Statements¹¹

In this era of great Trumpian upheavals, it may be time to capitalize on the economic potential of the Francophonie. That's the big idea behind the Observatoire de la Francophonie économique (OFE), born in June 2017 from a partnership between the Université de Montréal, the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

Andréa Bomo, founder of Ann & Eli Apothecary, was part of the Quebec delegation. Specializing in the sale of natural products for reproductive and menstrual health, she has signed a distribution agreement with a network of local pharmacies in Yaoundé, and has made contacts to do the same in Côte d'Ivoire. “The pharmacies sell out of my products in four to six weeks. Here, I have to deal with the shipping challenge. It's far away and expensive. But, on the other hand, it's orders in the $10,000 range that help my cash flow and push me to move away from artisanal production.”

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