Public-Private Partnership to Promote Employment

The Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Issa Tchiroma Bakary held on Thursday a meeting with employers in view of coming up with a consensus strategy towards fighting unemployment and putting in place of a system of vocational training wards to employment in Cameroon.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, the minister disclosed that schools and vocational training institutions supply 300.000 people each year to the labour market out of which only 50.000 succeed to find employment thereby swelling the number of unemployed each year. Hence the need for a synergy of action among multi- lateral and bilateral partners, wealth creators as well as the private sector to fight unemployment and poverty.

He said government embarked on constructing training institutions in Douala, Edea, Limbe, Sangmelima, Nkongsamba, Bandjoun and Ndop in order to offer training commensurate to the needs of the job market. He frowned at the habit of recruiting workers with a foreign nationality when there are nationals who can do the same job calling on employers to respect the labour legislation especially concerning recruitment of foreign experts.

He announced that another consultation meeting will be taking place in the days ahead in view of matching vocational training to the needs of the labour market. The president of GICAM, Celestin Tawamba said since February 2009, GICAM signed a convention with MINEFOP to build training schools in Douala and Edea but the project has not come to fruition. The one in Douala was supposed to serve f...