Valerio is Driving Social Change and Equipping Job Creators in Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea saw very rapid economic growth following the discovery of hydrocarbons in the 1990s. However, since 2014, the protracted fall in global oil prices, combined with the decline in the country’s output, the large budgetary surpluses that financed important investment programs that continue today have been declining. GDP continued to shrink in 2016 and 2017, and the forecast for 2018 remains unfavorable. The decline is expected to stabilize beginning in 2019. Authorities are relying on the stabilization of public finances, economic diversification and entrepreneurship to bring about new sources of growth.
With this, entrepreneurship is beginning to rise in the Central African country and reforms to support the establishment of a local class of entrepreneurs like Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, Valerio Thompson Boco are taking action through valuable innovation needed to revive the economy.
Before starting out in business, Valerio trained teenagers for free in creative writing, acting, and talent development in his Malabo neighborhood every weekend on. As the years went he says the passion for training developed more leading to him establishing CPEVS Training Institute, an educational startup and social enterprise with courses in Cinematography, Photography, Music, Fashion and design, Brand management, Entrepreneurship, Languages, and Civic Leadership.
CPEVS Training Institute is focused on training, impacting and empowering students and graduates in order for them to be self-employed after graduation, and also helping them in becoming skilled professionals in their chosen field and as well become major players in the improvement of the Equatorial Guinea’s economy.
With a vision to increase the number of self-employed youths and skilled professionals with great knowledge of the chosen field and becoming the best vocational training institute in Equatorial Guinea in central Africa in the next 5 years, Valerio and his team at CPEVS are contributing significantly to job creation and impacting the society by creating effective corporate and social responsibility activities.
In 2017, Valerio applied for the TEF programme and this he says marked a new journey in his entrepreneurial pursuit “Seeing my name among the list of selected entrepreneurs for the 2017 TEF entrepreneurs transformed my life and story, because I have long had the idea of establishing my educational training institute, but I was lacking the necessary training, mentorship and funding. But being part of the program opened me to so many opportunities”
Today, CPEVS Training Institute’s cinematography production department is currently running an on going pan-African documentary series film project titled TUNAWEZA which is focused on the African Girl Child Story. This project will also be used as a tool to generate more revenue for the business apart from the on paid training activities, as it will be premiered in Lagos, Accra and Malabo. Valerio’s work in business and social entrepreneurship has also been significantly recognized as he became a Mandela Washington Fellowship alumnus, Africa Change Makers Fellowship and awarded as an International Associate on Civic Leadership for Wagner College in New York
With 7 employees/trainers, 2 assistants and 5 interns who are currently working on the documentary series, CPEVS is currently at a progressive state with revenue increasing activities and also partnership deals/discussions with various organizations. Valerio is also currently in Lagos,Nigeria, working on a premiere of the documentary series project in Lagos, Accra and Equatorial Guinea.
Valerio has put plans in the way to expand the documentary series project handled by CPEVS’ Cinematography, Photography and cosmetology department and as well concluding work on a partnership with a fellow TEF alumni training institute to incorporate more courses which will help expand the capacity of his business alongside establishing a new branch in the mainland region of Equatorial Guinea which shares the same border with Cameroon and Gabon.
Valerio and his team can be reached via email; gceinitiative@gmail.com and cpvshq@gmail.com
