More than 440,000 job seekers placed in 25 years

The National Employment Fund (FNE) has created and helped search for jobs for more than 440,000 young people in its 25 years of existence in Cameroon.

According to officials of this structure, the results are generally satisfactory “despite not always being consistent due to some challenges faced along the line," says Christophe Mambou, Research Manager at the FNE agency. In terms of achievements and since its creation in 1986, the FNE has received and registered until March, 677,244 job seekers.

Nearly 443,221 candidates were placed in various national and international companies. Regarding vocational training, the structure helped in training 10,214 young people. 84,820 received formal training for other professions.

As part of its program, the structure also opted for the training of young graduates. Thus, 7780 have received training in line with their qualification. For the other part of the program based on the financing aspect, a total of 61,090 projects have been funded. It includes 4,623 financed micro-projects for young people who have established their own businesses.

Still regarding self-employment, the FNE has also invested nearly 56,467 in combined programs with 109 404 jobs created through these projects. This has been successful with the cooperation and support of almost 8 000 companies, domestic and foreign partners such as the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES), the International Labour Office (ILO), GIZ and Gicam.

The FNE receives an average of 50 candidates per day and nearly 300 for a week. Some, however, doubt the number quoted by the organization. But according to Justin Banko, a job developer from SEF, some candidates get easily discouraged. About statistics, it is based on the number the structure can handle at a time. "These are reliable statistics, we can check. Some young people have found work thanks to the FNE”, he said.

He also indicated that the FNE is not a ‘niche’ job, contrary to what many think. They give tips, strategies, job seeking directory and work on CVs.

"We get the job hunters, establish a plan of action, then the counselor lays out a candidate's skills after assessment and form a strategy for business exploration," he concluded.