“An Opportunity For Mayors To Benefit From Other Ideas”

Cameroon will from July 25-27, 2023 host the West and Central Africa regional meeting of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum. What is the meeting all about?
The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) has been very active in Central and West Africa since its inception in 1995. It has been implementing local development projects in member States as well as supporting development policies through intergovernmental dialogue. Decentralisation is at varying stages across the region and it is one of the activities prioritised by CLGF member countries. Building on earlier achievements, CLGF is working to increase the capacity at the local level and to improve intergovernmental relationships. CLGF member countries are all English-speaking countries and because of their works, even the French-speaking countries are joining too because they deem that they have something to benefit from the CLGF, such as Togo and Gabon. The CLGF has been facilitating the process of regional exchanges and such is the case of the meetings which will be held in Cameroon from the 25th to the 27th of July. The meeting is usually held after every two years. In 2016, we had a virtual meeting and this is the first physical meeting the West and Central Africa regional branch of the CLGF is going to have since the outbreak of the COvid-19 pandemic. The objectives of this regional meeting is to share experiences about local economic development as the countries come together to look at the way forward. During the meeting in Yaounde, we will examine the recommendations of the 2016 meeting in Ghana. CLJF includes local economic development organisations and the Ministries of Decentralisation and Local Development.

What are the stakes of the meeting?
The theme of this Yaounde get-together is “Building Back Better: Examining Social and Economic Strategies to Strengthen Resilience in West and Central Africa.” This theme has been broken down into various topics such as innovative finance, climate change, social cohesion, social inclusion of women and youths in the development process. There will be various panels for deliberations on each of the topics. For example, on innovative finance, the Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance (FEICOM) will share its experience as concerns the role it is playing in the financing of local Councils in Cameroon. We are expecting representatives from nine countries from West and Central African States in Cameroon for this meeting. It will be an opportunity for them to copy from one another to complete where they are lacking. Still on innovative finance, officials of the Ministry of Decentralisation and the City Mayor of Limbe will share their experiences in a Cameroonian context. On climate change, the Mayor of Tubah Council in the North West Region will do a presentation. Another panel will brainstorm on local economic development, another on social cohesion, that is the inclusion of women and youths in decision making process. By the end of this meeting, strong recommendations will come up which will guide the way forward. One of the objectives of this regional come together is to prepare for the CLGF general conferen...