The Cameroon government has vowed to set up a digital innovation centre in the country’s burgeoning tech ecosystem known as Silicon Mountain in Buea.

Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng said the centre will be an off-shoot of a planned national digital innovation centre project, and will be based at the National Advanced School of Posts, Telecommunications and Information and Communication Technologies Buea.

The Minister lauded the strides made by Silicon Mountain techies and said the government is ready to assist them.

She announced the availability of a year of free high-speed internet connection for the Silicon Mountain community, provided by state-owned telecommunications company Camtel.

The government has prioritised the development of ICT to support its ambition to establish Cameroon as an emerging digital economy by 2035.

However, Silicon Mountain tech entrepreneurs have previously accused the Francophone-dominated government of under-investing in the tech ecosystem and rather directing its attention to Francophone regions.

Buea’s Silicon Mountain is ranked as the first tech ecosystem in the country and the 540th out of 1,000 ranked cities in the world, according to GSMA data.

The ecosystem has been impacted by long drawn-out socio-political conflict.

A similar structure to the ecosystem, Cameroon Silicon River, was announced in 2019 and intended for Yaounde but has yet to materialise.