Fonefecc 2026: “When We Talk Bafoussam, We Talk Business” — Lydia Oben Rallies 5,000 Women Entrepreneurs

1. What is Fonefecc, and what is meant by "women entrepreneurs and small businesswomen"?

"FONEFEC as it's name goes, Forum National Économique des Femmes Entrepreneures et Commerçantes du Cameroun, is a leading national forum where women come from different provinces of Cameroun, different regions, in order to meet in business, avenues, exchange, and it's also an opportunity where women are being trained, financed, and then empowered, for them to be free in their entrepreneurship as women.

A woman that is called an entrepreneur is a woman that is there to go alone, because when you hear the word entrepreneur, it's different from a company, it's different from a cooperative, so you go alone. Now, going alone, there are a lot of things that you need to know, that's why Fonefecc is there, to assist you as a woman who is going as an entrepreneur".

2. What can you expect during the two days of the Fonefecc?

"During the two days of the Fonefecc forum in Bafoussam, it's going to be a moment of training, women are going to be trained, women are going to be facilitated in credit accesses, and women are going to be controlled, I don't know, structured in such a way that they are improving in their business. So during this period, we are expecting to have at least 5,000 women coming from the 10 regions of Cameroon, and exhibitions are going to take place, women are going to have their signs, we are expecting 1,500 exhibitions from different women, that is, those who are doing with finish products, those who are doing agricultural products, those who are selling services, so they are expected to be there, and at the end of it all, we want to believe that with the presence of the different financial institutions and the insurance and the other institutions, women are going to be empowered and having success in their entrepreneurship."

3. Why was the city of Bafoussam chosen to host the second edition of the Fonefecc?

"When we talk Bafoussam, we talk business, when we talk Bafoussam, we talk agriculture, when we talk Bafoussam, we talk investment, and we have a lot of women in Bafoussam who are doing businesses, they are involved in agriculture, they are involved in other investments, so after Douala, which is the economic capital, I think Bafoussam also has strength as what concerns business in Cameroon, as what concerns the economy of the nation.

Bafoussam is a good choice for us for the second edition, and we believe the other provinces also are going to benefit from the same, as time goes on."

4. What key roles do the sector-specific ministries supporting you at Fonefecc 2026 play?

"Okay, we have sectoral ministries that are coming in, like the minpmeesa, we have the main commerce, we have the minproff, all these sectoral ministerial boards have to do with the women, we have the minpmeesa, it's there for the medium and small enterprises, artisanal women, the highest population involved in those things are women, we have the minproff that is dealing with the family and promotion, a woman is a leader in a family, a woman is a holder of a family, so we have the mincommerce that comes in, to teach a woman how to do her business properly in the nation, respecting the commercial laws of Cameroon, the norms, the financial institutions that are there, what is the relationship of commerce, so these sectoral ministries are there because they are necessary for the women's entrepreneurship, very important."

5. What message do you have for the rural women of Bafoussam?

"The rural women in Bafoussam, we call them to come out massively, this is an opportunity for their products to be known, there are some who are dealing with a primary stage product, there are some who have been able to produce finished products, their products are not being known in Cameroon, they are not even being known in Bafoussam, talk less of other regions in Cameroon, so it's an opportunity for these rural women, some of them who are in agriculture, some of them who are doing their small finished products, it's an opportunity for their products to be known, it's an opportunity for them to be trained, it's an opportunity for them to be financed, in order to give a push to their businesses and grow as well in the entrepreneurship that they have chosen to become."

6. How are you organizing internally to enable women from Cameroon's 10 regions to participate in Fonefecc 2026?

"If it's in terms of organisation, the forum is being organised and the Bureau in place of Asbbic, or Asfeccam in French, is preparing to mobilise the women of the different regions in Cameroon to be present because in all the 10 regions of Cameroon we have our different offices, so automatically the different offices are mobilising the women to be present in Bafoussam, not only the women but because there are some women from the different regions who weren't present in the first Fonefecc, so it's an opportunity for them to be in this second Fonefecc, to be trained, to be financed and then go ahead, so the mobilisation is going, we have women who have already started their registrations to take part in Bafousan from the different offices that we have in the 10 regions in Cameroon, so preparation is really going on, so now it will be left for the women of Bafoussam to join the other women so that we make the fees beautiful, we make the training exceptional."

7. How can a woman or a company participate in Fonefecc 2026?

"To participate for the Fonefecc 2026, is very simple. We have stands that are available, you can register for your stand, you can pay for your stand, you can come for your training, there is no restriction of age, there is no restriction of tribe, it's very open, there is no restriction of nations even. For the good news is that we have partners that are coming out of Cameroon as well, we have Democratic Republic of Congo who will be represented here with their women, we have Nigerian women who will be represented there and we have other partners of other nations that they have not yet completed their registration but we have at least two or three countries that are already indicated that they will be present, so it's open for everybody, there is no specific condition, just come for a stand if you need one, just contact the available bureau with the available numbers that I have been giving, from there they will give you what are the modalities you need to have, what are the things you are supposed to do in order to be there.

So for more information, if you really want to have information about the forum, we will give you the following numbers that you can contact, we can even give you an email address that you can write directly to the email address for us to tell you what exactly you have to do because we cannot be outlining what you have to do to register because the stands they differ, the places you want to expose your product they differ, so from the leading board they can give you what is the information you need, so for those who are really willing to register for the forum, we will give you the following numbers that you can call, contact and you have the information, you have 698 10 90 23, you have 677 15 70 33, you call these numbers, we give you the right information or you can email us at Asfeccam@gmail.com and you have all the necessary information you have on how to participate for the forum."