To boost business growth: SMEs ministry, UNDP announce creation of entrepreneurship exchange platform.

The announcement was made following a recent meeting between the Minister of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts, Achille Bassilekin III, and UNDP Resident Representative to Cameroon, Mathieu Ciowela.

According to the ministry, the initiative is designed to facilitate financing opportunities, support project promoters and strengthen the development of SMEs. 

It said said the new platform seeks to bring together key actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including entrepreneurs, financial institutions and business support organisations.

The announcement comes as the ministry reports continued growth in the country’s SME sector. Figures contained in the ministry’s 2025 Statistical Yearbook show that the formal productive sector now comprises 569,208 economic units, with SMEs, social economy organisations and artisanal production units accounting for 99.9% of the total.

The document indicates that the number of active SMEs reached 472,208 in 2025, up from 443,524 in 2024, representing growth of 6.5%. 

The stock of SMEs has also increased significantly over the past six years, rising from 287,316 enterprises in 2019.

Data from the ministry further show that 16,845 new SMEs were registered nationwide during 2025. 

Nearly 90,000 projected jobs were generated through newly created SMEs, social economy organisations and artisanal production units. 

SMEs accounted for 88.4% of these expected jobs, while social economy organisations represented 6.3% and artisanal production units 5.3%.

The ministry’s latest statistics also point to increasing participation by young people and women in entrepreneurship. 

The yearbook reports that in 2025, 42% of newly created SMEs were established by entrepreneurs under the age of 35, compared to 36.4% in 2019. It added that the proportion of SMEs created by women rose from 25% to 33% over the same period.

The yearbook further recorded 23,714 social economy organisations affiliated with local networks across the country, as well as 72,508 registered artisanal production units, including 4,753 new registrations during 2025.

Alongside the Entrepreneurship Support Exchange, MINPMEESA and UNDP identified several priority areas for cooperation. These include preferential financing for SMEs, certification of products manufactured by businesses and artisans, formalisation of economic activities and the strengthening of the legal framework governing start-ups.

The ministry also highlighted the transformation of the informal sector, improved economic governance and stronger statistical information systems among the key priorities for future action.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3841 of Wednesday July 08, 2026