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Cameroon
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Situation and cooperation
In the wake of the economic crises in the late 1980s, Cameroon's government initiated extensive reforms that have since enabled the economy to recover. However, the population has not seen any fundamental improvements in living conditions. Unemployment is high, especially in the cities. Around a quarter of the population – in the north of the country, particularly – is undernourished. About 40 per cent of the population still live below the national poverty level. Cameroon ranks 131st out of 169 nations in the Human Development Index (HDI 2010).
The shortcomings of the centralist style of governance are still a constraint on the development of the country. These include human rights violations, restrictions on the democratic process, a lack of transparency and efficiency in the use of public funds, political clientelism, corruption and the lack of legal certainty. Progress has, nevertheless, been made on decentralisation in particular.
The government's work is still not sufficiently aligned to poverty reduction. The population also has few opportunities to participate in the development process. Although more and more citizens are getting involved in initiatives and social movements, this multifaceted civil society still needs to fight for its rightful influence.
In principle the country holds attractions for domestic and foreign investors on account, for example, of the population's relatively high level of education, the country's wealth of raw materials and the CFA franc, the common currency that is pegged to the euro. However, insufficient legal certainty, weak administrative structures, a lack of infrastructure and bureaucracy's arbitrary use of power are keeping potential investors away. Cameroon is ranked only in 171st place in the World Bank's "Doing Business 2010" report that analyses the business climate in 183 countries.
In the first of these reports, published in 2005, Cameroon still ranked in 147th place, but has fallen further behind every year since then. According to the report, this is especially due to the successful reforms that have been carried out in other African countries, which have overtaken Cameroon because the government in Yaoundé has not managed to implement the necessary reforms.
Little progress has been made so far towards industrialisation. The largest economic sector is the primary sector (agriculture, forestry and fisheries) which is often subsistence level. It generates around 44 per cent of GDP. The service sector accounts for 39 per cent and industry for only 17 per cent of GDP. The informal sector is thought to generate about 35 per cent of GDP, especially in the country's towns and cities.
Cameroon's most important source of income remains the export of petroleum products and tropical timbers. In recent years Cameroon has made enormous efforts to place the use of its forests on a sustainable and legal footing. The country's National Forest and Environment Development Programme is exemplary in the region. Nevertheless, it still faces great challenges when it comes to implementing the strategy. German development cooperation is therefore providing assistance in this area.
Health care in Cameroon is poor. One of the country's major problems is the high incidence of HIV: about five per cent of adults between the ages of 15 and 49 are living with HIV. Rates of child mortality and maternal mortality are high and have not dropped significantly in recent years. According to statistics published by the World Bank, 155 children died before the age of five for every 1,000 live births in 2008. Per 100,000 live births, 600 women died of complications during pregnancy or childbirth. German development cooperation therefore aims to help improve health care in Cameroon.
Development potential
The central and southern regions in particular offer ideal conditions for growing all kinds of fruit. Cameroon also has great potential for hydropower generation, and a range of mineral resources including bauxite, cobalt, nickel, oil and diamonds. With more effective management in these sectors, the population could benefit from additional job opportunities.
Rainforests cover around 40 per cent of the country's surface area. Sustainable use of these rainforests could improve the population's income and at the same time conserve the forests and their wealth of natural resources. Recently, Cameroon has been actively involved in regional initiatives and processes, such as moves to develop a forestry action plan for Central Africa that is geared to protection and sustainability. Another factor offering good opportunities for positive development is Cameroon's large, well-trained workforce. Improvements in competitiveness have in recent years given a powerful boost to exports of agricultural and forestry products such as timber, coffee, cotton and natural rubber.
As a member of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS/CEEAC) and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), Cameroon is supporting greater regional integration. The Secretariat of the Commission for the Forests of Central Africa (COMIFAC), which brings together ten Central African states, is based in the capital, Yaoundé.
In December 2007 the European Union and Cameroon concluded a bilateral interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). As of January 2008 the EU granted Cameroon full free market access on the basis of this agreement. Cameroon agreed to exempt 80 per cent of its imports from the EU from import duties over the course of the next 15 years. Transitional periods of up to 25 years apply to especially sensitive products. The accompanying Aid by Trade initiative is an important element of the EPA process. The EU is providing support to Cameroon in improving the productivity and competitiveness of its industry. The bilateral agreement is regarded as a step towards a regional EPA between Central Africa and the EU.
