CCOP / CAC
Goal & Strategy
The Cameroon Contract Organization Project / Contract Award Committee's strategy is based on three guiding principles:
(a) Encouraging economic growth initiatives in Cameroon
(b) Sharing knowledge and fostering learning amongst Cameroonian experts
(c) Promoting sustainable development in Cameroon
This strategy is a framework for future action that supports Cameroon's
future economic prosperity and long-term fiscal competitiveness. It is
not a workplan given that it does not assign specific tasks to specific
organisations. Rather, it proposes strategic directions on which all
stakeholders could focus their attention and energies with a view to
achieving the best possible results.
Goal and Strategic Directions
The principal goal of the Economic Development Strategy is to encourage
initiatives which are likely to improve the economic propspects of the
country and the quality of life of all Cameroonians through economic
growth that leads to more jobs. It also intends to promote projects
that are capable of generating wealth and investments across the
country, and to help ensure Cameroon's long-term fiscal sustainability.
In short, the goals of the CCOP / CAC are to:
• Encourage Investment in Cameroon by raising the profile of Cameroon
as a business location of choice and to boost confidence in the country
through aggressive marketing of its natural assets.
• Highlight the quality of its relatively skilled labor force and its
ever-improving communications network coupled with the country’s
popularity as an attractive peaceful and stable environment. The CCOP /
CAC offers first class information, advice and support services to
potential investors regarding the investment and business potential of
the country.
Support business development by providing information for the
improvement of competitiveness and efficiency, promote the growth of
existing companies and the creation of new firms to provide quality
employment opportunities for the people of Cameroon.
• Enable local people to achieve their full potential by improving upon
their skills and education, provide information that can help them
achieve their dreams, and work towards raising their aspirations and
determination. CCOP / CAC also seeks to enhance the employability of
Cameroonians living abroad and who sincerely want to relocate to their
fatherland with a view to participating in the development efforts of
the country.
What is being Recommended?
The strategy is organised toward advancing a defined set of strategic
directions and associated action areas. The strategy thus suggests
priority actions within the following action areas -
(i) People: People Power the Knowledge Economy, Developing Knowledge and Skills, Advancing Design and Innovation.
(ii) Basic, Technical and Professional Development: Small and Medium
Sized Business Skills Development, Technology/Knowledge Transfer,
Leading by Example, Embracing Arts and Culture, Architecture, Urban
Design.
(iii) Place: Quality of Place Attracts People and Investment, Improving Business Climate, Stimulating Investment.
(iv) Tax Policy: Business Costs, Incentives, Infrastructure.
(v) Prosperity: Export and Local Economic Growth is Essential For Long-Term Prosperity, Export Activity.
(vi) Tell the World What a Really Great country Cameroon Is: Branding
Cameroon in Africa and Globally, Tourism and Special Events
(vii) Partnership: Mobilizing Resources Through Partnerships, Creating and Alignment of Strategic Intent.
Key Messages
Think differently about competitiveness and Cameroon's new role in
Africa and the global marketplace. Cameroon is at a critical juncture.
There is an urgent need to reinvest in the country in order to ensure
sustained economic growth. Failure to recognise the changing economy
and to improve Cameroon's global competitive position by building on
our unique attributes will negatively impact economic growth and
development in Cameroon.
Encourage effort for the upgrading the skills of the Cameroonian
youths. People power the knowledge economy. Today, economic growth is
driven by knowledge, skills, innovation and entrepreneurship. At the
source of all of these attributes are people. The CCOP / CAC strategy
recognises people as the primary focus for economic growth. The
strategy expands the traditional economic development focus, to include
new approaches to producing, preparing, retraining and attracting a
labour force with the skills necessary for success in the knowledge
economy.
Encourage effort to add value through innovation and design. In
advanced economies, the generation of new ideas and the translation of
those ideas into innovative products and services of superior quality
are the primary way economic value is added. Adding value to products
and improving the efficiency of production processes through the use of
advanced design and new technologies, whether in manufacturing or
services presents tremendous potential for Cameroon.
