Facilitating Cameroonians’ Admission into Foreign Universities is my Contribution to Nation-building

-Says Macellous Mbameg, Managing Director, Globus Education Systems

Macellous  Mbameg,Managing Director of Globus Education Systems

Macellous  Mbameg, 48, is the Managing Director of Globus Education Systems (GES), a company that facilitates the admission of students into top-world universities in 12 countries.

Headquartered in Douala, GES has already facilitated the admission of more than five hundred students abroad for further studies.  Mr.Mbameg, who recently ended a two-week admission campaign in Buea,sat down for an interview with Horizon Contributing Editor, Christopher Ambe. 

The Managing Director urges Cameroonian graduates to increasingly strive to be self-reliant instead of looking up to the State for employment.

Excerpts:

Sir, you are the Managing Director of Globus Education Systems. Could you present your company to our readers?

Globus Education Systems (GES) is a network of universities around the globe that we represent in Sub-Sahara Africa.

We represent universities in 12 different countries-the US,Canada,UK,Ireland ,France,Switzerland ,India etc

Basically, we assist students who want to study in our partner universities to gain admission.

GES is a company, which was founded in Cameroon in October2020.It has its headquarters in Douala-Cameroon and   a country office in Lagos, Nigeria.

What prompted the creation of GES?

I previously worked for a London-based company called Global University Systems, which owns about 35 universities world-wide. I worked there as the Sales and Marketing Director for Sub-Sahara Africa in charge of Recruitment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my position was furlough

With COVID-19 things were slow and I said, “This is an opportunity for me to explore.”

Global University Systems had not resumed work due to COVID-19 and I reasoned that with my wide experience why not create something and start working on my own?’ That is how I created GES.

At the same time, I had an international job as Sales Director for Africa and Middle East for Nello Corporation, a telecommunication tower manufacturer in the US .I worked with them for eight years, but due to COVID-19 restrictions my position also was on hold.  Temporarily jobless but already knowledgeable in international students recruitment, I decided to engage myself while waiting.

In how many countries does GES operate?

For now we are only in Cameroon and Nigeria. But we take advantage of ICT/Internet to advertise our services. Recently, we recruited students from all over Africa.  We  treat students ‘files from Ghana,Kenya,Uganda etc ;I tell my colleagues that if we are still to go visit other countries and applications are already coming from all over, “What will happen if we starting visiting these countries?”

We plan to expand within Sub Sahara Africa. This year alone, we plan to open seven country offices in the continent.

We will soon go to Liberia. We have invitations from institutions out of Cameroon. Once we go to these countries we will create offices there.

You just ended a two-week admission campaign in Buea, do you have plans to do same in Bamenda where education is its major industry?

We have a roadmap for Cameroon. Our next destination is Yaounde; then back to Douala for an event. While the event in Douala will be going on, I will dispatch delegations to other cities like Bamenda,Dchang,Bafoussam,Nkongsamba  to organize similar events.

 How far has GES realized its goals and objectives?

I must say we are marveled at what we have achieved in less than two years of operation. We have sent at least five hundred students overseas already for study. We also have a large number of students admitted but who have not been able to travel because of COVID-19 restrictions. We have students with visas but who cannot travel now because of these restrictions.

 We have achieved a lot within a short period. The  country office in Nigeria is a great achievement

You just ended in Buea a two-week or so campaign for rapid admission into top-world universities. How would you assess the response of the Buea student community to the initiative?

We had wonderful exchange with the students in Buea. The turnout was very impressive. Within the two weeks in Buea, we received over 1200 students.

Were you counseling students free of charge?

Yes, counseling was for free. Students read a variety of courses in school, but many do not know what to pursue in the future, so we gave them orientation about the job market. We also did visa counseling and guidance. We talked to them about visa attractive programs.

How does GES facilitate study loans for students?

Being a study loan facilitator means that I am not the one providing the loans to students. The way the world is structured now is  that organizations work in partnerships with others. I am in partnership with universities. And certain universities are in partnership with financial institutions that provide loans. As representative of these universities, those that have partnership with financial institutions mandate me to look for admitted students in need of financial assistance. At the same time I have a direct partnership with funding organizations. I apply to them for study loans. MPower is the largest students’ loan provider in the world, giving out loans without collateral and co-signers.

 Can you boast that you have already facilitated access to study loans, which some students have obtained?

This loan initiative is new .We just launched it last February.

Anybody can get the loan but there are certain areas that are attractive to the funding organizations .We call them the STEM program. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Anyone pursuing further study in these areas can easily get a loan. If students come to us and want the study loan and they aren’t in the STEM area -especially when they have a Bachelor’s degree, we can redirect them to the STEM area, where it is easy to get the loan. If they don’t want to be flexible, that is where we have the challenge.

Why are you interested seeing students further their studies?

Education is what drives an economy and brings about development. If people are not educated, their country cannot develop.

I have been to 72 countries word-wide and I have seen how educated people enhance the development of their nations.

 One of my contributions to building Cameroon is to get Cameroonians travel abroad for further studies, so that upon completion, they can come and help develop the country.

With your globe-trotting experiences, you have created a company. There are hundreds of thousands of graduates without jobs in Cameroon. What advice would you give them?

 My fervent appeal to them is: they should stop counting on the government. Government is already doing a lot .Why should university graduates without jobs blame the government? While studying in the universities, it is the State that pays their tuition and almost everything. When counseling students I tell them that to study in a foreign university is about ten to twenty million Fcfa and they are surprised at the high amount. I don’t blame them because many have studied in state-owned universities like University of Buea, where a student pays registration fee of 50,000 Fcfa per year. That 50,000 Fcfa is not school fees! Their university education is being subsidized by the State. And if the State has provided you with “free education’ and you graduate, you have to learn how to create jobs; to be self-emeployed.You must not be employed by somebody. When invited somewhere to give a business talk,I always tell my audiences that they can create and build  businesses in any area. We have so many opportunities in Cameroon that people don’t exploit. You don’t need much money to begin. I have more than a hundred business ideas that someone  could take one  and start with  say 500,000fcfa and grow. People must be self-reliant and not always think that to gain employment you must be employed by someone or the state.

Could you tell our readers much more about who Macellous  Mbameg really is?

I was born 48 years ago in Tiko.I attended schools in several subdivisions of the Southwest region because my father was a CDC estate manager .I grew up in the plantations. I always tell people I am a son of a farmer.

I attended Primary school in Mutengene before proceeding to Bilingual Gramm
ar School in Molyko-Buea,from there to PHS Batibo and PHS kumba. After my high education, I worked at the Chinese Embassy in Yaounde as Consultant incharge of Bilateral Trade Cooperation ;later I worked with a Chinese company called WholeSwitch telecom and I was appointed its pioneer Africa Director; I proceeded to the US where I did an MBA in Marketing Management at the European School of Economics in New York .Upon my return to Cameroon, I did some consultancy and later got a job with Nello corporation with headquarters in the USA.I was its  director for West Africa, then appointed  Sales Director,Africa,Sales Director for Africa & Middle East where I worked till 2020.I still occupy the position, which has simply be put on hold because of the COVID 19 pandemic restrictions.

I am a native of Batibo in the Northwest Region of Cameroon; a Presbyterian married and have four children.