Private Sector: Cradle Of Economic Development

The role the private sector can play in boosting the country’s economy once more featured prominently in the Head of State’s end of year address to the nations.

After streamlining the necessary actions to take in order to redress the degrading economic situation in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), President Paul Biya recalled that the success of all these will depend so much on the performance of the private sector. “At the time when diversification is a veritable lifeline for CEMAC economies, our investors should for instance, take advantage of the opportunities offered by regional integration or various economic partnership agreements to which Cameroon is a signatory.”

Private Sector Development (PSD), in effect is a term in the international development industry which refers to a range of strategies for promoting economic growth and reducing poverty in developing countries by building private enterprises. This could be through working with firms directly, with membership organizations to represent them, or through a range of areas of policy and regulation to promote functioning and competitive markets.

The Cameroon government according to the President of the Republic has taken serious measures through the enactment of reforms and the institution of the famous Cameroon Business Forum in order to cement relations between the public and private sector. “The harvest has been bountiful in terms of the principles of the actions adopted to improve the business climate in Cameroon”, the President recalled, stating with regret that measures taken to boost the private sector have so far been constrained by a number of factors one of which is inertia.

“We should remove such obstacles and create a sound and attractive business environment that accelerates progress in our country by aligning with appropriate global dynamics. Responsibility here lies with the government.” In effect, private sector investment will not take place if conditions are not made favourable. Laws and regulation alone cannot do the trick. Instead, it is the effective implementation of these regulations that clears the way for effective investment.

The situation on the ground has always been discouraging. Memories are fresh on the number of Memorandums of Understanding signed between the government and private sector enterprises which end up in drawers. In most cases, the blame goes to government. The issue here as stated by the President, is inertia. That notwithstanding, it is equally important to note that investment projects are sometimes not well conceived. Many companies flow into the country w...