Some 130 of them received their attestations on December 10, 2013 within the Value Chain Project.

Some 130 wood workers have been trained on second and third generation local processing to add value to the product before consumption within or without the country. The over one month training fell within the framework of the, “Competitive Value Chains Project” piloted by the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT).

The project, its National Coordinator, Evelyne Françoise Soua Ntyam said, seeks to render competitive growth-induced sectors that can boost the country’s socio-economic development.  The training, enhanced by the “Centre de formation Technique en Menuiserie” of the Monte Febe Monastery, Mrs Soua Ntyam said, trained 20 participants on the techniques of falling wood, 20 on the mastery of the machine and tools in woodwork, 40 on the sale of wood finished products, 25 on hygiene and sanitation in the wood sector as well as 25 others on financially managing an artisanal, small and medium-size wood enterprise.

The National Coordinator observed that the Competitive Value Chains Project falls within government’s ten-year development programme contained in the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper and targets the country’s manufactured sector, like agro industry, forestry, tourism and Information and Communication Technology. Happy trainees, like Mbiendah Cletus, woodworker at the Olezoa neigbourhood in Yaounde, hailed the training promising to use the knowledge acquired to better his business and trigger change in the wood chain.

Presiding at the closing ceremony which also saw the award of attestations to the 130 trainees, the Secretary General at MINEPAT, Gilbert Edoa, said the government-World Bank project was drafted to solve the problem of local processing that has kept the sector at infancy. The two, he said, are jointly funding the project to the tune of 30 million US dollars (about FCFA 15.3 billion) to render Cameroon’s economy more competitive.