Upon 12 months of existence, the ministry for SMEs, the Social Economy and Handicrafts in Cameroon decided toconvene a large conference on the topic “Understanding, organizing and promoting the social solidarity economy in Cameroon”, held from the 26th to the 28th of June in Yaoundé. Figures about the social solidarity economy in Cameroon are impressive enough: 70 000 civil society institutions are committed to this sector which, according to Prime Minister Inoni Ephraim who presided over the event, “has not yet disclosed its full potential”.
Keynote players of the sector were invited to provide in-depth analysis of the economic, political, environmental and cooperative visions of the SSE, including Muriel Boudou, Chairperson of AI2S, Daniele Demoustier of the University of Grenoble, Abdou Salam Fall, Chairman of RIPESS, Ibrahima Ndour, Chairman of the pan-African Cooperatives organization, Marie Gauthier from the Canadian Minister for the promotion of Social Economy, as well as Guy Mvelle, an academic specialized in decentralized cooperation and in mapping out public policies. As illustrated in the headlines of the daily “Cameroon tribune”, “the social economy is emerging”.

Declarations and statements made after the conference are available in French. Click here to download the documents