Françoise Foning

Françoise Foning (1949-2015) was a Cameroonian businesswoman and politician, and the most notable businesswoman in all postcolonial Cameroon until at least 2012.[1][2] In 1967 she opened the restaurant New Style, her first business venture.[1] She subsequently opened a transportation company and a gravel company.[3] Her business empire later grew to include a furniture business, a food import-export company, and an import-export firm.[4] For some years in the 1970s she was a civil servant for the Cameroonian Ministry of Tourism.[4] She later bought a medical clinic in Dsang, Cameroon and afterward established a school there.[4] She backed the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, and in 1992 became the president of the Douala section of its women's wing.[5] In 1997 she was appointed as the leader of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement in Douala and of its national central committee.[5] She became the deputy mayor of Douala in 2002, and from that year until 2007 she was in the National Assembly.[5] She was subject to accusations of embezzlement, but she was reelected in 2009.[5] She led the African Network for the Support for Female Entrepreneurship, and was a consultant for the African Development Bank and the World Bank, as well as being the founding president of the Association of Cameroonian Businesswomen.[5] She was the vice president of the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs for nine years, and was elected as its president in 2005.[5] She was injured in a car accident in 2003 and died after one in 2015.[5][6]

She was crowned queen by the Menoua region's Bafou community, and the sultan of Bamun gave her the title of njih.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong; Mr. Steven J. Niven (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. pp. 381, 382–. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  2. ↑ "Race to succeed Francoise Foning at Douala V Council intensifies with secret meetings". The CameroonJournal. 2015-03-30. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  3. ↑ Africa Top Success (2014-04-03). "Françoise Foning: the impressive success of a former office employee.". Africa Top Success. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong; Mr. Steven J. Niven (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. pp. 381–. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong; Mr. Steven J. Niven (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. pp. 382–. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  6. ↑ "Breaking News: Francoise Foning is no more". Crtv.cm. January 23, 2015. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
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