Access Bank Cameroon Plc will organize a high-level forum dedicated to the private sector on the sidelines of the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (MC14), scheduled to take place in Yaoundé from March 26 to 29, 2026. The event will strategically focus on formalizing informal trade and expanding trade corridors to catalyze sustainable socio-economic transformation across Africa.
This forum, organized in partnership with the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Cameroon, aims to provide a practical platform where public policies, private sector expertise, and capital converge. The main goal is to unlock the potential of formal trade, strengthen market integration, and stimulate job creation and sustainable development.
The initiative aims to encourage collaborative dialogue between the public and private sectors. This dialogue should lead to concrete actions to formalize informal trade, strengthen trade corridors, and facilitate access to finance, technical expertise, and market opportunities. The main objectives of the forum are:
Develop operational strategies to integrate informal trade into formal markets. Strengthen public-private partnerships to expand trade corridors at regional and continental levels. Promote financial inclusion and sustainable trade finance mechanisms. Identify operational solutions to ESG, logistical, and socio-cultural challenges related to trade in Africa.
The forum will explore concrete strategies in areas such as formalizing informal trade practices, operationalizing trade cooperation between states, value-added transformation in key industries, standardization, training and capacity building, extension of logistics and trade infrastructure, trade finance, capital mobilization and financial inclusion, securing trade corridors through ESG infrastructure, and addressing socio-cultural barriers to trade.
Ellis Nzo Asu, Managing Director of Access Bank Cameroon, stated, "Our goal is to transform trade corridors, currently characterized by informal and fragmented activities, into visible, structured, and high-impact economic channels. By connecting capital, technologies, and public policies, we want to unlock sustainable growth and expand access to markets for African businesses".
The forum will highlight key sectors for the African trade ecosystem, including agriculture and agro-processing, energy and public services, extractive industries, finance and professional services, transport, logistics and infrastructure, manufacturing and distribution, as well as the digital economy and innovation. Stakeholders, entrepreneurs, businesses, and development partners are invited to register to participate and follow event updates via Access Bank Cameroon's official digital platforms.
In parallel with this event, the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, has called on the Cameroonian private sector to promote the “Made in Cameroon” brand. Access Bank Cameroon Plc is a subsidiary of the Access Bank Group, a leading universal commercial bank present on three continents, in 25 countries, and serving more than 60 million customers.
