Most of ASAFE's members are women entrepreneurs who lead companies that employ less than ten employees and that focus on agricultural products, textiles, art, and commerce. Because their activities extend out of Cameroon, many of these women travel internationally to search for needed goods and equipment. Some also carry out commercial activities in Chad, Gabon, Nigeria, and Central African Republic.

ASAFE proceeds from the assumption that electronic commerce will reduce the cost of these transactions, facilitate access to information, and increase the visibility of the enterprises owned and controlled by women. Moreover, ASAFE seeks to utilise the flexibility afforded by the Internet to train women in the techniques and knowledge necessary for the growth of these businesses. To this end, the programme's central activities include:

Development Issues

Women, Technology, Economic Development, Environment, Youth.

Women constitute more than 50% of Cameroon's population. Though many of these women have shown an inclination towards the development of a business spirit (honesty, dynamism, and rigour in management), unemployment generated by economic crisis hits them harder than it hits men. They face stiff competition from those laid off from public service as well as from public and private companies. This is true even in female-dominated sectors, such as food crop production and the informal sector. In short, women are hindered in their economic development by factors including increasing population density, competition for resources, the burden that women bear in meeting the basic needs of the household, decline in incomes, financial constraints, and poor infrastructure. As a result, the business activities of women in Cameroon tend to centre on subsistence and precarious revenue.