PROMOTE 2026: A recap of the TapTap Send stand at the Palais des Congrès in Yaoundé

From June 12 to 21, 2026, Yaoundé hosted the 10th edition of the International Exhibition for Enterprise, SMEs and Partnership, better known as PROMOTE. Held at the Palais des Congrès under the aegis of the Fondation Inter-Progress, this biennial event remains the largest economic gathering in Central Africa, bringing together companies, SMEs, financial institutions and decision-makers around the region's major economic challenges. For this anniversary edition, marking 25 years of the fair, several hundred exhibitors from Cameroon and abroad came together for a full week of B2B meetings, exchanges and activities.

I had the chance to experience this event from the inside, as the project lead in charge of the TapTap Send stand.

An end-to-end role

My mission covered the entire lifecycle of the stand, from design to day-to-day execution. Concretely, this involved:

• Selecting and arranging the decoration elements, to give the stand a strong visual identity consistent with the brand

• Recruiting and briefing the hostesses, responsible for welcoming and guiding visitors throughout the fair

• Coordinating the on-site teams, with a daily morning check-in to align on the day's priorities

• Organizing and managing the schedule of business meetings, alongside Steve Amara, Francophone Africa Lead at TapTap Send, and Fatimatou Ousmanou, Country and Central Africa Lead

This organization allowed us to meet a large number of companies and potential partners throughout the week, in a setup designed to maximize the quality of interactions rather than their sheer number.

An unexpected challenge, solved on the spot

Over the first few days, a concrete need emerged: we had to be able to efficiently collect visitor feedback as well as partnership requests, without losing time or information in informal exchanges or scattered notes.

Rather than relying on a generic solution poorly suited to the context of the fair, I chose to build a small dedicated website directly on site, allowing us to quickly centralize this feedback and these requests. This improvised but purpose-built solution helped structure data collection for the rest of the event and kept a usable record of every contact made at the stand.

Key takeaways from the week

A week at a trade fair is a condensed mix of unforeseen events, a demanding pace, and decisions that need to be made quickly. What stands out most to me is the importance of staying agile in response to needs that emerge on the ground: sometimes the best response isn't to stick rigidly to the initial plan, but to build, in the moment, the tool that's missing.

PROMOTE remains a remarkable space for connection and opportunity for companies active in Central Africa, and representing TapTap Send at this anniversary edition of the fair was as demanding as it was rewarding.