Another Pathway to Growth

Cameroon since independence is known to be a country of agriculture but this has remained quite rudimentary. There is significant absence of large-scale production, processing, and packaging of food using modern equipment and methods. This should be discouraging for a country that prides itself with enormous agricultural potentials. As stated by the Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development during last year’s agro-industrial trade fair in Yaounde, the agroindustry barely contributes 33 per cent to national industrial production. Out of this, only six per cent is exported. This low performance of the country’s agroindustry is partly blamed on the lack of financing and technology development.
The organisation in Douala of the Africa Development Club, a platform to help in the search for partnership and business development in agroindustry falls in line with effort at enhancing activities in the sector. Organised in collaboration with Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank group and SCB Cameroon, the Douala confab opened up floodgate for investment in agroindustry, a sector, one must admit, requires lots of financing and technical input. Apart from this, there is equally the whole issue of land acquisition which has often been in the centre of the whole gamut of obstacles. The Africa Development Club opens another valve to reflect on how best to dismantle the obstacles therein and boost agroindustry in the country.
Electric energy supply constitutes one, if not, the most important priority in the drive towards emergence. Government itself is quite aware and this certainly explains the zeal towards the building of Hydroelectric Power plants to boost production. Agricultur...