NaWetti Ecommerce and Commercial Centres Promotion Initiative

Executive Summary

Recognizing the global need to promote modern technology and support both national and international aspirations towards human centered beneficial information and telecommunication progress, and promoting SDG 17 in building partnerships towards such ends.

Aware of the difficulties faced by local African populations in accessing and fully benefiting from modern online business opportunities, and having researched and tested e-commerce and other online marketing strategies that can boost local commerce and dealers towards globally recognized mainline producer industries.

Also aware of the insecurities faced by most local business dealers in trading with anonymous online business sites and thereby always desiring intermediary transparent retailers.

The introduction of the NaWetti E-commerce and Commercial Centres Promotion Initiative (NECCAPI) business outline is seemingly a significant step towards realizing the accessed challenges faced by several local African merchants or small and medium scale businesses. In order to heighten the initiative, it is understood that the target users or concern local populations may need adequate mental upgrade through sensitization and training. Such need as well, have been evaluated and included in the business plan.

Analyzing the diversity in our African societal and community structures and attitudes towards change, the challenge of staling unidirectional approaches has been addressed through sorting diverse partnership levels and customer based interest concerns.

In perspective, NECCAPI business plan provides both local and urban zones and their located businesses with verifiable addresses, the opportunity to market their products globally and make purchases from other locations without necessarily leaving their business locations.

Unique in its concept and form, NECCAPI, is the most promising marketing model for our local business entrepreneurs, and according to the dedicated will of its main partners, it will become an African leader IT incentive for transforming local economic spaces. It is a business hub that moves from grassroots to city arenas without bias and mutually assists both customers and goods or service providers on unequivocal terms.

Business Need for the Society and Advantages

International Level Concerns

The global trend with significant implications for sustainable development relies, on a major part, the extraordinarily rapid development and application of information technology (IT), applied in almost every aspect of human interactive arenas. Sustainable Development Goal 4 requires that there be inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all. Na Wetti business concept is African-based and aspires to contribute within the region and beyond towards surmounting the SDG challenges of the 21^st century.

National Level Concerns

In the current host country context, private business environments have been very challenging due to regional disparities, caused by poverty rates. In an economic update of 12 July 2016, the World Bank denoted that “Cameroon’s growth performance has strengthened in recent years but has relied largely on public investment, which has started to strain fiscal accounts, and to increase debt levels. Moreover economic growth has not translated into equitable poverty reduction, largely due to spatial and social inequities, an unfavorable business environment including infrastructure lags, weak governance and a further weakened private sector. Poverty levels have stagnated around 40%, and widespread regional disparities exist—with rural areas carrying the bulk of the country’s poor. Yet, Cameroon has strong potential to develop and build on its vast potential to ensure inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction”.

As recommendation, the same report advices that going forward, Cameroon needs to address the challenges by stimulating private sector-led growth, which will require an improved business environment and sector governance, lower cost of inputs (e.g. energy, transport, telecoms) and a better educated workforce.

With respect to the recent National Development Strategy (NDS) 2020 – 2030, the first pillar deals with structural transformation of the economy, in line with the Industrialization Master Plan (IMP) towards the development of the industries and services sector. Such has further highlighted the inevitable need for the digital domain through digital transformation of economic spaces, the promotion of the use of ICTs in the society and the setting up of adequate infrastructure in the sector. This entails government’s willingness and support towards investments in broadband infrastructure, to foster the emergence of a digital industry and provide various facilities to support the development of start-ups (setting up of business incubators).

In perspective, the current MAHSRA INCORPORATES INC. LTD business plan for NECCAPI and other online business promotion activities will lend a hand to government efforts and development policies in some or more of the following ways:

Introduce and pave public access to new and more dynamic digital ways of involving and encouraging the digital transformation of the country’s economic spaces.
Mitigate or reduce regional spatial and social inequities and an unfavourable business environment across the country via the Na Wetti’s hub e-commerce opportunities.
Stimulate a more vibrant private sector digital business environment and thereby revamping private-led growth initiatives.

Local level concerns

Compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, insecurity and poor road infrastructures have rendered business activities very difficult for small and medium size level business operators. Specifically:

Interurban business persons face severe risks in form of road accidents, armed robberies and possible contraction of the corona virus, thus, creating a general atmosphere of fear to proceed with normal business journeys.
Disorganised arrangement of commercial activities within cities makes it very difficult to locate particular goods and services centres.
Systemic lack of smaller change-coins severely frustrate buyers who are usually forced to pay for more than planned or buy more than expected.

In addressing these issues, NECCAPI will:

E-commerce: Provide instant buyers and sellers arrangements without the need for inconvenient movements through online credits and mobile money systems.
E–Business Magazine: Provide an organized and verified online business profiling, locations and goods and services description platform wherein business centres can create the virtual imagery representation of their business to guide their potential customers.
Social Network Platform: Provide and African-based local context network for socioeconomic development exchanges.

Na Wetti Business Development History

Initiated in 2015, Na Wetti business concept (NECCAPI’s initial phase) has realized several phases of its business development plan and vision and as well, gained significant credibility within its target locations and beyond. Such include but are not limited to the following:

Na Wetti Business Magazines. Produced 2 editions (2000 copies each) of quality multi-colour business magazines with map locations to shops and other business sites of our clients that subscribed to the page spaces in the magazines.
City Business Inventory. Conducted an intensive data-collection of all major business sites within the city of Bamenda.
Mobilisation and Engagements. Created a social network website (nawettin.com) and engaged field works personnel that registered over 700 businesses and created their online show-case shops within the online site.
Yearly Calendars. In order to maintain consistent information sharing of the initiative, over 10,000 flyers, and pocket and table calendars have been produced and distributed in all public offices and major business centres within the city of Bamenda and beyond.
Social Media Impact. Conducted several social media publicity campaigns that granted us over 70,000 followers on facebook, twitter and google.
Corporate Social Responsibility. Organized annual visits to support the on-bed sick in hospitals. Supported and organized several socio-cultural events. Provided financial and material support as awards youth-lead initiative winners.

Some related past work reports are available through the listed links: