CMR, Switzerland evaluate 9th EMA Invest Forum

The Monitoring Committee of the 9th EMA Invest Forum, held 3 and October 4, 2013 at the Hotel Des Bergues in Geneva (Switzerland), will travel to Yaounde from 24 to 27 September.

Specifically, the Committee members will assess the state of progress of the resolutions taken in the capital of the world finance in the context of boosting investment in Cameroon. As a reminder, many projects had been submitted at the forum whose 2013 edition was a wholly devoted to Cameroon under the theme: "What the place of Geneva can bring to Africa, and vice versa."

Among the most important, we note that of Jean-Claude Gandur, president of Addax and Oryx Group, carry out a project for the production of biofuel at the image of another, developed in Sierra Leone and which aims at the production of 100,000 tonnes of ethanol a year. The project extends over 14,300 hectares and represents an investment of 267 million euros.

Another company, Tree Capital, had committed to develop in Cameroon a project in the field of energy, in particular through the production of 50 MW in solar and 50 MW in wind power. The Swiss funds specialized, like Swiss Mining Resources and Symbiotics, had submitted interest to connect with the local firms of micro-finance in order to boost the Cameroonian mining sector.

The University of California (UCLA), plans to build in Cameroon a campus and a research center called "Center for Integrative Development" which will work on the development of new technologies related to sustainable development. The other project, by the Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (EPFL), aims to create in Yaounde an incubator for start-ups specializing in the energies applied to the health sector.

The follow-up Committee set up to come out of this forum, "shall ensure the proper conduct of relations between the Swiss entrepreneurs, economic actors and local authorities". It is composed of the Cameroon Ministry of the economy, the Planning and Development; the Embassy of Cameroon to the Swiss Confederation ; and some of the members of the Ema Invest Foundation.

The first meeting of this committee was held in Bern January 31, 2014 under the chairmanship of His Excellency Leonard Henri Bindzi, Extraordinary Ambassador and Plenipotentiary of Cameroon in Switzerland. The business trip which will take place from 24 to 27 September fits into the framework of the action plan defined by the Committee for the year 2014.