Yaoundé Hosts RISE Africa 2026 Entrepreneurship Forum

Thé Yaoundé Complex Sports Centre held this Saturday 16th May, the Rise Africa conference. It brought together prominent Cameroonian entrepreneurs including Naomi Mbakam CEO , Bertin Tchoffo (CEO of Pafic), and Philippe Tagne (CEO of Dovv)and many others.The main organiser is Philipe Simo an entrepreneur.

Over several hours, they shared their personal journeys and answered the raw questions every aspiring entrepreneur asks: how to succeed, what sectors to invest in, whether they have ever failed, how to be sure of oneself, how to find trustworthy partners and mentors in business, what percentage returns to accept on the stock market, and how to build a long-term vision.

The message was unanimous: nobody succeeds without failing first. They admitted to multiple setbacks, bankruptcies, and moments of doubt, insisting that the one who has never failed has simply never truly tried. On choosing a sector, they pointed to agro-industry, food transformation, distribution, energy, and digital services as the most promising fields in Cameroon today.

Regarding trust, they warned that no partner deserves blind faith; every contract and every promise must be verified, and the stock market requires particularly careful study because attractive percentage returns often hide high risks.

On mentorship, they advised selecting someone who has survived real crises, not just a theorist. But the strongest warning concerned personal commitment: entrepreneurship, they said, is a sacrificial job. Once you engage, you must accept sleepless nights, financial uncertainty, and the heavy weight of responsibility. Vision is not a gift but a discipline built day by day. The young people in the audience left with a single lesson: there are no shortcuts, only courage, patience, and the willingness to pay the price.