PROMOTE 2026: Cameroon Positions As Global Business Hub

On behalf of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, opened the 10th International Fair for Enterprises, SMEs and Partnerships (PROMOTE 2026) in Yaounde on 15 June 2026, calling on partners to turn the gathering into a permanent business network and “move from logos to action.” The opening ceremony featured six speeches, all of which hailed Cameroon not only as a business hub but also praised the Citizen Action Initiative -a programme designed for high-potential, small and mediumsized enterprises that lack the resources to gain visibility and access business opportunities. Reflecting on this year’s theme, “Private Enterprise and the Business Environment: What Benchmarks in the Face of National and International Economic Challenges,” the Minister of Trade said it resonated with the government’s top priority: to make the private sector the lever and the very engine of development. He explained that the world is undergoing a period of profound economic, technological and geopolitical change. In this context, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana said the 10th edition of PROMOTE must serve as a test run, a laboratory for innovation, and a centre of hope. It must be a forum for the exchange of expertise North-South, South-South, between companies of the North and the South, and among companies of the South themselves. Speaking on behalf of the official sponsor of PROMOTE 2026, the Representative of Afriland First Bank, Dieudonné Hervé Ayissi, Deputy General Manager of the institution said the event holds particular significance for the bank as it marks 25 years of service to the Cameroonian economy. According to Dieudonné Hervé Ayissi, the event is far more than a trade fair, for it is the most ambitious economic undertaking in Cameroon and across the sub-region. “It is where partnerships are forged, where talent comes to the fore, and where ideas are transformed into contracts”, Dieudonné Hervé Ayissi underlined. He appealed to the Cameroonian private sector not to wait for the State to do everything, for there is need for more local initiatives that create value, and more boldness to move up the value chain. “Import substitution will only succeed if Cameroonian enterprises take the lead,” he underlined while...