Centre  for Independent Development Research

Entrepreneurship Development and Economic Empowerment

The purpose of this programme is to highlight the importance of encouraging community initiatives and entrepreneurship in the development and growth of local economies. This is achieved by nurturing an entrepreneurial environment within local communities which will adapt easily to change. This necessitates the incorporation of people and ideas into the development process. CIDR’s role in entrepreneurship development and economic empowerment is both being an entrepreneur in itself and a facilitator of entrepreneurship. The main sectors of development include:  Education, Agribusiness, Tourism and Communication; and the tools employed include communication and enlightenment, training in an academy format, facilitating access to finance; and counselling & success coaching.

Entrepreneurship Communication & Enlightenment

CIDR views communication as an important mechanism through which knowledge is generated and propagated to stimulate economic progress. Such communication which embodies business knowledge has the potential to motivate and inspire receivers to start a new enterprise. The program on Entrepreneurship Communication & Enlightenment is anchored under The Entrepreneur Media Group which publishes a Quarterly newsmagazine called The Entrepreneur Cameroon and an online blog – The Entrepreneur NewsOnline. The strategic plan provides for  The Entrepreneur Community Radio (EN-FM) and The Entrepreneur TV (EN-TV). The Entrepreneur Media Group’s flagship event is the annual Cameroon Entrepreneur of the Year Award (CAMEYA). The CAMEYA programme recognizes and encourages the achievement, excellence and innovation of Cameroon 's entrepreneurs. It honours the men and women in Cameroon who exemplify the spirit of entrepreneurship through hard work, determination, creativity and resourcefulness. CAMEYA encourages and inspires others to follow the same path.

The Entrepreneur Academy
The Entrepreneur Academy offers a series of Entrepreneurship courses for would-be business proprietors. The courses promote entrepreneurial thinking among participants and develop the necessary real-world skills for founding and growing an entrepreneurial venture. Participants demonstrate these skills by developing and presenting a viable business plan to a review panel made up of successful entrepreneurs. On completing the program participants are awarded a Certificate in Entrepreneurship. Participants are trained on ten core courses: Designing & Managing Business Organization; Innovation & Creativity; Human Resource Management & Organizational Behaviour; Marketing & Advertising; Financial & Managerial Accounting; Venture Capital & Financial Management; Business Law & the Legal Environment of Business; Business Plan & Project Development; Language Skills and Business Communication; Strategic Expansion & Internationalization; Social Responsibility and Impact.

The Entrepreneur Finance
This programme allows for cooperation of proprietors to pool resources and borrow from the pool of resources minimum finance requirement to start a new business venture or provide injection to an existing business organization. The Entrepreneur Finance extends credit to businesses that cannot obtain financing from conventional sources.  

Empowerment Counseling and Success Coaching
The Empowerment Counseling and Success Coaching programme provides participants with professional enrichment support services necessary for business and non-business success. Through one-to-one consulting with an experienced business counsellor and sessions with a success coach, the programme strives to make participants understand, actualize and energize their inner potential for positive action. The mission is to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship culture in Cameroon and Africa.