(Business in Cameroon) - Between May and June 2020, the Inter-Patronal Grouping of Cameroon (GICAM) renewed its study carried out in April on the impacts of the coronavirus on the economy.

The May-June study reveals that in the 2020 financial year, companies’ turnover would drop by 81.7% on average. This drop could reach 100% in the most exposed segments and 83% with small-sized firms.

“In absolute value, compared with the 2019 volume, the turnover of companies in the modern sector could drop by XAF3,139 billion and their capacity to contribute to tax revenues by XAF521 billion, (…)” the Gicam indicates.

Also, the pandemic decreased their assets and reduced their ability to fulfill their social and economic missions. Based on those findings, the GICAM estimates that the recession (from -1.1% to -3%) anticipated by the Ministry of Economy would be worse than expected.

Let’s note that according to the study, despite the adaptive measures implemented by companies, the job situation is still deteriorating in modern companies. For instance, 42.6% of those modern firms temporarily laid off staff, and 12.4% simply fired staff. Overall, by June 2020, 53,346 employees were already consigned to technical unemployment and 13,834 employees dismissed.

Sylvain Andzongo