The World Belongs to Problem Solvers
A practical call to Cameroonians to identify unmet local needs—from waste management to agricultural processing—and build businesses around solving them. The writer argues that entrepreneurial problem-solving, not formal credentials, is the path to meaningful economic contribution and personal wealth.
If going to school was the solution to the problems in the world, I bet you, there won't be as many problems in the world given the number of people who have degrees. But mind you, do not mistake school for education. You could find out for yourself if you want to know.
Look around you, there are thousands if not millions of problems you can find. Do you know that you could turn your problems into money? Yes, you can. It starts with you identifying a problem, then thinking of sustainable ways in which you could solve the problem and selling your solution to those who have similar problems like you. Here are a few problems you could solve in Cameroon today.
1 Waste management. Yes, dirt. I can testify that waste is one of the pertinent problems we have in our homes, communities, and towns today. It's everywhere. But you can take advantage of it and start a waste recycling business. You could recycle plastic waste into plastic pipes, or plastic poles for fences. The construction company will be your market. You could also transform kitchen waste into cooking gas and the rest to organic fertilizers. Wow. How cool is that?
2. Chocolate making from your kitchen. If you are Keen at observing our supermarket shelves, especially in the chocolate section, you would realize that most of the chocolate bars present are imported. More than 90% of it. Cameroon is one of the largest producers of cocoa which is the raw material used in making cocoa. This cocoa is exported at very low prices to other countries, then imported back in the form of chocolate in way higher prices. Why not tap from that? You could learn to make chocolate from YouTube. There are thousands of videos to help. Start small, you could target these boarding schools as you market for the start. That's real money.
3. If you are in Buea, you will realize that a lot of maize is grown there in the rainy season. Do you know that all of that corn that is grown is eaten fresh? Not for anything but because the moisture content of the atmosphere in Buea is so high and does not permit the corn to be dried naturally. That's a big problem and you could solve that problem by starting a drying facility there. In the cereal drying facility, people will harvest their semi-dry corn and bring for complete drying. You could even provide stores for them if they don't have storage facilities in their homes. Just think of how many lives you will be saving. Literally.
4. Fruit transformation. The mango season has just started and in no time, you will see heaps of mangoes wasting everywhere. It's the same thing for oranges. Visit a market during the fruit peak season: It's heartbreaking how much gets wasted. Then there is Source du pays and Les brasserie du Cameroon that produce their carbonated drinks from imported fruit concentrates. You can make money by producing fruit concentrates from these abundant fruits that get wasted, then sell to these companies. Awesome, right?
4. Tractor rental business. Many of you have are from farming communities. Every morning you saw your mothers with hoes and baskets go to the farms. With the hoe, they did nothing much. Why not get fed up with the hoe then start a tractor rental business to help farmers increase food production in your country? Yes.
The list goes on and on and own. You can do something nor matter how small you think it may be. Don't go blaming the system. Saying you can't do it in Kamer. Yes, you can. Kick out the negativity and you will be amazed at how far you can go. The Dangotes, Strive Masiyiwas and Bill Gates started this way.
They identified a problem and sought out the solution. It's that solution that has made them billionaires today. The ball is in your court.
- Fonyuy Christa Fanso
Written in March 2020, as the pandemic began reshaping global supply chains and forcing many to reconsider traditional employment, this piece speaks to a moment when self-sufficiency and informal enterprise felt both urgent and possible. In Cameroon's context, it reflects ongoing frustration with import dependency, underutilized local resources, and the gap between formal education and economic opportunity.
The piece remains vital because it names a real structural problem—Cameroon's paradox of exporting raw cocoa at low prices and importing finished chocolate at high prices—and reframes entrepreneurship not as a hustle-culture fantasy but as a civic act. Its insistence that solutions exist within reach, not in blame or waiting, offers a counterweight to both fatalism and the myth that degrees alone guarantee prosperity. The tone is celebratory but grounded: these are not hypothetical ideas but observable gaps in markets Cameroonians already inhabit.