Priority areas of cooperation
Germany is one of Cameroon's most important bilateral donors. During government negotiations held in Bonn in September 2010 Germany pledged a total of 77 million euros over the next three-year period. Of that sum, 40 million euros will go to Financial Cooperation and 37 billion euros to Technical Cooperation measures. The three priority areas of cooperation between Cameroon and Germany are:
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Health and HIV/AIDS
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Sustainable use of natural resources
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Decentralisation, local development and good governance.
At the request of the Cameroon government, an advisory project is currently taking place on implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Germany is cooperating closely in all three priority areas with Cameroon's other big donors, the World Bank and France, on implementing the principles set out in the Paris Declaration.
Health and HIV/AIDS
Although the nourishment situation in Cameroon is relatively good compared with neighbouring countries, many women and children are undernourished. Mothers and infants are still dying in large numbers because of the inadequacy of health care. There are too few doctors, and bottlenecks in the state-run clinics in the supply of drugs and medical equipment are commonplace. Public heath spending remains extremely low in comparison to the country's GDP.
German development cooperation supports the country in its efforts to develop a decentralised health-insurance system. Another objective of cooperation is to improve conditions in hospitals and health centres, and upgrade their equipment. Non-governmental facilities are targeted in particular.
In Cameroon, about five per cent of adults between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV-positive. Special support is therefore being provided for AIDS education campaigns and, equally, for local self-help groups for people living with HIV. Family-planning programmes and efforts to control TB and cholera are also being supported by Germany.
Sustainable use of natural resources
Cameroon's extensive and species-rich tropical forests are of major significance: Locally the forest is an important source of food and income – timber exports alone account for more than ten per cent of GDP. Globally, Cameroon's forests are important to the stabilisation of the climate. The damage caused by uncontrolled logging is, in many instances, irreparable.
A priority area of German development cooperation with Cameroon is thus the promotion of sustainable tropical forest management, in which advice is provided to the authorities on the design and implementation of suitable strategies. For instance, investments or development activities in forest areas are carefully examined for environmental sustainability, and there are safeguards to ensure that the local population receive a share of the revenues. More needs to be done, in turn, to sensitise the population to forest conservation issues and to make sustainable forms of forest use more widespread. Three national parks have been established to provide special protection for Cameroon's unique natural heritage.
Decentralisation, local development and good governance
The process of decentralisation which is ongoing in the Cameroonian administration is a key precondition for more effective poverty reduction. It promotes democratic structures and mechanisms, thus giving the rural population a foundation on which to build self-reliant development.
Germany is helping to foster this process by supporting local government authorities in the execution of their new tasks, among other activities. In the past, the municipalities have lacked the requisite executive powers and financial scope to discharge these responsibilities. Training is therefore being provided to mayors and staff of municipal authorities, and effective municipal structures are being established. A further aim of cooperation with Cameroon is to strengthen civil society organisations. Trade unions, women's associations and human-rights groups are to be enabled to play a more active part in the development process in future.
Debt relief
Prior to debt relief, Cameroon was one of the most highly indebted countries in Africa. In 2005 its foreign debts still amounted to some 9.3 billion US dollars. With the help of HIPC and MDRI debt relief, however, Cameroon had almost all its debts cancelled in 2006. The German government has written off some 1.4 billion euros of Cameroon's debt.
The budgetary resources freed up as a result of debt relief – amounting to some 200 million euros per annum until 2015 – are to be used solely for poverty alleviation. Accordingly the opportunities to undertake urgently needed investment and expenditure have grown enormously, and the expectations of the population are high.
The Cameroon government put forward its first Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in 2003. At the beginning of 2010 this PRSP was updated and a "Growth and Employment Strategy Document" was added. It shows that the government plans to focus its attention more on economic growth and increasing competitiveness, and that it is not afraid to set ambitious benchmarks against which the quality of its government policies is to be measured.
Information
Publications
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Promotion of Good Governance in German Development Policy
Strategies 178
(PDF 277 KB, accessible) -
Preventing corruption – promoting transparency: What is German development policy doing?
(PDF 177 KB, accessible) -
Sector Strategy: German Development Policy in the Health Sector
Strategies 187
(PDF 321 KB, accessible)
