(Business in Cameroon) - The Cameroonian government and the World Bank signed a financing agreement on April 2, 2014, for the social safety net project in Cameroon which is to assist 420,000 persons deemed to be vulnerable. The project involves monetary transfers and public works job opportunities for local populations. This was the information revealed in a press release issued in an official press release by the technical and financial partner.

This joint project of The Bretton Woods institution and the Cameroonian government had a boost on March 21, 2013 with the World Bank’s board’s approval of 50 million US dollars (around 25 billion FCfa) to support Cameroon in the conception and implementation of a national system of social safety nets.

On the Cameroonian side, things have sped up with the issuance of a Presidential decree on March 18, 2014, leading the Minister of Economy “to sign, with the International Development Association (IDA), a loan agreement for 32.5 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) corresponding to 50 million USD which is approximately 25 billion FCfa for project financing.”   

The project involves programmes that can touch as many as 65,000 poor and vulnerable homes in five regions deemed the poorest and most vulnerable in Cameroon, namely Adamaoua, East, North, Extreme North and North West. The project will also cover some 5,000 homes in Yaoundé and Douala.

Public Works

For two years, eligible households will receive a fund transfer every two months for a total of 720,000 FCfa (around 1,400 USD) as well as training activities to improve their health, nutrition, education and skills. Low-income households will have the possibility of working 60 days per year during agricultural off-season. The activities will include doing public works such as road maintenance and tree-planting.

At the offices of the World Bank in Yaoundé, the development programme’s merits are hailed. “Cameroon’s new social net will help to accelerate poverty reduction by saving some of the most vulnerable families from economic shocks and crises so that they may better invest in their children’s future,” stated Gregor Binkert, the World Bank’s Country Director to Cameron while citing the project’s success stories in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Niger.

However, in nations where the social safety nets yielded results, the state of the socio-economic environment was a determining factor. In most cases, governments have been able to ensure that fundamental questions such as easier access to health care, meaningful educational and employment policies as well as efficient reforms to the business environment which have been achieved with some degree of success.  

Idriss Linge