At the age of 22, Fotabe Elmine left Cameroon to Switzerland in pursuit of her dream to become a journalist. While in Geneva, she realized that it takes more than just passion, to achieve one’s dreams. She left Switzerland to Italy where she discovered the value of business. This is where her journey as a Social Entrepreneur started.
Five years later, and backed by an Associate Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management, Elmine returned to Cameroon and founded Job Shop, a Human Resources consulting firm in Buea.
Two years later, Job Shop had diversified and created a Polytechnic and at 29, Elmine became the youngest Rector of a Polytechnic in Cameroon.
Elmine believes that young people and women with the right training are the future of the African continent. In 2014, she founded Fotabe University College, which later became Fotabe University of Cameroon (FUNIC). Her vision for the University was to create a community university that provides the best quality education to young Africans at almost no cost.
Through the University, Elmine has provided free education to hundreds of young people across Cameroon. Through her innovative programs and study models, she has been able to attract young people to Agricultural Entrepreneurship and Business leadership. One can find food and beverage products produced by students of FUNIC on many shelves across the country. This program enables underprivileged students to earn money and take care of basic needs while they study.
Her annual Entrepreneurial Leadership forum organized every year has provided career orientation and coaching to over 500 High School students. Her innovative Founder’s Banknote challenge has seen many businesses spring up from a single banknote of 10,000FCFA.
In 2015, she founded an association called “Association for the Promotion of Decent Work for Women and Girls (ASSPRODEC).” Since its creation, ASSPRODEC has offered more than four hundred Scholarships to young girls, who were not given the opportunity of acquiring education because of their gender. Many of these girls had resorted to prostitution and early marriages. ASSPRODEC has also provided Small Start-up capital to over 40 unemployed women, to help them start small Businesses.
ASSPRODEC also runs a campaign to educate women against illegal emigration. Through this campaign- ‘Take back your dignity” –ASSPRODEC has organized dozens of trainings to educate women and girls about the horrors of domestic work in some countries, and also to educate them about their rights as women, mothers, daughters, young girls, in a bid to fight discrimination against them.
Elmine is also the founder of makeit.cm, an online learning platform that facilitates learning for Cameroonians at all levels. Elmine holds a Masters’ Degree in Human Resources Management, an MBA in International Business, and a Master’s degree in Marketing and Communication. She’s currently studying for a Doctorate of Business Administration in Strategic Management.
