(Business in Cameroon) - On June 29, 2021, Cameroon finally published its 2018 EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives) report. The country, which experienced delays in the publication of that document was allowed till March 31, 2021, to comply. However, given its inability to meet the final deadline, on April 1, 2021, it was suspended from the EITI initiative.

This suspension sent negative signals to investors who are particularly attentive when it comes to transparency in the management of public affairs in general, and extractive industries in particular.

Speaking during the publication ceremony, Minister of Mines Gabriel Dodo Ndoké explained that the publication of the report was delayed by internal management problems experienced by the committee in charge of the publication. Those problems were worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, making it hard for the committee to publish the report within the stated deadlines, he added.

The publication of the report will surely cause the lifting of Cameroon’s suspension from the EITI initiative, thus improving its international image in terms of transparency in the management of extractive industries. According to the 2018 report, the country generated XAF763.9 billion from the extractive industry in 2018; XAF568 billion of that financial resource was taken into account in the state budget that year. This envelope is higher than the XAF441.7 billion extractive resources budgeted in 2017.

BRM