11 May, Amsterdam – “The people and the Government of the Republic of Cameroon are committed to provide the best possible support and services to the hard-working farmers and smallholders for greater diversification of their agri and other commodities. Cameroon expects that CFC will have a much bigger footprint in Cameroon in the future for smallholders and SMEs to enhance their productions and to transform their production through value addition and to conserve their nature in a bio-friendly way.”
H.E. Mr. Lejeune Mbella Mbella, Minister of External Relations of Cameroon, stated the above when he was addressing the staff members of and its Managing Director Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal at the CFC secretariat.
Cameroon Minister of External Relations expressed his utmost satisfaction at the current state of affairs of CFC. He also expressed his desire for a much expanded CFC as the world needs organizations like CFC to help smallholders/SMEs to enhance their income so that they can lift themselves from the poverty.
Elaborating on widespread socio-economic development programme in his country, Minister Mbella Mbella highlighted the importance of education and capacity building so that youthful nations like Cameroon could duly take advantage of their demographic dividend.
In response to a powerpoint presentation on the activities and future plans of CFC, Minister Mbella Mbella expressed his and his country’s unequivocal support for a much expanded and more active CFC.
Terming poverty as a curse, Minister Mbella Mbella stated that no human being deserved to be in poverty. He added that if we consider ourselves as good human being, we should not tolerate for a minute the incidence of poverty and thereby upheld the dignity of human being. Human dignity should not be a matter of negotiation, it should be non-negotiable, the Minister added.
Welcoming the Minister, Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Managing Director of the CFC, briefed the Minister about the enormity of challenges for organizations like CFC as supply of resources is so little compared to the high demand for CFC’s services. Ambassador Belal stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we can no longer treat seemingly far away crisis as distance problem.
What happens anywhere can affect people everywhere. This is why poverty alleviation has remained. the number one goal in the development of sustainable journey. Ambassador Belal urged Minister Mbella Mbella to consider working for a global fund for smallholders and SMEs in Africa. Such fund should be aimed at, what the Minister proposed to bring better productivity, better transformation through value addition and conservation of commodities in a bio-friendly way.
Expressing his satisfaction for the global decision of US$ 650 million allocation for SDRs to which his country Cameroon is also a signatory, Ambassador Belal urged Minister Mbella Mbella to make use of SDRs for the proposed fund for African smallholders and SMEs. In response, the Minister expressed his agreement to the proposal and stated that without proper support and finance the smallholders and SMEs cannot expect to grow.
Before taking leave, Minister Mbella Mbella also assured the Managing Director that he will report to his Hierarchy to see how Cameroon could make voluntary contribution to the CFC Fund.
The Minister was accompanied by H.E. Ms. Madeleine Liguemoh Ondoua, Ambassador of Cameroon to the Netherlands, Mr. Aurelien Eteki Nkongo, Director of European Affairs, Mr. Ahoudou Garba, Director of Communications, and Ms. Paula Nadege Ngo Song, Attaché at the Private Office, Office of the Minister of External Relations, while Ambassador Belal was accompanied by Mr. Nicolaus Cromme, Chief Operations Officer a.i., Mr. Hector Besong, Portfolio and Risk Manager, and Mr. Peter Nielsen, Project Manager.
