ILO/KOICA cooperation
The Mbéré Fair in Meiganga (Adamaoua, Cameroon), November 29 to December 1, 2024
Under the chairmanship of the Prefect of Mbéré and in collaboration with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the communes of the Mbéré department, the ILO-KOICA project organized a fair called the “Foire du Mbéré” from November 29 to December 1, 2024 in Meiganga, in the Adamawa region of Cameroon.
The “Foire du Mbéré” aimed to facilitate access to market opportunities for entrepreneurs and cooperatives by creating commercial links. The event also served as a networking platform for entrepreneurs, cooperatives, women's associations as well as financial and non-financial service providers from the Mbéré department.
With 266 exhibitors and over 1,000 visitors, mainly from the East and Adamawa regions, the fair was marked by speeches from the Mayor of Meiganga, the representative of the KOICA Country Director, the representative of the UNHCR, the representative of the Director of the ILO’s Decent Work Team (DWT) for Central Africa and ILO Country Office for Cameroon based in Yaoundé, Sao Tome and Principe and Equatorial Guinea and the Prefect, who officially opened the event. These speeches were followed by a tour of the stands.
Prior to the official opening, a plenary conference was held on the theme of “Developing women’s entrepreneurship: issues and challenges in a context of rapid digitalization”. Invited experts discussed the challenges of digitization for women’s entrepreneurship and shared advice based on their experiences.
The Mayor welcomed the initiative and requested KOICA to consider a second phase of the project, given the positive impacts observed. The ILO-KOICA project gave a brief presentation of the fair, before the UNHCR representative highlighted the collaboration between the different UN agencies.
Mr. Gilles NJIKE, representing the Director of ILO DWT/CO Yaoundé, expressed his gratitude to the participants and the people of Meiganga. He thanked KOICA for funding activities in the 16 communes of the Adamawa and East Cameroon regions, and UNHCR for its collaboration.
The fair was described as a socio-economic and cultural event, promoting the economic potential of the communes in the Mbéré department and facilitating access to markets for entrepreneurs and cooperatives. It included the participation of various players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, such as sectoral ministries, UN agencies, NGOs, town halls, financial and non-financial service providers, women's associations, cooperatives, the media and the general public.
The ILO recalled the training courses offered by the ILO-KOICA project to improve exhibitors' exhibition and fair participation skills, as well as training in individual and cooperative entrepreneurship. Exhibitors were encouraged to make good use of these courses.
To round off the event, the Organizing Committee awarded prizes to the top 25 exhibitors and issued certificates of participation to all exhibitors.
As a reminder, the ILO-KOICA project aims to revitalize economies and strengthen social cohesion between refugees and host communities by developing women's entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in productive agro-ecological value chains, such as cassava, corn and chicken. It covers 16 communes, including 12 in 3 departments of the East region and 4 in the Mbéré department of the Adamawa region.