The Coordination Committee for the Development and Promotion of African Handicrafts (CODEPA) have unanimously commended Cameroon with a medal (Grand Officier de l’Ordre Communautaire) for efforts put in place to promote the handicrafts sector in the country.

Cameroon’s Minister of the Small and Medium-size Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts, Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, received the award in Niamey, Niger during the June 5-6, 2014, 7th Ministers Conference of CODEPA.

The medal was awarded by the Prime Minister of Niger, Sem Brigi Rafini and affixed on Minister Etoundi Ngoa by Niger’s Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, Yahaya Baare Aoua.

Briefing the press yesterday June 9 on the participation of Cameroon at the regional conclave, Minister Etoundi Ngoa said the putting in place of a law regulating the handicrafts sector in the country, the construction of handicrafts villages in the regions extensible to some divisional headquarters, the successful holding of handicrafts trade fairs which received over 120,000 visitors with exhibitors coming from about 20 countries as well as continual efforts by government to lift the sector, did not leave any country indifferent.

He said the award was the first to a country by the regional organisation set up on October 29, 1992 in Ouagadougou with an objective to make the handicraft sector an alternative to meeting the challenges of fighting against poverty and unemployment and accelerating socio-economic development of member States.

He said irrespective of the specificities of each country, other countries were encouraged to replicate Cameroon’s example to bring African handicrafts sector to the limelight. “We will not relent our efforts especially as we have set the pace in handicrafts promotion and the continent is looking up to us for success,” Minister Etoundi Ngoa said.

The Niamey conference, the Minister said, was to evaluate the path covered especially in the fulfillment of the support programme or small-scale handicraft enterprises. This as, many States, hitherto did not have coordinated legal, regulatory and administrative frameworks for the sector which paradoxically represents more than 80 percent of the economies.

The Minister said another remarkable achievement of the Niamey conference was the allocation of three hectares of land for the construction of CODEPA headquarters and each member country is expected to chip in FCFA 3 million for the project.