Involving Young People in Nation Building: Young Deputies Meet Members of Government



The Minister of Youth and Civic Education (Minjec), Mounouna Foutsou and some members of  government took part in the 2022 youth parliament session, on February 09, 2022 at the Yaoundé convention center. 

This meeting featured young deputies facing members of  government, being as a result of the collaboration between the MINJEC and the Network of parliamentarians "Youth Hope" (Reje) for the promotion of policies and actions in favor of Youth and Childhood represented by the Honorable Joshua OSIH. 

The honorable invited young deputies to be aware of the issues of the nation and to be worthy of the trust placed in them. For him, this Youth Parliament is a learning space for young people to contribute to development.

The questions asked by young deputies was opened by the Young Deputy, Ewane Joël Stéphane of the Littoral region who asked the question relating to the increase in prices on basic consumption items and the failure to take account of “Made in Cameroon” (local) products in the list price. 

The Minister of Trade, Magloire Mbarga Atangana, who engaged in the exercise, mentioned in response, the current economic fluctuations. For this, he defined the list of prices as a list of goods and tariffs (prices) of goods and equipment delivered by the public authorities. 

According to him, this price list includes products manufactured by nationals. He therefore invited the interested party to enter the services of the Mincommerce to have the products integrated into the list of prices. 

For example, he listed a set of local products already included in the price list. The Mincommerce has undertaken to set up “showcases” of “Made in Cameroon” products in certain cities such as Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam, Garoua, Maroua. He also announced the forthcoming establishment of a “Cameroon” certified label.

Desmond Ashu, young deputy from the South-West region, was interested in the mechanisms put in place for the technical and financial support of young people at the end of their training. 

The Minister of Vocational Training,  Issa Tchiroma Bakary, indicated in response that vocational training remains important in the context of job creation in our country. 

The minister listed a set of programs and projects put in place by the government and for which he is responsible for conducting. He assured the young deputies of the implementation of active public policies in favor of youth employment, even though the financing of youth training remains a challenge.

The third question was that of the young deputy Mohamadou amadou, addressed to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (Minpostel), and related to the digital innovations proposed by this ministerial department in the promotion of “made in Cameroon”.

 In his speech, LIBOM Li LIKENG, returned to the importance of Information and Communication Technologies in solving employment problems. Thus, she makes it known that the digital professions are on the rise in the world but are sometimes mired in questions of financial sovereignty with regard to the non-regulation that reigns there for the moment.

 According to her, a strategic plan has been developed to accelerate the digital transformation. She goes on to say that centers of excellence are increasingly being created in order to develop this sector of activity. 

Also, its ministerial department is working on raising awareness among young people. A summer camp in ICT was also organized in N'Gaoundéré to reinforce this training. “What we have been able to develop at government level is a research center in the digital economy, the inauguration of which took place yesterday Tuesday, February 08, 2022”, indicates the member of the government.

 “This Center will therefore be responsible for detecting, incubating and developing innovative projects in the digital sector. “Within the framework of this Centre, it will be a question of making the engineers who carry out the projects, real business leaders”, concludes the Minister LIBOM Li LIKENG.

In her speech, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (Minpostel), Libom Li Likeng, returned to the importance of information and communication technologies in solving employment problems. Thus, she makes it known that the digital professions are on the rise in the world but are sometimes mired in questions of financial sovereignty with regard to the non-regulation that reigns there for the moment. Also, she said that a strategic plan has been developed to accelerate digital transformation. This plan covers 8 axes. But above all, it is important for young people who want to get started in this sector to be trained. The Minpostel goes on to say that centers of excellence are increasingly being created in order to develop this sector of activity. As well, its ministerial department works to raise awareness among young people. A summer camp in ICT has also been organized in Ngaoundéré to reinforce this training. Because if it is true that for some people ICTs are an innovative issue, young people who have not yet gotten to them are in great need of training to get by in this ecosystem.


"What we have been able to develop at the government level is a research center in digital economy, the inauguration of which took place yesterday Tuesday, February 08, 2022," she said. “This Center will therefore be responsible for detecting, incubating and developing innovative projects in the digital sector. It will be a question within the framework of this Center of making the engineers carriers of projects, of true head of companies”, added the minister.

