Cameroon/Economic fabric: 16.28% of new businesses turn to local processing

According to the statistical yearbook on SMEs, social economy organizations and craftsmen, recently unveiled by the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts (Minpmeesa), new SMEs have generated nearly 137,847 jobs, mainly in the primary sector (agriculture, fishing, mining), followed by the tertiary (trade, services) and secondary sectors. What about the contribution of these new companies to the import-substitution policy?

According to updated data from the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts, the fabric of the Cameroonian economy includes 393,166 SMEs, of which 19,651 were created in 2023. As for Social Economy Organizations (SOEs), 3,865 were created in the same year. These companies were created in a context marked by the implementation of the import-substitution policy, which consists of reducing imports. But what contribution are these new companies making to reducing Cameroon's dependence on imports? According to Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development (Minepat), priority is given to the primary sector (agriculture, fishing, mining), in particular the local processing of raw materials. It is urgent "to give high priority to the processing of local raw materials, in order to gain in added value and reduce imports of goods and services, while increasing the supply of exports", said the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (Minepat).supply of exports", said the member of the government when he chaired the Comité national de suivi-evaluation de la mise en œuvre de la SND-30 in September 2022.

THE GOVERNMENT FOCUSES ON LOCAL PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

In terms of the breakdown of new businesses by sector, 0.1% of SMEs are in the primary sector, 20.3% in the secondary sector and 79.6% in the tertiary sector. According to the same Minpmeesa document, only 16.28% of social economy organizations created in 2023 will be involved in processing activities, which are the mainstay of the import-substitution policy. 40.26% operate in the agricultural sector, with the livestock sector accounting for 19.18%. Fishing, microfinance and other activities not specified in the Yearbook account for 4.9%, 1.64% and 17.73% respectively.

To implement this import-substitution policy launched in January 2021, the government has adopted a strategy to strengthen local production. With this in mind, a Plan de soutien à la production et à la transformation des produits de grande consommation (riz, maïs, poisson, lait, blé, mil/soja) a été mis en œuvre en vue d'endogénéiser de l'économie nationale. In a context where, in 2023, import expenditure increased by 1.7% year-on-year, reaching 4,993 billion F CFA, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), the reduction of Cameroon's dependence on imports relies on the development of production in the priority sectors of the SND30.priority sectors of the SND30, such as forestry-wood, agro-industry and textiles/clothing/leather, as well as the development of other sectors such as energy, transport and energy efficiency.These include forestry-wood, agro-industry and textiles-confectionary-leather, as well as the development of other sectors such as energy, digital technology, mining-metallurgy-siderurgy, hydrocarbons-petrochemicals-refining, chemicals-pharmaceuticals and construction.

Source: www.newsducamer.com