(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroonian Deputy Minister in charge of the Economy, Paul Tasong (photo), kicked off January 23 in Yaoundé, work to develop a new reference framework for the country's development. Work is expected to generate a new planning instrument to replace the current Growth and Jobs Strategy Paper.

“Dsce expires on 31 December 2019. For January 1, 2020, we need a new planning instrument,” the official said.

“The very first indicator was sustained economic growth over the 10-year period. The aim was to achieve an average growth rate of 5.5% over the planning period. To date, we have not achieved this growth rate in a totally satisfactory manner. The average growth rate today is 4.5%,” he added.

Still, according to Mr. Tasong, Cameroon failed to cut poverty by 10% as expected, reducing it by only 3%. But, he said, these unmet objectives are linked to the fact that the country has faced an external challenge, the fall in oil prices. Further, Cameroon is experiencing a security shock due to crisis in the Northwest, Southwest, East and Far North.

In 2009, Cameroon adopted a long-term development vision through the Dsce, phase 1 of which runs from 2010 to 2019. During this period, Cameroon did not achieve expected growth results. From 2020 to 2027, the country plans to reach upper-middle income country status. This will be done by focusing on its immediate assets such as agriculture and mining, while ensuring a less unequal distribution of income. Phase 3 (2028-2035) is expected to make Cameroon an industrialized country.

Sylvain Andzongo