Innovation stems from creativity; creativity in turn stems from the
vibrant and diverse culture great societies foster. The strategy
strengthens and builds on the rich diversity of creative talent and
cultural expression within Cameroon's arts and culture community.
Places that celebrate creativity and innovation in many fields will
succeed in retaining and attracting knowledge workers.
Encourage effort to raise Cameroon's quality as a business investment
place. Quality of Place attracts investment. People power the knowledge
economy and 'quality of place' is a critical factor in determining
where people, particularly knowledge workers, choose to locate and
invest. While Cameroon has a long established and well earned
reputation as 'the land of peace' - we cannot rest on our laurels.
Cameroon must invest in and improve the quality of its built and
natural environment, in order to be on an equal footing with other
countries in the developing world that are the focus of massive
reinvestment efforts by their governments. The quality of our
neighbourhoods, schools, museums, zoos and urban design as well as our
roads, streets, sidewalks and public transit have a direct impact on
our quality of life and therefore on our competitiveness. The strategy
views the substantial physical infrastructure, as strategic assets that
can be leveraged to support economic growth and provide a competitive
advantage.
Encourage effort to attain Cameroon's fiscal sustainability. Ensuring
the ongoing fiscal sustainability of Cameroon is critical to
competitiveness, economic growth, and enhancing our quality of life.
Building a great nation requires resources. Cameroon faces a number of
fiscal challenges, which impact the Country's ability to attract
investment necessary to fuel a strong economy. Increased municipal
responsibilities, growing demands on municipal coffers, heightened
competition from other developing countries - all point to the need to
develop and implement long-term revenue generation and expenditure
plans.
Encourage effort for stimulating industrial and commercial expansion
which is essential to ensuring the Cameroon's long term fiscal
sustainability. The strategy calls for effort that seeks to improve the
climate for business investment. Senior levels of government must
cooperate to provide additional stable funding, authorize new tools and
new sources of revenue, and develop long-term funding programs to deal
effectively with the new set of realities Cameroon faces.
Encourage effort for sustaining a vital cycle of economic growth and
prosperity requires competitive export zones in the country and strong
provincial economy. While export zones bring new wealth into the
region, local businesses create the vast majority of jobs. The quality,
diversity and vitality of local businesses, therefore, are key to the
Cameroon's overall economic and social well being.
Common economic foundations (human resources, research and development,
financial capital, physical infrastructure, business climate and
quality of life) support both the export (traded) and local
(non-traded) sectors of the economy. The strategy focuses on calling
for increased attention on the key role played by export-oriented
industry in a manner that support local businesses and strengthen the
Cameroon's economic foundations to build a vital cycle of economic
growth.
Tell the world what a really great country Cameroon is! Cameroon needs
to actively promote and 'brand' itself both in Africa and around the
world as a vital, globally connected land with investment
opportunities. A concerted effort is needed to increase and enhance
leisure tourism. In addition to elevating the image of the country to
support industrial investments, leisure and eco-tourists may also
discover investment opportunities here.
Mobilize our collective resources through partnerships. A big part of
the challenge of the CCOP/CAC strategy is to make better use of the
considerable resources that exist in the country. This means calling
for the government and public agencies, the private and volunteer
sectors and labour interests to create "an alignment of strategic
intent" and forge new partnerships to implement this vision.
The CCOP / CAC motto is: "We can take risks or be at risk". The
greatest risk to our future is to do nothing. Evidence of what happens
to places who do not invest in their quality of life is clear, a
downward spiral of disinvestment, that ultimately degrades the
performance of the country. The CCOP / CAC marches forward via
communicating the strategic directions and action areas in this
strategy to the diaspora community, Cameroon government partners and
international development agencies. This dialogue is critical - to
spark new ideas, coalesce new partnerships and commit the collective
energy and resources required to achieve that which we envision for our
country.