Nkuete, a Roman Catholic[1] belonging to the Bamileke ethnic group,[3] was born at Balessing in Menoua Department in 1944.

[1][2] He received his higher education in Italy from 1963 to 1969 and then returned to Cameroon, where he began working at the Ministry of Planning in 1969 after obtaining his PHD.

[1] Considered "Biya's most trusted associate",[6] Nkuete was promoted to the post of Secretary-General of the Government[1][6] on November 21, 1986.

After seven years at CEMAC, Biya appointed him to the Cameroonian government as Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development on September 22, 2006.

[10] After five years in the government, Nkuete was dismissed from it and instead appointed as Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC) on 9 December 2011.