After decades promoting startupping as the only way of starting a business in Central Africa, it is time to begin exploring other ways of doing business that have proven worth their weight in gold elsewhere. As opposed to other forms of partnership (distributorship, licensing, joint venture, etc.), franchising has become seamlessly popular in the United States and elsewhere and the business community have realized just how beneficial and it is to leverage an already existing business model that has proven its worth.
Generally, franchising is a turnkey business operation coming with everything needed for take-off: an already recognized brand with equipment, supplies, and marketing plan, all based on the franchisor's knowledge base and experience. The more popular a franchising brand is, the higher the profits, with risks lowered by numerous factors including the franchise network of business owners across different markets. Moreover, the inherent legal coverage by the franchisor and the intrinsic risk-sharing principle make franchising a particularly suitable business model in a difficult post-Covid economy where risk-aversion has become the financial system's leitmotiv. However, gaining these benefits require thorough research in acquiring a good franchising knowledge and the level of franchising culture in Cameroon and around is still less than impressive.
In partnership with Comexposium, a world-class B2B2C organization and the organizer of the renowned International Franchising Expo (IFE) held annually in New York City and attended by business delegations from around the world including Cameroon, the American Chamber of Commerce in Cameroon (AmCham) will be hosting Cameroon Franchising Conference (CFC), the first of an annual event whose maiden edition will be held on April 30, 2022 in Douala. The event will be sequenced in a two-day format, and will be aimed at delivering a franchising curriculum to the expected 80 – 100 participant companies, including masterclasses and workshop sessions, and then facilitate the kickoff of franchising negotiations on the spot with 10 popular American franchisors that have shown interest in franchising to Cameroonian entrepreneurs.
To establish a baseline, a questionnaire was shared to prospective franchisees in order to better calibrate the curricula to be delivered and have content adapted to the local economy. By the end of the two-day event, the 10 American franchisors will have been matched with their prospects and negotiations are expected to begin going through. One of AmCham's flagship events moving forward, the Cameroon Franchising Conference (CFE) is hoped to become a reference point for the promotion of a new side of business in Central Africa and the annual rendezvous of franchisee hopefuls across the region.
If you're an entrepreneur and would be interested in attending the conference, click here to take the questionnaire.
