My Father once told me: “Examine everything carefully, and retain what is good.” Since that day, I always examine everything I hear. This is perhaps why I am an Analyst by profession (Business Analyst). Certainly, there is annoying and sometimes surprising information in the old man’s speech, but in the middle, there are always inspiring nuggets, for those who know how to remember what is good.

Yesterday evening, the President of the Republic spoke to Youth. I have noticed for years that in his speeches to Youth, the old man always has inspiring advice. I have been faithful to the speeches every February 10 for 12 years. I often tell my friends, February 10 is for the young and not the old.

I remember his message from February 10, 2012. He said a sentence that still resonates in my head today:

”…The fight for emergence is a fight that requires you to prepare seriously. Indeed, the world we live in is a competitive world where only the best succeed. From this point of view, you are not without assets. It is generally recognized that Cameroon has quality human resources…”

I was enrolled in the third year of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Douala with a DEUG in Mathematics and Applications. I wanted to enter an engineering school, and everyone said that competitive exams had to be purchased. This message from the President of the Republic of Cameroon was linked with a phrase that my father liked to say: ”We buy competitions, but we don’t buy first places.” So I decided to be better, as recommended the President, so that I too can do well. At the end of 2012, I obtained my entrance exam to the Polytechnic School of Yaoundé. As you can’t buy first place in a competition, by the grace of God, I was first in the 2012 Bachelor’s level competition, Industrial Engineering sector.

I followed my training normally. But when I left school, in 2015, I was really annoyed by the message of February 10. I had unemployed people around me. I had an industrial diploma in a country with a very weak industrial base. The message was annoying, but I remembered this:

”…We have long believed that it was enough to make education accessible to as many people as possible, and to constantly raise its level, to mechanically resolve the problem of unemployment… Technological developments have changed the course of things . The new economy is dominated by IT…”

So I specialized in IT, and today I have an advantage. I support IT professionals in the development of IT solutions. I am a Business Analyst certified CBAP by the IIBA. Who better than an industrialist could support IT professionals in the development of IT solutions adapted to the industry?

My friends, the old man spoke to the young people again last night. And here is what I remembered:

”…Self-employment constitutes one of the best paths to socio-professional integration, given the impossibility for the State and the private sector to absorb the ever-increasing volume of young people who arrive each year on the job market.

However, I would like to say that our youth cannot take full advantage of the opportunities offered to them if they do not fully embrace the civic and moral values which are the basis of life in society. The taste for effort, integrity, patriotism, tolerance, civic-mindedness, respect for the laws and the public good are part of it…”

The old man just confirmed what I had noticed. When you understand the 2012 speech that wants you to be better, and you can’t find a job, self-employment becomes an opportunity. It is this level that lies the difference between the diploma and the competence. Small clarification, and we will come back to it. Although self-employment can be a form of entrepreneurship, not all self-employed people can be considered entrepreneurs.