Capitalising on market opening
The Cameroon Government plans to increase domestic revenue and gradually conquer foreign markets. It also plans to boost job creation and economic growth. As a strategic partner, the European Union (EU) has committed to partnering with Cameroon and other countries in this endeavour. In 2017, it set up the European Union's External Investment Plan (EIP) for the Central Africa sub-region.
The new instrument was launched on February 22 at the PROMOTE Trade Fair in Yaounde. During the launch, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT), M. Alamine Ousmane Mey, explained that the EIP, which aims to stimulate investment in EU partner countries, has been developed as a response to the decline in foreign direct investments and various private financial flows in developing countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa.
In practical terms, the instrument helps in mobilising public and private investments to boost economic and social development through job creation. "For the government, the implementation of the EIP is very timely. It spurs countries to strengthen the competitiveness of their national economies whose pillars are built, inter alia, on the Industrialisation Master Plan (IMP) and the National Agricultural Investment Programme (NAIP) ", MINEPAT said. The master plan is based on three thrusts: financing, expertise (technical assistance aimed at enabling investors and businesses to develop "bankable" projects), dialogue and the improvement of the business climate. In June and November 2018, the IEP Operational Council evaluated the guarantees of the plan, which should make it possible to mobilise about 17.5 billion euros (more than 11,475 billion CFA francs of investment in the partner countries. Investors, projects promoters wishing to participate in the investments facilitated by the guarantees provided by the EIP can contact the concerned financial institutions namely AFDB, EBRD ... or fill out the form available on the EIP website.
(Source: culled from Cameroon Business Today No. 096 February-March 2019)