UNIDO to support Cameroon’s industrial sector

The extent of manufacturing activity in Cameroon has been described as very limited and with no signs of any significant improvements in industrial production in the near future.

By Hinsley Njila

A study of the country’s industrial performance and capabilities, done by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has revealed that Cameroon’s per capita manufacturing value-added is about 60 US dollars, just slightly above the required threshold of 50 US dollars required for industrial take-off. The study shows that there are no signs that Cameroon’s industrial production will significantly improve in the near future as the share of manufacturing in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has stagnated at between 10 and 12 percent for over two decades. And the manufacturing industry is still heavily dependent on traditional low-value-added, low-wage activities, given its inability to adapt over time its production structure to medium and high-technology products.

Regrettably, Cameroon ranks at the bottom alongside other low-income sub-Saharan African countries under UNIDO’s Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP)
It is against this backdrop that the government in collaboration with UNIDO and some private sector and civil society actors have decided to launch a programme for the country’s industrial take-off.

The pilot programme according to Chantal Elumbat, technical adviser at the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development is intended to ensure industrial upgrading, standardisation and quality promotion. The programme is expected to be launched on 11 November.
UNIDO’s resident representative for Central Africa, Frank Van Rampaey, said that in this era of globalisation marked by competitive inter-dependence, it was imperative for countries to produce goods and provide services of universal standard.
Meanwhile others stressed the need for standardisation and respect for universal norms if industrial production must avoid: waste in time; material and financial resources.
On the other hand some school of thought believes Cameroon needed just a strong political will to achieve industrial take off.