She concluded by inviting young parliamentarians to take an interest in the activities of this center which is a government response to the development of made in Cameroon and digitalization. She called on them to be relays to their young peers.

The fourth question is that of the Young Parliamentarian Mbu of the North-West region addressed to the Minister of Secondary Education. Decrying the problem of the socio-professional integration of young people, she asked the question: what are the answers in terms of training curricula from the Ministry of Secondary Education to curb these problems from the base. In response to the Minister of Secondary Education (Minesec), Pauline Nalova Lyonga, said that current training curricula do not differentiate between training for young job creators and young unemployed people. All training curricula contribute to their socio-professional integration and their social integration into society.


Also, emphasis is increasingly placed on the specialization of students in order to create an industrial fabric that begins in high school. Innovative curricula are therefore available and gradually applied in all establishments in the country. Bilingualism is also not to be outdone in terms of its ability to open doors to employment for young people.

The creation and equipment of technical and training establishments in all regions of the country are also in line with this desire for advanced training of students.

With regard to the fifth question, the young parliamentarian from the West region, Feudjieu Oloko Jeodite Epse Ngayep, decried the high cost of standardizing products at Anor, she wanted to know if it is possible to exempt young entrepreneurs from these fees (600,000 FCFA), also to know the various facilities put in place for young entrepreneurs.

In his response, the Minister of Mines, Industries and Technological Development (Minmindt), Dodo Ndoke, regarding the facility granted for the certification of products, affirmed that: "Youth is taken into account in my ministerial department to what is certification facilities”. The importance of certification is to make sure that the products put on the market are good and safe, which is why the cost of certification can seem like a high cost at times. “These costs are due to the analyzes carried out in the laboratories,” he added.


However, he says that Anor has implemented support for young men and women. It thus invites young parliamentarians who want to certify their products to get closer to this structure. "What falls under the work of the State will be subsidized, and what falls under the partners will be negotiated", indicated the Minister of Mines, Industries and Technological Development.

Concerning the protection of works, the state offers a 90% subsidy and young people only pay 10% of the fees to be paid to Oapi.


Regarding the sixth question during this meeting, the parliamentarian Jeune Azombo prosper of the South region addressed it to the Minjec. He first wants to know what the results of the Three-Year Special Youth Plan are. Then find out how the Minjec encourages the economic integration of young people; then to know what place the Minjec gives to innovation and finally he would like to know why the Minjec does not organize an economic awareness campaign for young people.

In his words, Minister Mounouna Foutsou thanks the Honorable for the interest shown in the activities of his ministerial department. Thus, he indicated that the three-year special youth plan was set up by the President of the Republic to facilitate the socio-economic integration of young people. This support concerns 04 specific areas.

In terms of areas covered by this program, the first part has been completed, namely the creation and equipment of the National Youth Observatory, which to date has a mini data center and a remote referencing center.


On the second part, we have in particular the construction of about forty Multifunctional Centers for the promotion of young people. Also, in terms of funding for youth projects, more than 5,000 young people have received funding and thousands of direct and indirect jobs have been created.

Also in terms of project visibility, the organization of the Pts-Jeunes International Business Fair is an illustration of this.

On the second question, the member of the government makes it known that socio-economic integration is one of the missions assigned to the Minjec which also has within it a whole department responsible for the economic promotion of young people which pilots many programs and projects and programs in favor of local youth and those of the diaspora.


In response to the 3rd concern, Mounouna Foutsou informs that within the framework of the Pts-Jeunes, there is a particular focus on technological innovation with the necessary support for certification and protection. Also, the digital project Youth Services Center (Dysc) is one of the demonstrations of the questions of innovation. Not forgetting the hackathons and business challenges organized by the Minjec. So innovation is at the center of young people's projects.

Finally on the last part, he reassures the honorable on the civic education campaign which has been in progress since 2015 and which is done by the Emapur.

However, Minister Mounouna Foutsou noted the quantitative importance of Youth and its qualitative contribution to building a strong and exemplary nation. For him, young people must lead by example in order to be worthy of the nation's trust.



Communication Unit, MINJEC
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