The Skills Initiative for Africa (SIFA) represented by Mr Alfonce Tata Nfor, Regional Coordinator of SIFA for Central Africa and the Employers’ Union of Cameroon (GICAM) represented by Mme Aline Valerie Mbono, Executive Director of GICAM, at the headquarters of GICAM in Douala on the 12th of April 2021, concluded the signing of a memorandum of collaboration (MoC) between their two institutions. This agreement which comes to formalize the already existing partnership between the SIFA project and GICAM, will serve as a platform upon which further collaboration will be promoted.
As a programme of the African Union Commission (AUC) and the AUDA-NEPAD with support from the German government, SIFA seeks to promote occupational prospects of young Africans through the support of innovative skills development programmes in collaboration with the private sector as an integral key stakeholder in job creation on the continent.
Prior to the signing of this partnership agreement, SIFA had already begun rolling out specific technical and material support to GICAM. The full equipment of the SMEs Incubation Centre of GICAM in December 2020, inaugurated by the President of GICAM and SIFA Regional Coordinator, stands out as the most recent example of such a collaboration.
GICAM and SIFA will conclude specific agreements for the joint implementation of actions and activities contributing to the purpose of the partnership. For purposes of efficiency and the mutualization of technical, financial, material and human resources, these agreements may involve other interested parties working in the domains of interest to both institutions.
The agreements include:
GICAM, as the voice of the Cameroonian private sector, will play a leading strategic and institutional role within the partnership. One of which will be to encourage and facilitate the development of productive relationships and collaborations between SIFA and the Cameroonian private sector;
GICAM shall provide office space accommodation for the SIFA Regional Coordinator, including the provision of other logistical and administrative needs to allow him or her to perform his or her duties in an effective and efficient manner;
For purposes of monitoring and evaluation, a joint SIFA-GICAM Committee will meet at least once every six months to assess the status of the partnership, the progress of activities and to study new prospects for collaboration. This duration may be revised by agreement between the parties. The convening of the Committee is left to the discretion of each of the parties.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by a cross section of partners of SIFA such as the representatives of the Ministries of Employment and Vocational Training (MINEFOP), Youth Affairs and Civic Education (MINJEC), the UNDP, Junior Chamber International (JCI), Youth Employment Service Cameroon, the Cameroon Youth Economic Forum, the King Black Welfare Association, Local Youth Corner Cameroon, ECAM and the National Employment Fund (FNE) – all of them members of the GIZ/SIFA TVET Working Group for Cameroon.
Photo: Left: Aline Valerie Mbono, Executive Director of GICAM, Right: Alfonce Tata Nfor, Regional Coordinator of SIFA for Central Africa
For more information on this partnership, contact:
Alfonce Tata Nfor
Regional Coordinator for Central Africa (SIFA)
alfonce.tata@giz.de
