Appropriate Solution to Landed Propriety Problems
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| Fongoh Valentine,CEO, Fongoh &Partners Real Estate Company,Buea |
By Christopher Ambe and Zifac Fatima
Recently ,Buea,
capital city of the South West region has been identified by experts as one of
the fastest growing cities in Cameroon.
Magnificent
and towering structures are sprouting up every day as investors at home and
from the Diaspora struggle for landed property for profitable investments.
This has made real estate not only a highly profitable but also a high-risk venture. Cases of unscrupulous and shady land deals abound resulting in never-ending litigations in court.
Faced with
the situation, some young Cameroonians have created a real estate company-FONGOH
AND PARTNERS REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS to legally and officially serve as real
estate agents in Buea.
With a
financial capital of hundreds of millions of FCFA the company is developing
fast and gaining ground.
Africa
Excellence magazine caught up
with the young CEO of the company, Fongoh Valentine Tekang, 38, who is a
graduate of the University of Buea.
In an
exclusive interview with AFRICA EXCELLENCE, the CEO explains how and why the
company was founded and how it is faring.
Read on:
There are many real estate
agents and institutions in the Town of Legendary Hospitality, but the one that
has become a household name in Buea is FONGOH and Partners Real Estate
Solutions, located in Bonduma-Buea
As the name suggests FONGOH
AND PARTNERS provides genuine solutions to people who face real estate problems
and approach them.Company's surveyors at work
In an exclusive Interview with AFRICA
EXCELLENCE magazine, Fongoh Valentine Tekang, CEO of FONGOH AND PARTNERS REAL
ESTATE SOLUTIONS, walked us through the creation of the company and how it has
distinguished itself from other competitors in the domain.
Fongoh Valentine, 38,
disclosed that he worked as a real estate agent in Buea for eight years and realized
how lucrative the business was, and as such he could not resist an inner voice
in him urging the creation of a real estate company.
“I was a real estate agent
for eight years. It was lucrative and that influenced me to start my own
business”, he said, noting that FONGOH & PARTNERS REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS was
incorporated in 2021, even as it was conceived in 2019.
Fongoh expressed happiness
that his company, which has partners at home and abroad, already has about 30 workers and hoped to employ more in
the near future.
Citing as one of the
achievements of FONGOH AND PARTNERS REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS, the CEO said, “We
have been able to solve the problems that people who bought land in the past
used to have; initially, people used to buy landed property
“Wherever we buy, we open
roads; in the course of opening roads we provide roads that farmers use to
transport their products.”
Corporate Social Responsibility.
Although a young company,
Fongoh disclosed that FONGOH AND PARTNERS REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS is conscious of
and is performing its corporate social responsibility.
For example, mindful of the
water crisis in Buea subdivision Fongoh disclosed: “We have been able to
provide bore holes to some villages in Buea subdivision. We have earmarked ten
(10) bore holes, out of which we have already drilled five.
“One bore hole within the
Bonavanda area is very expensive costing about 4.5 million Fcfa because water
is not easy to be found there.
“We dug a borehole in
Bokwai, one in Bwitingi, two in Bonakanda and one in Lyongo, a village in
between Bokwai and Bova.”
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| One of the company's buildings near completions |
Like in other activities, the real estate business has its challenges.
But with a positive mindset and determination, all challenges are quickly
overcome.
Fongoh admitted that there are many challenges dealing with land:
“Sometimes, you don't get the information you need; people give you information
contrary to what is on the ground. Sometimes we meet people who sell land that
doesn't belong to them; we also have problems in the course of developing the
land like opening up of roads.
“I don't know why people don't understand that to open road is a good
thing. We have to spend a lot of money before providing roads to some plots.”
Success Secret
Although
many people are engaged in real estate, not all can boast of succeeding. But the CEO of FONGOH AND
PARTNERS REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS told AFRICA EXCELLENCE his company is hitting
the mark.
“Well our success secret is honesty. We don’t allow an applicant buy land
that is problematic. Even if you come and buy land from us and we come to
realize that the said piece of land has a problem we relocate you elsewhere;
but if you don't want to be relocated, we have a capital of above 350 million
FCFA and we can guarantee the reimbursement of your money.
