Strategic and totally controlled industrial sectors

The backbone of the domestic industry, battered by a quarter of a century of internal stammering, resulting from a flagrant lack of industrial policy, a disastrous infrastructural environment and a non-incentive tax policy, and on the other hand, weaned out of foreign direct investment, is being disintegrated. We propose to reverse the trend by making a choice and a policy of strategic sectors according to the strengths of Cameroon both in terms of natural resources, human resources, as well as available or future markets and ambitions of the country. In a globalised world, the industrial sector policy is necessary because of the need for consistency between production structures and the imperative of competitive positioning in the global market. It requires identification of objectives and programming of results. It is generally observed that no country can produce everything and be competitive in all sectors. Any efficient industrial policy must be based on the need to satisfy domestic demand for manufactured goods as well as to develop exports. In this vein,

We will develop or support the following sectors:

• agro-industry;
• extractive industries (iron, bauxite, cobalt/nickel, diamond, gold) with a policy of first or second local processing (foundries, steel mills, etc.) of part of the exploited resources;
• wood industries;
• hydrocarbons and petrochemicals;
• mechanical, electrical and electronic industries;
• pharmaceutical industries;
• chemical industries;
• building materials industries;
• biotechnology;
• information and communication technologies (ICT);
• crafts and tourism
• financial industry.

Requirements for the redeployment of our strategic sectors

Our industrial policy will be supported by:

• a redesign of the education system to upgrade technical training;
• abundant energy at a reasonable cost, if not cheaper;
• strengthening of economic infrastructures and means of communication (transport, energy, broad
  band internet, etc.);
• tax regulations and a tax rate for the most suitable companies;
• the ruthless fight against corruption and the improvement of the business environment and competitiveness in general.
• We will work with the experts in each sector to identify all the segments that need to be mastered to have a complete value chain from production to commercialisation.

Lifting barriers that plague the growth and competitiveness of the Cameroonian industry

• We will pursue a policy that broadens the internal market by reducing the cost of manufactured goods and encouraging local consumption;
• We will increase the available capital by encouraging domestic savings;
• We will ensure an equitable distribution of industries on the national territory in order to unclog the main cities (Douala, Yaoundé, Garoua) where most of the current industrial fabric is concentrated;
• We will accelerate administrative procedures and lead a ruthless struggle against corruptive practices that discourage the creation and installation of industrial units;
• We will promote the development of local processing in extractive industries in order to achieve capital gains instead of only exporting our raw materials and precious stones. In this respect, we will pursue an incentive policy for the 2nd and 3rd transformation of raw materials, especially wood;
• We will enforce a price policy that removes distortions between local and exported products (whose prices are often subsidised by their home countries).

The modernisation of the Cameroonian industry, condition of its competitiveness and the creation of industrial jobs

The industry is one of the main sources of growth in our country, but Cameroonian entrepreneurs still produce with outdated equipment, which are big consumers of energy, have a very high maintenance cost and very low productivity.
We must modernise our factories in order to lower industrial costs, increase productivity (number of hours needed to produce a unit of goods), reduce the consumption of electrical energy, reduce the hardness of work to protect workers’ health.
The industrial modernisation involves the following measures:

• Development of leasing to finance the acquisition of machinery and other new equipment: a line of credit of 50 billion per year will be allocated and will be managed by a joint committee composed in particular by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Syndustricam, GICAM, ECAM, etc. Eligible SMEs will be able to benefit from a State contribution of 33%.
• Financing of a 5 billion upgrade programme, of which 2 billion by the State and 3 billion by the donors. This funding will help pay the services of consulting engineers to industrial companies.
• The construction of industrial zones by private partners with State incentives (development of industrial zones, construction of an industrial real estate financed by the technical reserves of insurance companies, donors and private investors).
• Creation of a National Agency of Industry and Innovation (NAII) to facilitate the realisation of new industrial projects.
• Creation of a National Bank for Agricultural and Industrial Development (NBAID)

Setting up of specialised industrial agropolises

• We will set up specialised agropolises according to the production basins. These will be complete agro-industrial sectors, ranging from the production of primary agricultural products to their industrial transformations by production units linked to the production basins;
• We will modernise livestock farming and fish farming in order to strengthen Cameroon’s position in animal production and reduce dependence on imported fish products.

Building materials and wood industries: moving towards standardisation

• We have huge resources of raw materials that can be turned into building materials. While keeping the objective of producing local building materials, we will focus on an evolution of current productions towards more standardisation: – standardisation of formats, standardisation of technical prescriptions and product norms, then norms for construction.
  The aim is to establish, after 5 years, a dense industrial fabric made up of SMEs and medium-sized factories. Standardisation will favour the emergence of several sectors of building materials industries, including the prefabrication industry for concrete products; this emergence of several sectors will generate many jobs, pull quality up, boost the economy and will significantly reduce the deficit in housing and road infrastructure and basic equipment (schools, hospitals, sports
  facilities, etc …).
• Increasing the range of standardised building products that meet quality standards will achieve many economies of scale by reducing material costs, which will lead to the production of affordable housing and equipment
• We will promote, based on localities and available resources, common materials manufactured on the basis of inexpensive technologies;
• We will enter into a dialogue with the operators of the national cement industry with a view to arriving at measures likely to encourage doping in the construction market with a sufficient supply of cement. Indeed, it is universally recognised that cement plays a significant role in the cost of construction and is present at all stages of construction (structural work, secondary work, finishing). Any measure that would therefore favour the lowering of the price of cement would lead to increased cement consumption and a large-scale multiplier effect in terms of increased construction sites

Textile, craft and tourism industries

• We will develop an industrial textile sector covering cotton production, processing and marketing on the national and international market. We aim to bring cotton processing from 2% currently to 35% first in 10 years then to 80% in 20 years;
• We will develop spinning and weaving through a public-private partnership by encouraging the arrival of many actors in this segment of the industry;
• We will provide support to local businesses for the production of fabrics, jeans, T-shirts;
• We will promote eco-labels that will focus on certain local products with high export potential, be they certain agricultural products or spices and other non-timber forest products;
• We will promote ecotourism, as Cameroon has many comparative advantages in this area due to the diversity of its ecosystems, populations and cultures.

Develop and support the wood industry

• Strictly apply national legislation on the export of timber and non-timber forest products: No export of raw logs without at least first processing;
• Put in place progressive incentives for second and third local processing of wood:
  Work to establish, in consultation with industry professionals, an integrated sector ranging from timber cutting to its transformation into finished products for the local market and export;
• Prioritise the local timber industry’s products in public procurement: the State will only import products that are not manufactured or cannot be produced locally;
• Set a percentage of use of local forest materials in the realisation of public works.

An improved standardisation programme

• We will strengthen the missions of the National Agency for Standards and Quality (ANOR);
• We will set up a standardisation and participatory development programme involving national and international experts
• We will give entrepreneurs, social operators, political and even cultural as well as civil actors, various users and consumers, useful rational tools that relate to quality and standardisation in connection with their field (through training, sharing experience, plans and programme, etc.). These tools will enable them to boost their respective activities, to increase their reputation and to be more competitive not only on their market but also on the international scene.