(NEWS) WMU Alumni Association in Cameroon

June

2022

WMU Alumni Association in Cameroon

On 31 May, in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport of Cameroon, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) facilitated the organization of a virtual meeting between IMO, WMU and the WMU Alumni Association of Cameroon (WMUAAC). The newly formed WMUAAC was officially registered in Cameroon recently and joins a number of other WMU Alumni Associations around the world. The Association is already in contact with the fledgling regional WMU Alumni Association of Africa, which is open to all national Associations in the region.

WMUAAC has 31 registered members and is working to attract additional members from the 58 WMU graduates in Cameroon. The Association aims to improve networking in the maritime and oceans fields, transferring knowledge across the sector as well as a working group towards sustainable development.

The meeting included discussion of the contribution of WMU alumni from Cameroon in the development of the national maritime sector including their involvement and contribution to the development and adoption of a National Maritime Transport Policy (NMTP) for Cameroon. It was highlighted that in March, WMU and IMO partnered on delivering an Introduction to NMTP for officials in Cameroon. Discussions also included potential assistance that could be provided by WMU to WMUAAC including facilitating cooperation and collaboration with other national WMU alumni associations including regional WMU alumni associations.

Dr Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President of WMU, encouraged the authorities in Cameroon to make full use of the skills and expertise of the Alumni from the Cameroon, and to nominate more duly qualified officials to join the University who can make their own contribution in due course. She also informed the meeting of the recent official recognition of WMU degrees by the Government of Sweden which should have a positive impact on both the employment of graduates and attracting additional well qualified candidates.

Mr Xiaojie Zhang, Director, Technical Cooperation Division (TCD), IMO expressed his hope that the WMUAAC will serve as a good networking platform for WMU graduates in Cameroon also promoting the basic principles and mission of WMU. Mr Zhang is also a WMU alumnus.

In the 35 years since the establishment of WMU, 5,634 alumni from 171 countries and territories have graduated from WMU. Many of these alumni have gone on to occupy critical positions across sectors particularly the maritime sector. WMU has a dedicated Alumni Office and the University encourages its graduates to register as WMU Alumni, so the University can extend invitations to events such as the regular alumni webinars, meetings with faculty visiting the region, and to the Alumni Homecoming Conference that is tentatively scheduled for May 2023 following the postponement in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Alumni are also encouraged to join the official WMU Alumni Facebook group, and to send news and information to the WMU Alumni Office at alumni@wmu.se for inclusion in the news listing.

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