With a loan of 89.2 billion CFA francs, the African Development Bank is launching the CAP2E project in the Far North of Cameroon. The objective is to strengthen employability and support entrepreneurship, particularly among young people and women, in a region affected by a poverty rate of 74%.
On May 21, 2025, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved 89.2 billion CFA francs (€136 million) in financing for Cameroon. This support aims to implement the “Building Capacity and Skills for Employability and Entrepreneurship” (CAP2E) project in the Far North. This region, marked by insecurity and extreme poverty, is expected to benefit from a boost in its socioeconomic development.
The CAP2E project, scheduled for a five-year period (2025-2029), is based on three pillars: strengthening technical and vocational training institutions, promoting local entrepreneurship among youth and women, and modernizing social infrastructure resilient to climate change. The objective is to inject new momentum by focusing on human capital and social inclusion in a region that is among the most fragile in the country. According to the AfDB, the approach adopted aims to “transform a struggling region into a space of opportunity, innovation, and inclusive resilience.”
According to the results of the 3rd General Business Census (RGE-3), the Far North is home to 15,689 businesses, the overwhelming majority of which are very small units (13,854). The tertiary sector largely dominates, representing 85.3% of local businesses. However, the level of employment remains low: 32,180 people, mostly men (26,257 compared to 5,923 women), work there, far from the 1.1 million jobs recorded nationally.
For Léandre Bassolé, Director General for Central Africa at the AfDB Group, “this project is a message of hope for thousands of young Cameroonians who aspire to a dignified life, decent employment, and a better future.” The goal is to place local populations at the heart of development by focusing on innovation, training, and entrepreneurship. As the Far North faces multiple challenges, CAP2E could well mark a turning point by providing concrete and lasting solutions to one of the country’s most acute social crises.
