Right Past Wrongs!

As Cameroon staggers to stand with yet another long-term development strategy following the near dismal outcome of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper, those who matter absolutely need to be more focused than ever before to ensure success this time around. The 2020-2030 National Development Strategy, as the fresh growth blueprint is known, should be made to succeed where the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper failed.
A cursory look at the new initiative suggests that those who drafted it have a clear vision of what is supposed to be done. The ambition this time around, it is written, is to go for a structural transformation of the national economy. Fundamental changes being announced in the productive, industrial, financial, administrative, social and environment domains are imperative to beef up an economy that aspires to attain a middle-income status in a dozen years to come. How such actions would be undertaken, when and by who need to be well defined so as to reach the target of having a strong economy where prosperity is shared and a solid base built for future generations.   
Realising the dream requires stakeholders of the National Development Strategy to go beyond mere speech.  They have to right the wrongs of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper. As a matter of fact, sceptics who have increasingly qualified the management apparatus as full of sloganeering with many apologists erroneously thinking that sustained economic growth could be decreed must be proven wrong in the new development plan. Evolving at the level of slogans with very little to show on the field in terms of development have the propensity to blind many and stagnate rather than develop a country yearning for serious growth like ours. 
The blueprint launched on November 16, 2020 should thus be viewed as a compass to guide meaningful and adaptable growth actions. The strategy in a paper form as is the case now, is just a document which can be squashed and dumped. Cameroonians need more than just the paper.  Attaining an emergent status entails sustaining a double-digit growth rate for several years. Cameroon may beat her chest for being resilient in the face of global shocks but the resilience can only keep the economy above the waters. There is need to go beyond that! Sustainable growth comes through hard and well-coordinated work. It is also achieved through synergy of action where all hands are put on deck to jointly fetch something palpable and beneficial for the country and her citizens. Wi...