careers best meet their interest. They barely understand the socio-economic and political
environment in the country. This is so because for a very long time, our educational systems have
been geared towards producing job seekers rather than job creators.

With Entrepreneurship and Small and medium sized enterprises in particular being generally
identified and accepted as the backbone of sustainable development and emergence, any country
with a strong desire for sustained growth, must consider building a vibrant private sector.
Considering the fact that about 70% of the population in Cameroon is made up of young people
below 35 years, there is a great need for Cameroon to build a new generation of young, up-to-date,
intelligent, skillful and hardworking leaders, managers and entrepreneurs, capable of building strong
partnerships for development, with potential and practical skills that can assist them succeed in their
various initiatives
While it is obvious that entrepreneurship, leadership and management education must be gradually
introduced into our educational systems, this is going to take a long time, and shall only serve future
generations.
Considering the fact that there is a current great and urgent need for young people with powerful,
entrepreneurial, leadership and management skills, who will not only employ themselves but also
provide employment for others, high consideration should be given towards the creation and
effective running of entrepreneurship and enterprise development centers dedicated to providing a
common platform to inspire, develop, support and ensure the success of the entrepreneurial
endeavors of young people.
These entrepreneurship and enterprise development centers will be responsible for engaging and
inspiring young people to launch projects that have a positive impact on themselves and their
communities, building the capacity of young people for socioeconomic growth, promoting
networking and entrepreneurship for development, and providing information, guidance,
orientation, support and possible resources that can assist these young people to gain access to
good internship, apprenticeship and business opportunities as well as develop projects aimed at
supporting youth and their endeavors
For these centers to be effective and successful especially at the grassroots level, they need to be
supported by the government, big organizations and stake holders, and most importantly managed
and lead by genuine, civil society organizations, which have direct contact with the youth and
properly understand the actual situation, challenges and opportunities of the youths in question.
In order to provide the necessary sustainable development information, opportunities, skills, values
and services to the youths through a well-planned, monitored and evaluated system, these centers
must act as a mediator, partner, collaborator, coordinator and an advocate to create safe, engaging,
accessible, innovative, inspiring opportunities and an environment for young people to become Self
supported and Empowered to Create their Own Life Journey for an Independent Living and
Sustainable Development
Services offered by such centers may range from simply being a potential area for research and
dissemination of information to the youths especially in areas of employment opportunities,
investment, entrepreneurship and life skills, that can be applied by the youths to build an
independent economic base, to assisting young people to develop their business ideas, business and
marketing plans, assisting them find investors and funding opportunities but most importantly
considering the low success rate of business startups, in Cameroon, these centers will also assist in
enterprise incubation for young people, helping them survive the numerous challenges generally
faced by startups.
Possible outcomes of the creation of such entrepreneurship and enterprise development centers,
may include but are not limited to; Increased number of employment opportunities for the youths as
well as reduced numbers of unemployed youths, Increased number of job creators rather than job
seekers, Skilled and knowledgeable populace of youths with values that can assist them face the
numerous challenges of life, Improved success rate in entrepreneurial endeavors of young people
and Increased youth`s involvement in civil, political, social and developmental activities
Setting up and properly running an effective resource center requires passion, hard work,
dedication, time, effort and the full participation of stakeholders. Such centers are expected to
concentrate on continuously producing good service delivery and an independent financial support,
while ensuring that the youths are served with the greatest consideration and effectiveness.
As Kofi Annan once said, A society that cuts itself off from its youth, severs its lifeline Therefore in
order to guarantee the emergence of our country by the year 2035, it is of prime importance to help
youths optimizes their professional, educational, leadership, management and entrepreneurial
experiences, through the creation, promotion and effective running of genuine entrepreneurship
and enterprise development centers.