Fankem was born in 1964 in Bandenkop, Western Province, Cameroon. In 1989 he enrolled at Yaoundé University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (History and
Geography) where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Geography
with Science of Education as an additional subject. The same year, he entered the National Higher Teacher’s Training College, Yaoundé. In 1991, he received a Master’s Degree in Education.
Fankem taught in government schools in the North, West, Littoral, and Centre provinces of Cameroon from 1991 to 2002. From 2002, he was hired as a consultant in humanitarian law and civil protection, and joined a team of contributors to the “Cameroon civil protection report”. This report is a document of the Cameroon
Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, in collaboration with the United Nations for Development Program (UNDP) and the International Organisation for Civil Protection (IOCP). In 2004, he was recruited as a consultant for a company called Eromat 3I, where he was in charge of water matters in the rural areas. In 2006, he joined LEAD Afrique Francophone as associate member before joining the training
programme of “Cohort 13’’.