Belo council receives lone award among Councils in North West Region

By Vera Fon

The Belo Council in the Boyo Division of the North West Region was the only council from the region to receive an award at the just-ended 2023 edition of the Council’s International Economic Forum also known in French as Journées économiques internationales des municipalités, JEICOM.

The awards were given during the closing ceremony of the forum on Saturday, June 3, 2023, at the Yaounde Conference Center.

According to Mayor Ngong Innocent who was there to receive the prize on behalf of his council, the award is a compensation of the people of Belo for their hard work and persistence.

“This prize is going to the youths and people of Belo that are working very hard in producing potatoes, beans, honey, and tea in the Ndawara tea factory. It tells you what our farmers are able to produce. All of these contribute to food security and by this, we are showing to the world what we are capable of producing,” the Mayor said.

He equally noted that “The prize is an appreciation of their hard work, I want them to know that what they are doing is going to go a long way to help the whole nation of Cameroon and Africa. I want to assure them that so many people out of the country, Belgium, Italy, Vietnam Brazil have appreciated their products and I am calling on them to produce more and be proud of what they are doing”.

Mayor Ngong Innocent also stated that for three days of the Forum, the Belo Council Stand received over 1000 visitors who were excited and happy with their produce. This helped them get international contacts.

Out of 360 Councils that were in competition, the organizing committee awarded the top five councils at the event, with the Belo Council ranked in the fifth position.

During the forum, stakeholders including councils, the government, foreign investors, and local businessmen had as their main aim to brainstorm ways to empower municipalities, foster digitalization, tackle food security, hygiene, and sanitation, develop tourism, and promote wood processing amongst other projects.