Agriculture: a sector at the heart of the economy
Since 1963, Cameroon's economy has undergone profound changes in order to boost its various productive sectors. But agriculture, present in all regions of Cameroon and benefiting from a variety of climates and soils, remains the backbone of this economy. It provides 95% of the country's food self-sufficiency, employs the majority of the population and still accounts for almost 50% of export earnings.
Bananas. Banana cultivation developed in Cameroon at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1907 to be precise, under German influence. Initially concentrated in the Buéa and Limbé regions, it then spread to other parts of the country, during the British and then French occupations. Today, the banana industry employs over 50,000 people and is Cameroon's second largest employer. With 300,000 tonnes exported every year, bananas are one of Cameroon's leading exports, contributing 6% to the country's GDP. Its main competitors are bananas from Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as those closer to home, from Côte d'Ivoire. Cameroon remains the leading banana exporter in the African-Caribbean-Pacific States. Suffice it to say, this sector of the country's economy is really in the mood! France alone accounts for almost 90% of Cameroon's banana exports.
Cocoa. Since independence and until the early 1990s, the government set prices. This had its disadvantages, but also its advantages, as producers knew in advance the exact price at which their cocoa would be purchased. Since 1991, the cocoa and coffee sector has been managed by the ONCC (Office national de cacao et de café, the secular arm of the state) and the CICC (Conseil interprofessionnel du cacao et du café, a consultative body for private operators). Alongside them, various local structures and international organizations are evolving. Today, Cameroon ranks5th in the world in cocoa production, which accounts for 4.5% of global output. Cocoa cultivation has evolved considerably over the last few decades. It has been modernized, and requires more and more knowledge and adaptation to new techniques.
Coffee. Cameroon produces both robusta, the most important variety, grown in the West, East, South and Littoral regions, and arabica, mainly grown in the higher West region, where growers are grouped into cooperatives around UCCAO (Union centrale des coopératives agricoles de l'Ouest). Production is then exported to Europe, led by France, Italy, Germany and England. Cameroonian Arabica is of very high quality, but yields remain low, mainly due to ageing plantations and a lack of means on the part of growers.
Cotton. Cotton loves dry land, so it is found in the north of the country, where it is one of the country's main agricultural resources. Its cultivation began in the 1950s. Today, cotton production (seed cotton or cotton fiber) employs over 3,000 people. Since 2006, cotton production has experienced a rollercoaster ride, but in the 2018-2019 season, production returned to its pre-crisis level, with 320,000 tonnes produced nationwide. This is still essentially an artisanal crop.
Gnetum. Gnetum, also known as gnète, is an important economic factor in Cameroonian agriculture. Indeed, this climbing plant, whose leaves are eaten mixed with other vegetables (a sauce is made with palm or peanut oil) and can accompany smoked meat or fish, is the subject of a growing trade with Nigeria, which imports almost 3,000 tonnes a year. It is grown and exported from Idenau, a fishing village on the coast, and Campo, in the Southern Province near Kribi. Nigerian demand (intensive cultivation and deforestation have virtually wiped it out in that country) has driven up prices. Gnetum is known as eru or okok. This vegetable has become a currency of exchange for farmers in the south of the country. Exports are massive, at prices that make Cameroonian farmers dream, even though gnetum is sold for 6 times more in Nigeria and Gabon, and 20 times more in Europe.
The country's other economic resources
Forestry. Cameroon's forests cover a third of the country's surface area, and the species that grow there are extremely varied (nearly 300 different species, including mahogany, ebony, sipo, iroko, azobe, ilomba...). However, logging poses a threat to the country's sustainable development. Nearly 80% of the country's rainforest is exploited, often illegally, and forecasts predict the destruction of this resource in the coming years if logging methods are not rapidly modified. To control the exploitation of the timber sector, the government has set up two competent bodies: Onadef (Office national de développement des forêts) and Minef (Ministère de l'Environnement et des Forêts). Since 2001, the rate of deforestation has been set at 0.6% per year, or 20,000 ha per year; and Onadef works to regenerate forest cover by planting trees; around 1,000 ha are reforested each year. The forestry sector is a major contributor to gross capital formation, accounting for 6% of GDP, with sales estimated at over 400 billion CFA francs a year, just behind raw materials and oil. Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain) is the main buyer of Cameroonian timber.
Fishing. Despite Cameroon's 400 km of coastline and numerous lakes and rivers, fishing, both traditional and industrial, remains underdeveloped. The country's main ports are Douala, Limbé and Kribi, and artisanal fishing accounts for 90% of the sector's activity. River or lake fishing is mainly concentrated in the north of the country, on Lake Chad and the Chari and Logone rivers, two of Africa's most fish-rich lakes.
