- Migration from the Informal to the formal sector
Migration of craftspeople can be done in all the three technical departments of MINPMEESA. That is you can register as a craft enterprise at the Centre for the Creation of Enterprises, craftspeople operating the same activity can unit themselves in a group then register as a social economy organization if their functioning respects the Social Economy principles and for very small craft activities carried out manually, registration is done free at the craftspeople’s council office of their council area.
- What is migration all about?
Migration is the movement of an owner of a production unit and the unit itself from the informal to become a formal stakeholder or entrepreneur after fulfilling all the formalities for migrating.
- What is the procedure for migration and which structure is responsible?
The procedure depends on the production capacity of the informal activity to migrate. If it is a very small activity done manually which corresponds with article 10 of Law No 2007/004 of 03 of June 2007 governing the craft industry in Cameroon, the procedure begins by registration at the craftspeople council office of their council area which is free. After this, and according to the accountability of his activity which he keeps daily, he then proceed by paying his taxes at the municipal treasury. After which he subscribe to the voluntary social insurance of his council area and pay his insurance that will cover him from social risks and also permit him to obtain old age pension.
Therefore in a summary, formalization is in four aspects: registration at the level of council, payment of taxes, voluntary social insurance and daily records keeping on the activity.
But for a craftsperson who want to migrate through the Centre for the Creation of Enterprises, either you register online via my business.cm or you go physically to the Centre found in each regional headquarter and pay 41500frs all the services shall be render to you there.
Lastly, for the Social Economy Units, you first constitute a group as a cooperative or common initiative group and then register in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER). For MINPMEESA, registration is also done according to order No 042/PM of 23 May 20 to lay down the terms and conditions for the registration and keeping of the general register of Social Economy Units in Cameroon.
- Who is legible to migrate?
All actors operating an activity in the informal sector or all groups of persons carrying out an informal activity or all stakeholders/ owners of informal units who employs workers.
- What are the benefits of migrating?
Eligibility for various non-financial support offered by MINPMEESA and other partner structures;
Commercial assistance (participation in national and international fairs, online sales of craft products;
Accessibility to financing;
Accessibility to technical training;
Eligibility for public procurement contracts according to Order No 402/A/MINPMEESA/CAB of 21 October 2019 setting the nature and thresholds of contracts reserved for craftspeople ,small and medium sized enterprises, community organizations and civil society organizations, as well as private contracts;
Eligibility to acquire exhibition spaces in handicraft villages;
Integration into the volume chains of medium sized and large enterprises to facilitate the sales of its products.
- How many craftspeople/ organizations have already formalized their structures and how is it beneficial to them?
As concerning handicraft, we have already about 90.000 registered craftspeople in the 360 Municipal councils. Amongst them, we have already 824 who have formalized. To increase the number of formalized craftspeople, we need to further increase sensitization and incentives measures.