The Entrepreneur - Cameroon's Premier Economic & Business Journal

Sakerettes Annual General Assembly: Schooled on Business and Entrepreneurship

“It is not enough for Parents to spend 150.000F CFA in Kindergarten, 400.000F CFA in prestigious Schools like Saker, or 20m F CFA in Harvard to educate their Children. Knowledge and skills can also be acquired through short courses, seminars, books and by associating with like-minded people” said Dr Ernest Molua, Entrepreneur, Economist and Lecturer at the University of Buea, Cameroon. He was addressing ex-students of Saker Baptist College during their Annual General Assembly in Douala on October 18, 2008.

Irene Zih Fon (The Entrepreneur, Douala Bureau Chief)

In a presentation titled: “Business Management and Entrepreneurship”, Dr Molua told ex-students of the all-female College located in Limbe, that it is important for mothers not to suppress the talents of those in their households, such as music, fashion designing, football, dancing or writing. He said business has been regarded along the years as an option for dropouts, as young people were expected to grow up and work in an office. “On the contrary,” he continued “there is no shame in business, and such talents have advanced great economies like the United States.”

American & European Reliance on Debt to Create Illusory Wealth takes a Beating

Is the era of easy credit over for the long haul?

By Adam Geller

As easy credit dries up, a nation reliant on debt navigates a new financial landscape

An inflatable gorilla beckoned from the roof of Don Brown Chevrolet in St. Louis, servers doled out free bowls of pasta and a salesman urged potential customers to "come on up under the canopy and put your hands on" a new set of wheels.But sitting across from a salesman in a quiet back room, Adrian Clark could see it would not be nearly that easy. This was the ninth or tenth dealership for Clark, a steamfitter looking for a car to commute to a new job. Every one offered a variation on the discouragement he was getting here: Without $1,000 for a downpayment, no loan."It's just rough times right now," Clark said. "Rough times."

Thomas Kamga: Creating and Taking Opportunities

Nurturing and Sustaining Entrepreneurship with ‘utility’ for Work 

By Juliana Ndolo Mbua

It was Somerset Maughan who said “if you refuse to accept anything but the very best, you very often get it,” tying well with David Scott’s assertion that “In the end the only people who fail are those who do not try?” Well, as Somerset and David howl in their hidey-hole thousands of nautical miles away from the roaring Atlantic waves at the coast of Limbe, Tom basks in the shadow of his own dictum, “I do not wish to be anything but what I am, and try to be that in true best of forms.” Tom? Who is Tom? … Thomas Tangebu Kamga....

Cameroonian emerges among Africa’s Top Young Global Leaders

By Akere-Maimo

Cameroonians in the diaspora are increasingly making their country proud through academic excellence, professional accomplishments and other distinctions in lifetime achievements. One such burgeoning talent is 35-year old Dr. Achankeng Leke, who emerged among 23 Africa ’s Top Young Leaders. These names appeared among 245 executives, scientists, journalists, sports stars and other public figures named by the World Economic Forum as “Young Global Leaders” for 2008. The African case was special in that the forum announced in Geneva on Tuesday, 8 July 2008 – according to AllAfrica.com reports – a list of Africans aged below 40, who earned their places on the list “for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world”. And Achankeng Leke appears first on the list of nominees Sub of the Sahara .

What is the value of your degree?

By James Shikwati

One way of telling your age is through music! If you have to name up to 10 titles before your audience can identify at least one, probably you are the oldest in the group! Here is a test…did your primary school head teacher ever sing this tune… “Someni vijana, muongezee pia bidii, mwisho wa kusoma, mutapata kazi nzuri sana” (Young people put effort in studies, for at the end of it , you will get good jobs). “Kenyan graduates are unable to meet the demands of the modern job market; they are too much on text book knowledge which unfortunately is based on some outdated models,” a CEO in a local company argued. The Kenyan education system is under pressure to adjust to modern market demands.

Investment Opportunities in Africa: Challenges and Prospects

Africa has enormous potentials to lift millions of its impoverished people out of poverty. While economic growth is a sure weapon against poverty, investment prospects are never fully tapped. Instead there is a wide gap between investment potentials and its realization. Rather than dismantling barriers that hinder wealth creation and investment profile, leaders in the continent are busy employing a beggarly approach, seeking more
injection of foreign aid.

Marketing online cuts costs for small businesses

Nielsen, the world’s leading monitor of Internet use, reported in its world survey of Internet users for this year that more than 875 million consumers are now shopping online worldwide....As one in the crowd, small businesses always face a challenge in getting noticed. It is an achievement, on its own, to have solved the financial riddle, built a smooth operation and be in a position to deliver a strong product, but even the most beautiful business cannot thrive if no one knows about it.

Roundtable Invitation: Qualitative Education: Lessons from India

IPPA Nigeria and AfricanRoundtable.org

Invites You to a Luncheon Roundtable
       on:
Qualitative Education: Lessons from India
Featuring Dr. Parth J Shah

President, Centre for Civil Society, New Delhi, India
(www.ccs.in; www.schoolchoice.in)

Moderator

Mr. Thompson Ayodele, Executive Director, IPPA Nigeria
Date: Thursday June 26, 2008

Time: 11:00am-1.30pm, with Lunch to follow
Venue: IPPA Main office, 9A Adekunle Odunlami Street
Ilupeju, Lagos

This Is How Millionaires Really Trade

By Jeff Clark

Joe is the financial version of a suicide bomber. He's a veteran trader with great instincts and a sharp, analytical mind. And he'd be worth millions today if he'd just stop blowing himself up. I hadn't seen Joe for a few months until I ran into him yesterday. He didn't look good. His face was pale and drawn, and sported the remnants of a three-day beard. His eyes were bloodshot. And his breath reeked of alcohol. It was 10:00 a.m...."I just got rolled by the market," he said. "Everything was going so well. I was having a great year scalping profits on small trades. I mean, I was really making some money. Then I bet big on this one trade and – BOOM – it blows up on me."

Africans, an Inherently Disorganized People?

By Sammy Ngale Ekoto

Although there may be exceptions to this observed social phenomenon among some African groups, these are far too few, rare, uncommon, and, therefore, negligible. Our most debilitating weakness as a people comes from our apparent innate propensity for disorganization— our demonstrated inability to build systems of organization. This debilitation, which perhaps comes from our tropical environment, was aided by the incidence European colonization that permanently affixed a stamp of inferiority on us.