The Partnership Agreement between MINPMEESA and the  University of Buea

The Partnership Agreement signed this day between the Ministry of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea has as objective to specify the terms and conditions of support and monitoring by MINPMEESA of incubation activities of the College Of Technology of the University of Buea, in conformity with Decree No.2020/0301/PM of 22 January 2020 to lay down the modalities for the accomplishment of the missions of incubation structures of small and medium-sized enterprises.It focuses amongst other things on the technical, institutional and where appropriate the financial support of the College of Technology;the promotion of incubation activities of the Collège of Technology, support to the projects of incubated persons of the Collège of Technology; information and sensitisation of young project holders; information exchange; experience sharing and good practices. This Partnership Agreement enshrines the placing at the disposal of the College of Technology of the University of Buea, within the current financial year, of a subsidy of 74,537 million CFAF. It should be recalled that the College of Technology (COT) of the University of Buea was created as a constitutive component of the university by Decree No. 93/034 of 19 January 1993 and graduated its first batch of students in September ​2010. The COT seeks to be a reference technology-oriented institution not only by offering full and part-time training programmes recognised at national and regional level within a range of engineering disciplines using technologies and high profile traditional teaching methods, but also by putting in place innovative programmes, whose certificates will respond to the critical needs of national and sub-regional development and will successfully compete on the global labour market. MINPMEESA has till date, granted subsidies to incubation structures lodged within State Universities, amounting to more than two (02) billion CFAF between 2016 and 2022. Within the 2023 financial year, 300 million CFAF was mobilised in favour of incubators of State Universities and Professional schools. For this year, an allocation of 214 million CFAF was provided on behalf of incubation structures of the IUT-Bois Mbalmayo, ENSET of the University of Ebolowa and the College of Technology of the University of Buea. The objective of these subsidies is on the one hand to finance idea-bearing projects and on the other hand ensure the proper functioning of the incubator by allocating the necessary equipment for a better monitoring of incubated persons. It is important to note that incubators help project holders to create innovative enterprises to specify its idea, evaluate the pertinence of its project and catalyse its own resources. These project holders serve as a vehicle for the implementation of enterprise-driven universities and the status of student-entrepreneur. These incubators give to project holders the entrepreneurship tool( accountancy,mastery of tax procedures pegged on entrepreneurship, business opportunities, leadership, human resource management, marketing, SWOT analysis…) which they need in order to be autonomous and seek solutions to their environmental challenges while creating an enterprise which will generate decent jobs, wealth and added value.