Alain Blaise Batongue officially took office on January 5 as chief executive officer of Multi Services Maintenance Industrielle Africa SA (MSMI Africa SA), a company specializing in mechanical manufacturing and industrial maintenance. His appointment was approved during a board meeting held on November 19, 2025, in Douala and confirmed in an official statement released on January 2.
A Cameroonian journalist by training, Batongue began his career at the daily newspaper Mutations, where he successively served as political editor, editor-in-chief, and later publishing director. These roles placed him in senior management and coordination positions before his transition to more institutional responsibilities.
In 2013, he left the media sector to become executive secretary of the Groupement inter-patronal du Cameroun (Gicam), the country’s main employers’ organization, now known as the Groupement des entreprises du Cameroun (Gecam). This move anchored his career in organizational leadership and in managing issues at the intersection of business and public policy.
From Orange Cameroun to industrial leadership
Before joining MSMI Africa SA, Batongue was director of institutional and regulatory affairs at Orange Cameroun, a position he left a few weeks prior to his appointment. He arrives at MSMI Africa with extensive experience in governance, regulatory frameworks, and institutional relations, areas seen as critical in an industrial sector where execution capacity and internal structuring are key performance drivers.
According to MSMI Africa SA, his appointment marks “a new phase of structuring, modernization, and expansion” for the company. The firm describes Batongue as an experienced manager and institutional strategist tasked with strengthening governance, accelerating industrial development, and consolidating MSMI Africa’s strategic positioning in Cameroon, across the CEMAC region and beyond.
National and international mandates
A graduate of the Advanced School of Mass Communication (Esstic) in Yaoundé, Batongue highlights management experience gained within national and international organizations. His past roles include president of the Cameroon section of the Union of the Francophone Press (UPF), international vice-president of the UPF, president of the rural economy and agriculture cluster, and vice-president of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union.
At MSMI Africa SA, Batongue succeeds Cameroonian engineer Augustine Audrey Ngo Yetna Chicot, the company’s founder in 2003. She is described as a leading figure in Cameroon’s industrial sector and as the only African woman to have led an industrial mechanical manufacturing company for more than two decades.
BRM