“I would like to state here that before we buy any land, we carry out
our investigations from the village level right up to the Delegation in charge
of land matters; at the village, we meet the chiefs to make assurance doubly sure
before we buy to avoid future problems”
Fongoh said he has cordial relationship with other people in Buea
dealing in real estate but quickly added that
“as at now the only office that is well established is ours”, noting
that some of those selling land are
“mobile and don’t have a steady place where they do this”.
Grass-to-Grace Status
If Fongoh is today said to be a shaker and
mover in real estate business, it is not because he got some inheritance from
the parents that paved his way to prominence. It is his hard work and
determination to brave the odds and succeed.
“Actually, I was brought up
by a single mother; my father died when I was still young and I saw how she toiled
to sponsor me.
“There were times when she
used to go to my primary school, begging to pay
250 Fcfa [as part of my school fees]
for the teacher to allow me in class.
“Indeed, I passed through
very rough times and when the Almighty God later on blessed me I made
philanthropy my policy; so I always extend my generosity to the less-privileged.
“For example, for this 2023/24
academic year I have allocated 2.5 million Fcfa to assist some needy pupils and
students pay their school fees.
Philanthropic Activities.
“I also sponsor needy
persons wanting to learn a trade, thereby empowering them with marketable
skills. My assistance is not limited to
people from my village or tribe but is extended to the general public. I assist
in paying house rents for some students, school fees etc.
“If I discover that you are
sincerely in need and lack the means I extend my generosity to you,” Fongoh
told AFRICA EXCELLENCE, noting that sometimes he himself scouts around for the
needy and at other times he publicly announces his readiness and availability to help via groups and social media platforms.
“I have given assistance to
about 200 less-privileged people “
Farming is Profitable
Before becoming a real estate
broker, Fongoh engaged in commercial farming and even now that he is CEO of
Fongoh and Partners, he still does farming.
He urges those interested in
farming to do commercial farming and employ workers “Because if they want to work
alone they may not derive huge profits”, he pointed.
Wife’s Contribution
Mrs.
Fongoh Chanceline Mbinja is the wife of Fongoh and they are blessed with four
children. According to Fongoh, his wife who is also business-inclined is a
booster to his efforts. “My beloved wife is so supportive of my business and
development efforts. I lack
words to describe her; in fact, she has contributed a lot through prayers,
moral support and otherwise to the business and family progress”, he remarked.
Graduates Should Be Job-Creators.
Many university graduates
spend years at home only hoping to be employed by the State or some big
corporation instead of trying to be self-reliant.
But Fongoh thought
differently upon his graduation from University of Buea.
“In this fast-evolving
world, a graduate should think out of the box. The government must not employ
every graduate. When I graduated in 2012, I had a serious problem with my
family because they wanted me to apply for civil service jobs, but I refused.
“I said I’d rather take the
money that I would have used to register public service competitive exams and do
business with. They did not like my decision
, but later on they realized that my decision was a great one, because I have been
sponsoring my family and even extended family members with profits derived from the real
estate business.
Fongoh’s Profile
Fongoh Valentine Tekang, now
CEO of Fongoh and Partners Real Estate Solutions, Buea, was born some 38 years
in Ashong, Batibo, Northwest region of Cameroon.
He got his basic education at
CBC Ashong, GS Ngaku-Ashong and Government Practicing School (GPS) Molyko- Buea
where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC).
Fongoh lost his father when he
was still a child and was lef
t only with his mother to cater for him. He
attended the Musole Evening School and Frankfils Comprehensive School, Great
Soppo-Buea where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level and GCE Advanced Level in
three subjects (Literature, History and Philosophy) in 2008 respectively.CEO Fongoh Valentine
A struggling Fongoh would
later enroll into the prestigious University of Buea, where he obtained a
Bachelor’s degree in Curriculum Studies and Teaching (History) in 2012.
Upon graduation from
University of Buea, he taught for a period of five years at the Holy Child Comprehensive,
College Bomaka-Buea; Government High School (GHS) Bolifamba and Baptist High
School (BHS) Buea, before deciding to focus on real estate business.
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