A number of problems are still preventing the fishing industry from developing. First of all, the sector lacks adequate resources, with young fishermen unable to afford a well-equipped boat. An aid program, via the Maritime Fishing Development Fund, has been set up, but the results remain meagre, and the fish farming potential of the country's major watersheds is not being exploited as it should be.
The second major problem facing the fishing industry is transportation, as the road and rail network and the lack of refrigerated trucks mean that fresh fish cannot be reliably marketed. The fish is therefore dried or smoked to make it easier to preserve.
Industry. Cameroon has a number of metallurgical industries (steelworks, aluminum production with ALUCAM), chemical industries (plastics, soap, cement, paint and glue, etc.), breweries (Brasseries du Cameroun belongs to the Castel group), textile industries, forestry, agrifoods (which account for around 50% of industrial sector sales) and, of course, the oil industry. The country also boasts considerable natural and energy resources, even if they are often under-exploited: water (used, among other things, to generate electricity), oil (mainly exploited in the Limbé region, where the Rio del Rey offshore field is located, and in the Douala and Kribi basins), natural gas (Cameroon has enormous reserves estimated at over 100 billionm3), as well as iron ore, bauxite, rutile, tin and gold. The construction of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline is a major boost to local employment and the construction sector. Since 2010, major projects have been launched to boost the country's industrial sector. These include energy. The country has improved its energy facilities, notably with the construction of thermal power plants (Yassa and Limbé). The Kribi thermal power station and the dams on the Sanaga River could make Cameroon one of Africa's largest energy producers (with national energy production equivalent to over 2,000 megawatts), enabling it to export its energy to Chad.
Foreign trade. In Cameroon, port traffic amounts to 4 to 5 million tonnes of goods per year. The port of Douala is still the main entry and exit point for goods, and serves as a maritime outlet for countries such as Chad, the Central African Republic and the northern part of the Congo. Cameroon's three other major ports are Limbé, Kribi (mainly dedicated to the timber trade) and Garoua in the north (a river port whose main activity is the fertilizer and cotton trade). The deep-water port of Kribi can accommodate ships of up to 100,000 tons, while the current port of Douala is limited to 15,000-ton vessels. This considerably alters the country's economic horizon, as it aims to become an essential platform for trade with countries in the sub-region and around the world.
Railroads are underdeveloped, and are little used for freight transport (except on the Yaoundé-Ngaoundéré line). Almost all domestic traffic is carried by truck, despite the poor condition of the roads and the inadequacy of the network.
Along with its neighboring states, Cameroon was involved in the creation and development of the CEMAC (Central African Economic and Monetary Community), which came into being in N'Djaména, Chad, in 1994. The countries involved in this new sub-regional organization are Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo. At CEMAC summits, the leaders of the 6 member countries raised fundamental issues such as the inadequacy of road and rail communications and transport infrastructures, a real handicap to the expansion of cross-border trade. Work on the Douala-Bangui and Douala-N'Djamena road axes is just one of the major initiatives that CEMAC has been spearheading since 2012.
Despite a high GDP (compared with the CEMAC zone), exports of over CFAF 5,700 billion and imports of CFAF 9,000 billion, foreign trade has suffered greatly from the Covid-19 health crisis.
Emergence 2035: a race against time
For the past ten years, the declared objective has been to put Cameroon on the road to emergence by 2035. The government is facing major challenges, namely to increase the country's energy production, to be self-sufficient, and to be able to export electricity to neighboring countries, such as Chad (opening of the Limbé and Yassa thermal power plants).
Work on the Mem'vele power plant and pipeline detour began on August 3, 2012, and construction of the related Lom Pangar dam has also begun. By regulating the Sanaga River, Cameroon could benefit from significant hydroelectric potential (up to 3,000 MW).
Investing in infrastructure and in the transport of goods and people is one of the government's key objectives. One of these priorities is to improve access to education, particularly in the country's rural areas. Education is seen as a key factor in the country's economic growth and development.
Develop the agricultural sector, which is closely linked to access to water. With the creation of Camwater, the government is aiming for better urban and rural service. A new 50,000m3/day drinking water production plant has been built in Douala.
Promoting tourism is also one of the development priorities highlighted by the government to achieve its 2035 target. In the wake of the Covid 19 health crisis, the country has embraced the projects announced in this area, and the hosting of the 2022 African Cup of Nations has undoubtedly boosted this sector once again.
Strengthening good governance and combating corruption are also an integral part of the measures announced in September 2023 by President Paul Biya, with the aim of achieving transparency and respect for the modernization projects undertaken by the public authorities and a stable political environment.
After the pandemic and the plunge into a fuel crisis in 2021, which had a major impact on the country's progress towards its major challenges, emergence in 2035 is still the talk of the town. But the current context raises questions about this objective, which is taking on the air of a race against time. Indeed, these factors are having a considerable impact on the pace of project implementation and investment, prompting the IMF to constantly revise its global growth estimates.
