The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, granted an audience to the AUF Regional Director for Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region on 13 June 2024.
The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, granted an audience on Thursday 13 June 2024 to Professor Alain KIYINDOU, AUF Regional Director for Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region. Discussions focused on new avenues for collaboration and partnership between AUF and MINRESI through its supervised institutes. Consequently, the said institutes were convened for this meeting.
The heads of the Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD), the Local Material Promotion Authority (MIPROMALO) and the National Committee for Technology Development (CNDT) reviewed their state of cooperation with AUF, and identified new activities and research areas that are worth exploring. Examples of such areas include artificial intelligence, agricultural digitisation and civil nuclear power.
The AUF Regional Director lauded the initiatives undertaken by MINRESI with a view to making Cameroon a hub for research and innovation in Central Africa. He however expressed the wish that these initiatives be carried out in collaboration with other countries in the Central African region so that the latter might benefit from Cameroon’s experience and expertise.
In addition to the above, he echoed the Minister’s concerns regarding the correlation between research and societal needs. It was pointed out that research is supposed to provide concrete solutions to society’s problems. This requires encouraging young researchers to create jobs, in line with the “one researcher, one company” slogan adopted by MINRESI. So the projects carried out jointly by MINRESI and AUF should have a tangible positive impact on the local people, who are expected to be the main beneficiaries of this research.
The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, granted an audience to a CIRAD delegation led by its Regional Director for Central Africa.
On 29 May 2024, the Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, granted an audience to CIRAD’s Regional Director for Central Africa, Dr Thierry LEROY. The latter attended the audience, together with Jean-Paul Laclau, Director of the Department for Performance of Tropical Production and Processing Systems, as well as Jean-Michel Harmand, an agroforestry researcher. Some of MINRESI’s close collaborators were also present, including the Director General of the Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD).
Discussions revolved around identifying priority areas requiring CIRAD’s adequate and efficient support in the field of agricultural research in Cameroon.
The Minister stressed the need to implement the “one researcher, one company” slogan, urging CIRAD to support Cameroon researchers in making their research activities more professional. This implies that research findings should enable researchers to embark on scientific entrepreneurship by setting up businesses aimed at generating wealth for Cameroon’s development.
Training, maintenance, project development and monitoring feature prominently among Cameroon’s National Research and Innovation System (SNRI) and CIRAD’s priority areas of action. In the area of training, the Minister stressed the importance of supporting the 25 students granted annual scholarships as well as those who are part of the Hubert-Curien Partnership. These two scholarship programmes are a spin-off from the Cameroon Week of Science held in France from 3 to 7 April 2023.
Dr Thierry LEROY reiterated CIRAD’s unwavering commitment to supporting the Government through MINRESI and IRAD in order to enable Cameroon to ensure food security, which is a priority issue. He also announced the forthcoming celebration of CIRAD’s 40th anniversary and seized the opportunity to seek the support of MINRESI.
Discussions rounded off with both parties reasserting their willingness to work in genuine collaboration, and the hope that the existing partnership would continue to be as beneficial and fruitful as ever for Cameroon and France.
A delegation from MINRESI guided IRD’s CEO on a tour of the future Environmental Biogeosciences Centre in the presence of the French Ambassador and AFD Representative in Cameroon.
Following instructions from the Minister, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, MINRESI’s delegation led IRD’s CEO, Dr Valérie VERDIER, to take a tour of the future Environmental Biogeosciences Centre (EBC) site on Friday 19 April 2024. They were accompanied by the French Ambassador, H.E Thierry MARCHAND, and AFD’s representative in Cameroon. It is important to note that the French delegation was impressed by the geographical location of the site, which is on the outskirts of Yaounde, next to IRAD and MIPROMALO in the Nkolbisson district. The futuristic building, which shall include laboratories, a conference room, lecture halls and reception facilities for foreign researchers, will emerge as part of an already existing research ecosystem.
According to the French Ambassador and IRD’s CEO, it will take three years to complete the building and equip it. The Biogeosciences Centre construction project is funded by C2D programme. It is therefore one of the projects that highlight the strength and vitality of France’s scientific partnership with Cameroon. Thanks to its strategic sub-regional location, the centre will contribute in making Cameroon a hub for research and innovation in Central Africa.
The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, granted an audience to the CEO of IRD, Valérie VERDIER, during her work visit in Cameroon on Thursday, 18 April 2024. Cooperation between MINRESI and IRD was at the heart of all discussions.
The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, and the CEO of IRD, Valérie VERDIER, had a working session on Thursday, 18 April 2024. During close to an hour, discussions centered on the partnership between both institutions. MINRESI and IRD have a long-standing relationship which is set to continue. Several research institutes under the technical supervision of MINRESI carry out research in collaboration with IRD through its representation in Cameroon, notably IMPM-CREMER, of IRGM and IRAD.
