CUIB-CERI Entrepreneurship and Academic Fair 2018
The 5th Edition of CUIB-CERI Entrepreneurship and Academic Fair for the 2017/2018 school year ended on Sunday 15th April 2018 at the CUIB Molyko Campus under the theme “The Economy of Communion in Action”.
The theme sought to strengthen the academic base of the fair by developing, documenting and implementing a system for unbiased student evaluation of their experiential learning. A sort of practical outdoor Entrepreneurship internship on campus since the subject cannot be experienced by reading or classroom learning.
The opening ceremony was launched by Cameroon most revered Senator Mbella Moki Charles, in close collaboration with the CEO of Go Ahead Africa Mr. Roland Kwaiman, and the president/Pro-Chancellor of CUIB Rev. Fr. George Nkeze Jingwa and some top ranking business organizations like Orange Cameroon, Source Du Pays just to name but these. Senator Mbella Moki Charles congratulated the CUIB staff and faculty for their hard work in empowering the young students in the domain of entrepreneurship.
He told the students that hard work pays adding that they should continue to work together as a team and ensure that they contribute positively in the growth of Cameroon.
The Entrepreneurship and Academic fair which started from 11th to 15th April 2018, at the Catholic University institute of Buea (CUIB) has raised the summit of higher education in Cameroon by specifically aiming to produce Job creators and not Job Seekers. This goal calls for innovation and improvement of traditional higher education approaches.
One of the strategies adopted is the institutionalization of CUIB-CERI Entrepreneurship and Academic fair (CCEAF) program, which serves as a practicum to immerse students into the entrepreneurial realities of Cameroon and the world within an academic context and environment.
According to the Vice president for the Center for Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation Eyong Eyong Thaddeus, the purpose of CCEAF is to promote the entrepreneurial nature of CUIB based on Catholic religious business principles by fostering confidence in self-reliance for job creation, innovation, inventiveness & entrepreneurial mindset among CUIB students through the building and testing strategic alliances with local, national and international partners.
The 5th Edition of CUIB-CERI Entrepreneurship and Academic Fair for the 2017/2018 school year brought together more than 30,000 people from different works of life that is students, staff and Faculties of CUIB, Students, Lecturers and staff of other schools within the community of Buea, government institutions and parastatals, local, national and multinational companies, diplomatic missions, international and multi-lateral organizations.
During the closing ceremony, the president/pro-chancellor of CUIB Rev. Fr. George Nkeze Jingwa reiterated the importance of the CUIB-CERI Entrepreneurship and Academic Fair in the training of entrepreneurs in a world that is rapidly changing with the advent of digitalization.
He pointed out to the students that being an entrepreneur is not all about being creative but it means working together as a team especially when you have the right team. So he encouraged the students that they should always learn to work as a team.
The 5th Edition of CUIB-CERI Entrepreneurship and Academic Fair had activities such as
Conferences and workshops, Boot camps, Business Clinics, Games and Leisure, Friendship saloon, Business Plan challenge, Business Advocacy Forum, Trade shows and Expositions, Celebrated Guests Artists in Talk shows and many more.
At the end of the closing ceremony, prizes were awarded to the students with the best business plan challenge, most active students during the fair, most outstanding school during the fair among others.
For many especially the freshmen who are having the experience for the first time, it was quite a pleasant one
