Of the Labor Force Is 18-35
Reported in the World Bank youth jobs feature, April 2025.
About PICHNET
Investing in Cameroon’s Next Generation
PICHNET — Projet d'Investissement en Capital Humain — is a Yaoundé-based institution helping young Cameroonians move from school into adulthood through research, youth capacity development, and public communication.
Institutional snapshot
PICHNET at a glance
Founded in Cameroon in 2016 and based in Yaoundé, PICHNET gives youth-transition research and programming a local institutional home — connecting evidence, training, follow-up, and public communication.
- Founded
- Cameroon, 2016A Cameroonian institution based in Yaoundé.
- Co-founders
- Academic vision and field leadershipCo-founded by Prof. Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue and Vincent de Paul Fouda Onguene.
- Operating model
- Research, readiness, follow-up, and communicationSchools, cohorts, surveys, workshops, and media communication.
Why this matters now
Youth transition in Cameroon happens under real structural pressure
Cameroon is a young country, but the demographic dividend is not automatic. The move from school into work and adult life is where long-term gains are either built or lost.
Youth NEET Rate
Young people aged 15-24 not in employment, education, or training in 2024, according to the World Bank update.
Of Jobs Are Informal
Estimated in the INS EESI3 labor-market report.
Of the Population Is 15-35
Reported in the UNFPA Cameroon youth policy update, May 2025.
01 Mission
PICHNET’s Mission
PICHNET identifies, tests, and communicates practical investments in young people’s human capital.
Evidence for the school-to-adulthood transition
PICHNET focuses on a decisive moment in young people’s lives: the move into work, family responsibility, civic voice, community contribution, and personal direction.
Why it matters
Research, training, follow-up, and public communication keep youth development evidence-based, locally grounded, and useful over time.
02 Explainer
PICHNET in Motion
A short introduction to the institution, the youth transition it studies, and the practical investments it tests with schools, cohorts, families, and public partners.
Explainer · 4 min- 01
Youth transition
Why the move into adult responsibility matters in Cameroon.
- 02
Human capital
How practical preparation shapes long-term opportunity.
- 03
Follow-up
Why evidence, learning, and public voice continue after training.
03 The Question
The Transition That Shapes a Generation
A large youth population does not automatically become a demographic dividend. It becomes one when young people have the skills, confidence, opportunities, and support to move into productive adult responsibilities.
Starting point
The practical development question
PICHNET began with a practical development question: what would it take for young Cameroonians leaving school to move toward work, responsibility, family life, community contribution, and civic voice?
The answer had to be more than encouragement. It had to document real pathways, earn trust with schools and families, test practical training, and keep learning over time.
School-to-adulthood pathways
PICHNET studies what helps young Cameroonians navigate the move from school toward work and civic life.
Demographic dividend
With the right investments in human capital, Cameroon’s youth can drive inclusive and sustainable growth.
Research base
Work on demography, education, employment, and policy communication grounds the institution’s agenda.
04 Readiness
Four Forms of Readiness
PICHNET does not define readiness only as employment preparation.
Personal readiness
Self-awareness, confidence, life planning, decision-making, and personal direction.
Domestic readiness
Household, family, caregiving, budgeting, first aid, and interpersonal responsibility.
Economic readiness
Education, entrepreneurship, job-related skills, digital readiness, and pathways into work.
Social and community readiness
Civic responsibility, service, solidarity, and contribution to community life.
05 Leadership
Founding and Field Leadership
The institution joins academic vision with local field leadership in Yaoundé.
Co-founder
Prof. Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue
A Cameroonian scholar of population, inequality, education, youth employment, and sustainable development, Prof. Eloundou-Enyegue gives PICHNET its academic and technical vision.
His work connects population change, inequality, education, youth employment, field research, and policy communication across Africa, North America, and Asia.
Co-founder
Vincent de Paul Fouda Onguene
Fouda Onguene anchors PICHNET’s field leadership in Yaoundé, where the institution depends on trust with schools, families, students, local partners, and public actors.
He connects PICHNET’s research, training, administration, public contact, and participant follow-up with the day-to-day realities of field work.
06 Method
Trust, Then Follow-Through
PICHNET’s work begins with trust because youth transitions cannot be understood from a distance or improved through one-time interventions.
- 2016
School relationships
Partnerships built with secondary schools in Yaoundé and beyond.
- 2017-2019
Baseline evidence
Baseline data from 20 secondary schools establishes a shared starting point.
- Since 2018
Panel follow-up
Roughly 5,000 young adults followed in Yaoundé as their pathways diverge.
- 2019
Cohort programs
Youth trained through capacity-building and internship-exposure programs.
- Ongoing
Workshops & training
Hands-on learning with youth, educators, researchers, and community partners.
- Ongoing
Media & public voice
Journalists and public forums help carry research and youth perspectives outward.
Work with PICHNET
PICHNET welcomes partners, researchers, media collaborators, institutions, and supporters who want to help young Cameroonians move from school into purposeful adulthood.