It is common knowledge that when one introduces himself as being Cameroonian within the British community be it on the streets or in workplaces, the reaction is the same – oh football…. Roger Miller….! It is understandable when one takes a look at how much contribution Cameroon has made to the development of world football so far.
Cameroon’s football exploits on the world stage and her dominance on the African continent are well documented. Five very impressive appearances at the World Cup in (1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 - and the sixth this year (2010) in South Africa) and lifting the African Cup of nations title four times in (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and runners-up in 1986, 2008, winner of the gold medal in the football tournament at the Olympics in Sydney, Australia in 2000, and runners-up in the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003. In 2006 and 2009 Cameroon was ranked 11th in the World, the second highest position ever achieved by an African nation south of the Sahara in World Football (Nigeria was ranked 9th in 2006). This is quite an achievement by Cameroon since appearing on the international scene for the first time in 1960 beating the national side of French Somaliland, now Djibouti 9-2 in the friendship games organized in Madagascar.
However, there is much more that this very privileged triangle at the armpit of the continent can offer to the world than just football. Because of her varied ecology, (a near desert climate in the North transiting through savannah to the dense tropical rain forest in the South, in addition to a rich socio-economic and cultural potential, Cameroon is generally referred to as ‘Africa in Miniature’ because the country has it all.
TOURIST ONE-STOP SHOP
For tourism enthusiasts, Cameroon abounds with a diverse and yet undiscovered options (300 tourist sites) – abundance of unique cultural traditions and very rich and collectable artifacts corresponding to the over 250 ethnic groups that make up the Cameroonian population (almost 19 million), around 400km of splendid and natural sandy beaches along the Atlantic coast overlooking the ocean, world class hotel accommodation. Safari tourists have the option of visiting what has been described as the best developed and the most interesting National Park in Waza in the Northern region of the country. The park has a good representation of the key wildlife on the continent such as gorillas, lions, leopards, black rhinos, cheetahs, elephants, hyenas, hippos, antelopes, giraffes as well as 379 species of birds.
The ecology and the climatic variations in the country offer the ecotourists different options. There is the Korup National Park in the South-West region with rare plant species some of them said to be millions of years old, the equatorial rain forest and the primary forest in Dja classified as a Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Mountaineers have a challenge of 4070 meters up Mount Fako in the Southern region, or the waterfalls and rocky hills in the Adamawa, West and North-West regions of the country, and more still, some sites of the Mayo Rey containing fingerprints and fossils of dinosaurs.
SPOILED FOR CHOICE IN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Since the early nineties, Cameroon was among the leaders on the continent to make the first moves towards encouraging Foreign Direct Investment by enacting a code that promotes freedom of investment. From her location right in the heart of the continent and being the meeting point of Equatorial Africa in the South and Tropical Africa in the North, Cameroon offers foreign direct investors easy access to the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Guinea as well as to the market potentials of the entire Central African sub-region and Nigeria with whom Cameroon shares a long border. For the foreign direct investor, the areas of possible investment are many.
There is potential in the energy, human Resources, transport, mining, telecommunications, waste management, forestry exploitation as well as the agro production and processing sectors. In the area of agriculture which is the main stay of Cameroon’s economy, the government is keen on increasing production to satisfy home demand and export the surplus to the sub-regional and international markets as well as add value to the raw materials and increase job opportunities by promoting local transformation.
As part of this quest to develop the agricultural sector, the government is committed to make available to national and foreign investors, secured land on contractual basis and also implement measures aimed at reducing customs duties. Investments in road infrastructure, the building of dams to step up energy capacity, low-cost housing and improvement in the telecommunications, are the needed accompanying measures to make the development of the agricultural and mining sectors more realistic and viable.
Some economic reforms have also been put in place, thanks to the support of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to stimulate the private sector. The banking sector has been stabilised, with some 13 active banks operating in the country currently, in addition to a Stock Exchange in the economic capital of Douala to facilitate free capital movement.
In terms of human resources, the country has an untapped young, energetic and trainable workforce as well as well trained professionals in various fields both in Cameroon and in the Diaspora. The foreign direct investors can take advantage of this potential to stabilise and sustain their operations on the ground rather than rely on the usually more costly and unstable expatriate labour, especially at this time when the Diaspora are getting more and more interested in going back home to be part of the country’s development process even if it means doing so on the payroll of a multinational as an employee.
THE DIASPORA – A FORCE TO RECKON WITH
On the other hand, as Cameroonians take a look in the country’s historical rear mirror 50 years on, more than ever before Cameroon will also have to rely especially on her human resources both at home and abroad in this quest for meaningful and sustainable development of the country, moving forward. Cameroon has a massive potential (material and intellectual) in the sons and daughters in the Diaspora, those of the United Kingdom included. In fact the UK has a cream of very highly qualified Cameroonian professionals in various fields which could impact directly and effectively in Cameroon’s development efforts.
Here in the United Kingdom, Cameroonians through individual and collective efforts, do everything possible to help their loved ones at home either through direct remittance of foreign currency, by setting up micro businesses for family members, or creating Charities to liaise and work with non-governmental organisations back home. Talking to Cameroonians here in the United Kingdom (and it is not an overstatement to say that this is the common view of all Cameroonians in the Diaspora), it comes across very clearly that they are very interested in getting involved in the development of their country either through micro or macro projects but the hurdles are legion.
Proof of this interest is the plethora of Cameroonian socio-cultural, economic and professional organisations/associations (Cameroon Forum, The Millennium Group, Friends of Cameroon, Cameroon Business Club, Cameroon Young Professionals, Cameroon North-West Cultural Association etc. etc.) now existing in the United Kingdom, all with a mission to contributing, in their own way, to the development of self and Cameroon.
Nonetheless, the general complaint is that genuine efforts to effect some form of economic development initiative in the country is often stifled by the many hurdles and bottlenecks in place in Cameroon beginning with the excesses of the officials at the port in Douala to the unrealistic demands of the taxman in the Ministry of Finance in Yaounde. It will be necessary to put in place investment and business tax codes that enable nationals to compete fairly with multinationals for contracts and investment opportunities in the country.
The main risk in Cameroon continues to be that of corruption which has been reported in various though isolated incidents. This has occurred both in the government and the judiciary. While it remains a problem, there have been efforts made to improve the situation. Some of these include reforms in various sectors such as easing and speeding up the process of granting trade licenses; previously an area of much corruption, and the call to order or arrest of some suspected corrupt officials.
Fifty years is unquestionably an age of reason, so as we look back at those things that make us different, in the rear mirror of the country’s history for the past half century, there is cause for celebrating the strides made so far towards nation building. However, the celebrations must not blind us to the many challenges that lie ahead as Cameroon strives to step up her development efforts. This maturity should be reflected in our decision-making process, development prioritisation as well as business and investment partnership choices to make maximum use of the specificity that is Cameroon, Africa in miniature, with very rich natural and human resources the country is blessed with.
Steve Nfor
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