Prior to this working visit, the IRD Representative in Cameroon, Telesphore SIME NGANDO, was granted an audience on Monday, 15 April 2024. On Tuesday, 16 April 2024, the Minister awarded medals to Cameroonian researchers at IRD. This was to reward and honour the work carried out by the IRD Representation in Cameroon, in partnership with the Cameroonian Government through MINRESI. During this ceremony, the Minister did not fail to appreciate the success of this historic partnership with IRD.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE COOPERATION BETWEEN IRD AND CAMEROON IN THE FIELD OF RESEARCH
IRD and Cameroon enjoy excellent relations in the field of scientific research and innovation. This internationally recognised multi-disciplinary organisation will soon celebrate its 80th anniversary and can look back on 75 years of prosperous scientific and technical cooperation in Cameroon. Its results have a visible impact on the population, both in the domain of health and environment.
This audience reflects the excellent cooperation between MINRESI and IRD. The working session between the Minister and IRD’s CEO was followed by a guided tour of the infrastructure and technical facilities of CREMER (Research Centre on Emerging and Re-emerging diseases). CREMER reflects the dynamism and success of the research partnership between the IRD and Cameroon. Thanks to this partnership, this virology reference laboratory carries out genomic surveillance of SARS COV variants and other emerging pathogens through AFROSCREEN programme. As part of the African response to COVID-19, a research-action project called ARIACOV has been jointly conducted by CREMER and IRD. CREMER’s activities cover the entire Central African sub-region.
In addition to CREMER, IRD also collaborates with the Institute of Geological and Mining Research (IRGM) and the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD).
At IRGM, this collaboration was expressed through:
JeuneEquipe in collaboration with IRD (JEAI-MORPHOCAM): Morphogenesis and pre-Quaternary denudation of the Cameroon Highlands;
LaboratoireMixte International (LMI DYCOFAC): dynamics of continental ecosystems in Central Africa in the context of global change;
Observatoire (M-TROPICS): Observation of continental surfaces and interfaces.
At the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), IRD is involved in the following project:
JeuneEquipe in collaboration with l’IRD (JEAI AVOSAN): Varietal improvement to optimise the health of vegetables grown in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Cameroon.
LOOKING AHEAD: THE BIOGEOSCIENCES CENTRE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
One of the most striking examples of cooperation between MINRESI and IRD is undoubtedly the Environmental Biogeosciences Research Centre (CBE) to be built in Yaounde. This high-level research centre will eventually be used to develop research projects, promote networking between researchers in Central Africa and abroad, as well as help train future generations in environmental sciences. This working visit comes just as MINRESI and IRD are finalising the project to build this centre. From 25 to 28 March 2024, a large MINRESI delegation paid a working visit to IRD headquarters in France. The visit enabled the two parties to hold constructive discussions with a view to finalising the project, which is being carried out with C2D funding.
On Wednesday, 31 January 2024, MINRESI and the Ombessa Higher Institute of Agricultural Techniques (ISTAO) signed a public-private partnership framework agreement. During this signing session, the Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, declared: ‘MINRESI-ISTAO partnership is one of the mechanisms set to implement the Government’s policy in the field of research and development as advocated by the Head of State, His Excellency Paul BIYA’.
The promoter of ISTAO, Minister Pascal ANONG ADIBIME, equally expressed the high expectations his institute specialised in agriculture, has of this partnership.
The Uruguayan economic and trade investor’s delegation was granted an audience at the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation on 22 November 2023. The Secretary General of MINRESI represented the Minister, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, who was unable to attend.
A Uruguayan investor’s delegation was granted an audience at the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation on Wednesday 22 November 2023. This audience was part of an economic and trade mission. Moreover, it was the first of its kind for diplomatic relations between Cameroon and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. The representative of the Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) who accompanied the Uruguayan delegation pointed out that it was the very first time Uruguayan investors had visited Cameroon from the inception of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1989. The purpose of this mission was essentially to explore the economic terrain. Therefore, the investors had to prospect for suitable avenues of cooperation between the two countries. Judging from the nature of the delegation received at MINRESI, possible areas for cooperation could include fisheries, livestock farming, electricity and renewable energy.
The Secretary General of MINRESI, Professor Rebecca Madeleine EBELLE ETAME, representing the Minister who was unable to attend the meeting, considered this visit as proof that the Uruguayan delegation had great interest in science and technology, as well as stakeholders in these areas. Thereafter, the heads of institutes under the technical supervision of MINRESI and those from the central administration who had been invited to the audience were given the floor to discuss the potential areas of cooperation between MINRESI and the Uruguayan delegation.
Among the world’s four leading renewable energy-producing countries, Uruguay is a major exporter of oil and gas. It is also a major fish exporting country, with Cameroon being one of its main partners in this sector. The post-mission agenda will involve discussing potential avenues for cooperation between Cameroonian investors and Uruguayan expertise, with a view to implementing the country’s import-substitution policy.
