Pope Leo XIV’s call for greater investment in youth education and entrepreneurship during his first visit to Africa has echoed strongly in Cameroon, where authorities are already deploying large-scale funding to turn young people into a key engine of economic growth.
During a speech at the Unity Palace in Yaoundé on April 15, the pontiff described investment in training and entrepreneurship as a “strategic choice for peace,” linking youth opportunity to stability and reduced migration pressures.
“Investing in the education, training, and entrepreneurship of young people is… the only way to curb the outflow of wonderful talent,” he said.
The message comes as Cameroon intensifies efforts to expand its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, which dominates the economy. According to the Ministry of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, SMEs account for about 444,302 firms, or 99 percent of all registered businesses, and contribute roughly half of GDP and around 60% of employment.
Under the National Development Strategy (NDS30), youth entrepreneurship has been positioned as a central pillar of economic transformation, with multiple programmes already underway.
A government-backed Agricultural Value Chain Development Project has trained 1,770 young people and supported the creation of 712 businesses as of March 2025, according to official figures.
Female participation in entrepreneurship is also rising, with women-led SMEs increasing from 23.73% in 2018 to 26.57% in 2023.
To accelerate job creation, the 2026 finance law introduced a 50 billion CFA francs fund (about $83 million) dedicated to youth employment and women’s economic empowerment. In parallel, the African Development Bank is financing a €136 million programme (about $150 million / 89.2 billion CFA francs) targeting youth employment in Cameroon’s Far North region between 2025 and 2030.
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The government has also begun direct support for emerging enterprises. The Ministry of SMEs recently announced 420 million CFA francs (about $700,000) in funding for 22 student-led “junior enterprises” emerging from university incubators.
Authorities say the aim is to build “a new generation of companies led by professional entrepreneurs” capable of scaling into national champions.
The push comes at a critical demographic moment. The World Bank estimates that more than 60% of Cameroon’s population is under 25, with a median age of about 18, placing pressure on policymakers to convert population growth into employment creation.
Regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to expand opportunities for SMEs, particularly in agro-industry, textiles and wood processing. However, officials acknowledge that access to financing, certification and standards compliance remain major bottlenecks.
Analysts say the overlap between the Pope’s message and Cameroon’s policy direction highlights a broader convergence between international development narratives and domestic economic strategy, with youth entrepreneurship increasingly framed as both an economic necessity and a tool for social stability.
With billions of CFA francs already committed across multiple programmes, the challenge for Cameroon now lies in execution — translating funding, training and policy support into sustainable businesses capable of absorbing a rapidly growing youth population.
