Launch, Learn & Scale � Inside CodeConnect 2025�s Most Defining Conversation

At CodeConnect 2025, the first panel of the day—Launch, Learn & Scale—set the tone for the entire conference. It was an unfiltered exploration of what it truly takes to build technology in a market where ideas are plentiful, but execution determines survival. In a hall filled with young developers, founders, and operators, this session became more than a discussion; it became a blueprint.

Moderated by Sinet Akih, whose calm, investigative questioning brought a rigour to the conversation, the panel unfolded with unusual honesty. Each speaker carried a different chapter of Cameroon’s tech story—Mambe Churchill, co-founder of Buyam; Bine Moukouri, creative consultant and founder of Jujumake; and Yembe Nfor, co-founder of Yems Group. Together, they delivered a coherent lesson in building under pressure.

Akih’s moderation was deliberate. Instead of broad, generic questions, he pushed the speakers into the uncomfortable but necessary territory where real insight lives. Her framing connected the dots for a young audience: launching a product is not about perfection, but about testing the truth.

Churchill opened with a narrative familiar to anyone who has tried to build in Africa: how Buyam grew from a rough idea to more than 10,000 vendors in four years—an achievement born not of flawless execution, but of relentless iteration. His message was straightforward: no founder is ever ready; they only become ready by launching.

Moukouri followed with a perspective rooted in creative strategy and user psychology. His argument was that learning is not reactive; it must be engineered into the product cycle. Every feature, every customer conversation, every piece of feedback is data, and African startups must learn to treat it as such. It was a reminder that culture and design aren’t cosmetic, they influence whether a user returns or disappears.

Yembe grounded the conversation in operational reality. Drawing from his experience in business development and community growth at Yems Group, he emphasized the risk of scaling prematurely. In his view, what kills most startups isn’t the absence of growth, but growth occurring at the wrong time. “If your product hasn’t survived its first wave of friction, it won’t survive scale,” he noted, earning one of the few extended applause moments of the morning.

By the time Akih closed the session, the audience had been given a rare combination: candor, direction, and a sense of possibility. He stitched the panel into a narrative that resonated across the room. The conversations that continued in the lobby afterward suggested the message landed exactly where it needed to: with the young people building the next wave of Cameroon’s tech ecosystem.

Launch, Learn & Scale became a statement, one that framed the rest of CodeConnect 2025. The lesson was simple, but powerful: innovation begins with courage, grows through humility, and expands through discipline.