Weak growth feeds poverty in Cameroon: WB

Written by Eugene N Nforngwa

Wednesday, 09 February 2011 17:36

By Eugene N. Nforngwa
The Standard Tribune

Weak economic growth will make it hard for Cameroon to reduce poverty, says a World Bank expert, after a new forecast showed that the economy would expand well below the sub-Sahara Africa average at 4 percent this year.

“Poor infrastructure, an unfavourable business environment, and weak governance hamper economic activity and make it difficult to reach the growth rates needed to reduce poverty in a sustainable manner,” says Raju Jan Singh, Lead Economist at the World Bank country office in Yaounde.

“Poverty rates have not declined in recent years and, on its current trajectory, Cameroon is not likely to meet most of the Millennium Development Goals.”

Poor infrastructure also means that working people are spending more on infrastructure services and are earning less, Singh adds.

“On infrastructure more particularly, countries in Central Africa have the poorest infrastructure on the continent and their consumers pay high rates for infrastructure services.

“Simulations run at the Bank would suggest that if Cameroon’s power, road, and telecommunication infrastructure could be upgraded to the level of the best performing country in Africa (Mauritius), the average Cameroonian would see her income grow more than three times faster than it does today.”

Cameroon’s economy rebounded mildly to about 2 percent last year after expanding below one percent in 2009.
“In 2010, economic growth was driven by non-oil activities, mainly construction, transport, and telecoms,” Singh said. “It is expected that most of the developments observed in 2010 would carry over into 2011.

“The economic recovery would continue with growth reaching about 4 percent. The main drivers would come from the non-oil economy, while oil activities would continue to decline. More particularly, growth in the secondary (excluding oil) and tertiary sectors is expected to remain strong.”