It was in 2017 that the Pierre Castel Fund was created thanks to the will of two men: Pierre CASTEL and Pierre De Gaétan NJIKAM (Cameroonian). The latter, who share the same vision of the development of Africa, intend to contribute to the socio-economic development of Africa by promoting the entrepreneurship of young people engaged in the fields of agriculture and agri-food, two sectors to high added value and wealth creation factors. The Pierre Castel Fund carries out its activities in 06 countries where it has subsidiaries, in particular in Cameroon through the SABC group.
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Each year, the Pierre Castel prize supports 6 young entrepreneurs with innovative projects and creators of wealth in the fields of agriculture and agri-food. The Prize rewards 2 winners in each country through a financial endowment and a training program, for all 6 finalists. Applications are thus open for residents of Algeria, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.
The conditions of participation
To participate in the Pierre Castel Prize, candidates must meet a number of conditions. Among other things, having Cameroonian nationality and residing in Cameroon, being between the ages of 18 and 45, having a business in the agriculture and/or agri-food sectors or any related sector. This company must also have at least one year of activity, and enjoy a legal existence. Once selected, the six finalists go through the Cameroon jury chaired by the Managing Director of Boissons du Cameroun, which validates the list of 6 shortlisted projects and auditions the candidates.
Two projects are then selected and sent for audition before the Grand Jury of Bordeaux. This stage will take place in the first week of July 2023 under the chairmanship of President Pierre Castel. It is at the end of this hearing that the Grand Prize winner by country will be designated. Apart from the Pierre Castel Prize, the fund includes other programs in favor of young entrepreneurship. These include the Young Hopes Prize, which is a support mechanism for African agri-entrepreneurship through training. It is organized with the Inter-Academic Group for Development (GID) and the Higher School of Agronomy (ESA) of the INP-HB of Yamoussoukro in Côte d’Ivoire.
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There is also the financing of a Pierre Castel Chair to contribute to the training of young entrepreneurs during their studies and to promote the emergence of entrepreneurial projects in the field of agriculture. For this, the Fund has set up a partnership with three Agronomy higher education establishments through the creation of a Chair on agricultural changes. These are the University of Dschang; the Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences – (FASA) of Yamoussoukro in Côte d’Ivoire and the Higher School of Agronomy of INP-HB and Bordeaux (Bordeaux Sciences Agro) in France. Students and young graduates in agronomy with projects thus benefit from a system of training, internships, mentoring, coaching and assistance in carrying out prototyping.
