A Cameroonian startup founder is gaining international attention at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025 in Algiers. Biomedical maintenance engineer Stephen Mouafo Foguiem is representing Cameroon in the fair's best projects competition, which concludes on September 10. Foguiem is showcasing his solar-powered neonatal incubators.
His invention has already impressed several attendees at IATF 2025, including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and, notably, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. "The Algerian president asked that my stay be extended to explore how to implement my project" in Algeria, Foguiem told the state-owned newspaper Cameroon Tribune.
Following the exposure at the trade fair, General Biotech may expand its operations from Cameroon into Algeria in the coming months with the support of Algerian authorities. This marks another success story for the event, which previously facilitated Cameroon's first containerized export under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) regime in 2024, after initial discussions began at IATF 2023 in Egypt.
Co-organized biennially by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union Commission, and the AfCFTA Secretariat, the IATF aims to leverage the opportunities presented by the AfCFTA's single market, which encompasses over 1.4 billion people and has a GDP exceeding $3.5 trillion.
BRM