In the Spotlight: Some enterprising women entrepreneurs from Cameroon
#BeyondTheHustle #RedefineSuccess #SheMeansBusinessCM #BoldWomenLead
A quiet revolution is taking root in Cameroon, the land known as ‘The Hinge of Africa’ – and it’s being led by women. Bold, resourceful, and unrelenting, Cameroonian women entrepreneurs are rewriting the rules of business & redefining the country’s economic future. From rural fields to digital frontiers, they’re not just surviving – they’re thriving, transforming communities and lifting families out of poverty along the way.
Unstoppable & Underrated: Cameroon’s Silent Business Revolution Led by Women
Besides being the backbone of Cameroon’s informal and agricultural sectors, their impact stretches far beyond crops & marketplaces. By starting and growing businesses, these women are creating jobs, combating inequality & even contributing to better health and education outcomes in their communities. And while challenges like limited access to credit, outdated cultural norms & regulatory roadblocks persist, these entrepreneurs continue to push boundaries and innovate. Some are making global waves. These women are not only building empires – they’re building futures.
And, support systems are slowly catching up. Government programmes offering tax incentives, simplified business registration, and cooperative models are helping pave the way. But the true power lies in the resilience and creativity of these women who ‘dare to dream’.
Here, let us celebrate Cameroon’s enterprising women, spotlighting their challenges, triumphs, and the unstoppable momentum they bring to the national stage.
> Dibo Ndumbe-Eyoh, Co-Founder & Co-Creative Director of Eloli
Dibo Ndumbe-Eyoh is a Cameroonian entrepreneur building an award-winning luxury fashion brand in Cameroon. She is the Co-Founder and Co-creative Director of Eloli, an award-winning luxury African brand in Cameroon. Eloli means “it is beautiful” in Bafaw, a language spoken in Cameroon.
Eloli designs and manufactures clothing and accessories, keeping a strong ‘heritage’ focus. This unique brand has featured in publications like Vogue and Elle and has been flaunted by celebrities too. She founded the business in 2012 with her sisters Sume and Fese; and the brand also works with various local artisans and skilled tailors. She has 20+ years of business experience working internationally for leading banks and other financial services as well as consultancy firms.
> Manuela Kamadjou, Founder, Kebe Home
After finishing business school, Manuela Kamadjou started her career in finance, after which she shifted to the cosmetics industry. An entrepreneur since 2019, she founded Kebe Home, which is a passion project that became an interior laboratory. Their mission is to use the power of design and culture to inspire people.
She created Kebe Home after 13 years building, transforming and sharing the stories of leaders, brands and stands through various strategic roles in Europe and Africa. Since establishing her firm in 2019, she and her team have worked on a variety of projects, each unique in size, scope, and style.
After developing the interior design department through various poetic projects, Kebe Home is launching THE NOMAD COLLECTION, a series of ethical culture-infused luxuries to bring inspiration to every creator in the world. She is passionate about design, craftsmanship, retail, women & minorities empowerment and development projects.
> Fonyuy Videc Leinyuy, Founder of GirlsTEK Global
Fonyuy Videc Leinyuy is the Founder of GirlsTEK Global in Cameroon. She is both a techpreneur and an advocate for developing more girls in the field of technology. Her passion for educating and empowering young people, especially girls with digital skills, actually led to the creation of her organization – GirlsTEK Global in 2017.
GirlsTEK Global is a non-profit empowerment organization that exists – with the aim to equip, empower, train & develop young girls with technological skills, positive thinking and innovative mind-sets to provide solutions to Africa’s and the world’s problems through technology. Thus, promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), and impacting young people and bringing sustainable growth.
Their aim is – to empower the next generation of young girls so that they can build the skill-set necessary to enter the digital workplace, and become tomorrow’s leaders in STEM thereby bridging the wide gender divide in the tech sector.
Being aware of the large number of girls in Cameroon, who have limited access to the knowledge and application of computers actually inspired her to start the company.
> Charlotte Flavienne Binya, Founder of Country Foods SARL
Charlotte Binya is the Founder of Country Foods SARL which is an agri-food company based in Douala, Cameroon. They are into producing a variety of products such as -fish, pork, beef sausages, natural jams, natural fruit juices and peanut butter.
She has an engineering diploma in transformation and quality control of fishery products; and she is also a trainer in the food industry and delivers several training courses in the food industry, as well as with international organizations, individuals or companies wishing to update their teams in the food industry.
She shares that her primary satisfaction is having the feeling of helping people through my products and services.
> Melissa Bime, Founder, Infiuss
It was when she was a nurse, that Melissa Bime, Founder, Infiuss saw a huge challenge in her country’s hospitals – getting essential blood supplies to those in need in order to save lives. So, she became an ‘impact’ entrepreneur – choosing to change the situation rather than being part of it, and launched her online blood bank Infiuss as a solution.
Infiuss is a revolutionary online health service that connects health facilities to a vast data base of blood banks, in other health institutions. This online blood bank and emergency supply platform and was basically created due unavailability of blood.
The situation is quite serious. In sub-Saharan Africa, 500,000 deaths occur due to lack of blood and in Cameroon, 89% of blood needs in hospitals are not met while 40% of pregnant women and children below 5 years do not also have blood needs met.
How do they work? As an innovation, individuals or hospitals request for blood through SMS or phone call, and they source for match in blood group and type in their database which has information on blood availability in hospitals with blood banks. Then they deliver on bikes, in the right conditions. Thus, lives are saved and mortality prevented. This business has great potential as there is recurrent need of blood for pregnant women, haemophiliacs, sickle cell patients, major surgeries, etc.
The future looks bright. With its amazing, qualified team, Infiuss can have branches in many countries in Africa!
> Soukaina Bouba Dalil, Founder & CEO, Energie d’Afrique
The Founder and CEO of Energie d’Afrique, Soukaina Bouba Dalil is an engineer in renewable energy, and she hails from the far north region of Cameroon, a rather vulnerable part of the country.
It is important to know that the effects of climate change in this part of the region, which has a huge impact on crops, water and energy resources. As an advocate of sustainable development, she felt challenged and this is where the idea of her entrepreneurial adventure originated. It was basically to meet primary needs and bring sustainable economic and ecological solutions in areas with energy deficits.
The company is dynamic and is deployed all over the country, and its activities fully contribute to the achievement of sustainable development objectives. As its name indicates, Energie d’Afrique aims to solve the problems of electrical energy, cooking energy, in Africa in general and particularly in Cameroon. Launched in 2018, the company specializes in the following areas:
· Construction, equipment and maintenance of bio-digesters for biogas and electricity
· The manufacture of biomass cookers and solar dryers
· It also offers services in the installation of off-grid solar power plants
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