(Business in Cameroon) - Seven Cameroonian communes have reached a deal with the government to benefit from public funding for the construction of social housing and shops under the high labor intensity approach (HIMO). The related agreement, which concerns the communes of Ngomedzap (Central region), Mayo-Darlé (Adamaoua), Banka (West), Nkongsamba 1er (Littoral), Garoua-Boulaï (East), Poli (North) and Belo (North-West), was signed on 14 February 2023 in Yaoundé, with the Minister of the Economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey.

The HIMO approach requires the use of raw materials and local labor in the implementation of projects. This particularity means, according to Médard Kouatchou, head of the Himo unit at the Ministry of the Economy, that 70 to 80% of the budget for a labor-based project remains in the locality hosting the project.

The Cameroonian government aims to intensify projects of this type, to create jobs and reduce unemployment in the country. In detail, the government eyes a total of 100,000 jobs between 2020 and 2025, as part of the national integrated development program for decentralized territorial communities (CTD).

BRM