Examination of the obstacles that can hinder Cameroon from achieving growth sustainability: Illustration With specific examples from different regions
Freddy Rolland TANGUEP
ICT Manager at ICRC-International Committee of the Red Cross of Geneva | Ph.D. Candidate | Telecom Engineer | international MBA | 10+ Years in Telecom & ICT industry | ICT Trainer | Author & Writer
Introduction
One of the definitions given in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development of the United Nations, called the Brundtland report, where this expression of sustainable development appeared for the first time in 1987, sustainable development is simply defined as "development" which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Having said this definition, it comes back to our mind to ask ourselves the question of: what can prevent the achievement of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. Better, what about African countries and in particular the case of Cameroon?
In trying to understand the root causes that could prevent the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, it turns out that the main thing would be summed up by studying the obstacles to sustainable development. In this sense, it appears that, the brakes on SD (sustainable development) are, depending on the case, often of a sociological, psychological, psychosociological, anthropological, economic, political (Governance), colonial or neocolonial nature ...
Thus, after a brief presentation of Cameroon (Its level of development) according to some key statistical elements; we will use these different brakes or obstacles mentioned above that we will categorize into three main groups, namely, external brakes or obstacles (external policy or external fact acting on the internal life of the country: colonial heritage and neocolonialism; pacts, agreements, conventions and others arrangement of all kinds with outside and international institutions…); internal obstacles (internal politics: bad governance, corruption, the distribution of powers in the management of state affairs, socio-political stability of the country or wars; anthropological values of the country: customs and traditions, religious beliefs…); and natural brakes (natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, etc.), to highlight the obstacles with typical examples taken geographically according to regions of Cameroon capable of preventing Cameroon from achieving its SD objectives.
1-) Brief presentation of the level of development of Cameroon
We cannot engage in the examination of elements that could constitute a brake or that could prevent Cameroon from achieving its SD objectives without first having made an inventory of the situation of Cameroon in terms of development. Thus said, Cameroon is a French & English-speaking African country which is currently, according to the constitutional provisions in force since January 18, 1996, a secular, democratic and social republic (Republic of Cameroon) which sees itself as "a decentralized unitary state”. Cameroon covers an area of 475,650 km2 populated by a population of approximately 22 million inhabitants of which 70% speak French and approximately 30% English. The human development index is approximately 0.495 and the GDP by inhabitant is valued at US $ 1,180. To go further, we also note indicators of key developments such as the incidence of poverty which is 39.9%; the primary school enrollment rate which is 82.6 %; the literacy rate for people aged from 15 to 49 which is very low and around 4.3%; the HIV prevalence rate in the population aged from 15 to 49 which is about 8%; the proportion of population with access to potable drinking water varying around 59.8% to cite only these criteria.
2-) Probable impacts of external factors as the failure to reach SD objectives for Cameroon
The first of the 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs) defined by the United Nations organization being "No Poverty: Eradicate poverty in all its forms and everywhere in the world", one of the best ways to achieve this for a country or a state like Cameroon is to do it through major projects, structuring and future projects that take into account all the fundamental definitions even of sustainable development, that is to say large-scale projects that generate much jobs, well-being, profits and lasting over time and for future generations. An analysis of how such projects are managed by Cameroon (Construction of big infrastructures like highways, stadiums, sanitary structures, hydroelectric energy production dams, etc.), it emerges that the ins and outs of such projects depend enormously on external elements to Cameroon regardless of the region or some internal geographic locations such as:
Ø The FCFA is an obstacle to sustainable development in Africa and Cameroon: Given that all major projects, structuring projects and even carriers of sustainable development require funding, the definition and the economic constraints imposed by the CFA franc are themselves constitutes a real obstacle to sustainable development. These include:
· From the fixed parity of the CFA franc with the Euro and moreover, the countries of the franc zone have the obligation to deposit 50% of their foreign exchange reserves in the French Treasury.
· Credit policy linked to the CFA franc: We are aware that the currency must be at the service of the growth and development of a country. For this, credits are needed to support structuring projects and thus drive growth and development whether it is sustainable development or not. However, the credit that the franc zone countries can benefit is about 23% related to their economy GDP ratio, when it is over 100% in the Euro area. So much that, it is almost impossible for our countries to catch up with the emerging economies if the CFA franc remains pegged to the Euro.
Ø The contribution to financing: to reach the SDGs in Cameroon we must necessarily go through big projects that require huge funding, and most of the time for projects like hydroelectric dams, highways, bridges, ports, drinking water supply projects and many others, the funding for most of the time comes from international bodies such as the European Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others. These contributions to financing are made by debts which for the most part plunge the country into a future deficiency in currency for future generations. That is to say, this funding for our projects, puts a debt on the back of our future generations a heavy burden which is in real contradiction with the principle of sustainable development ...
Ø Technical and technological expertise: The threshold for human development in African countries being very low, it goes without saying with technical expertise in all areas and in general; all major projects requiring specialized technical expertise are conditioned by the external contribution in terms of human capital and skills, which is also an obstacle to achieving the SDGs for African countries as a whole.
Apart from these few exogenous factors that we have just gone through, what could be the obstacles that could prevent Cameroon from waiting for its Sustainable Development objectives?
3-) Internal factors that can have an impact in the failure to reach SD objectives for Cameroon
Ø Internal policy:
· Poor governance and corruption: During the 12th edition of the African Economic Conference (AEC) in December 2017, the participants discussed at length, the fact that poor governance harms the structural transformation of African economies, and Cameroon does not escape the rule.
· In addition to poor governance, there is corruption: An African Union report indicates that corruption costs the African continent nearly 150 billion dollars a year, the African Development Bank stresses that this scourge leads to the loss of around 50% of tax revenue, a figure higher than the total external debt of certain countries. Taking the case of Cameroon, daily examples of bad governance and corruption are blatant and legion, we have witnessing acts of corruption that already become as a normal formula. For example: for any public mash happening in the local councils, it has become a normal thing to cede from 5 to 10% of the total amount of the said market to the mayors (Simple calculation of losses, while we know that Cameroon has about 360 municipalities). In recent decades, Cameroon has witnessed staggering diversions of funds (hundreds of billions) intended for sustainable development projects.
In his Book titled ‘’LA CORRUPTION: UN FREIN AU DÉVELOPPEMENT DURABLE’’, Giresse Akono Gantsui clearly emphasizes that, if corruption pervades all spheres of Cameroonian society, there is one area of which it particularly hinders expansion: sustainable development. Whether it is the fight against global warming or access to water for all, the gap between human needs and terrestrial resources is constantly widening because of this corruption.
Until the end of 2018, Cameroon has about 21 former Ministers, Directors and senior government officials imprisoned for embezzlement of public funds and other funds allocated to structuring & sustainable projects, a figure that is cold on your back and chock any normal human bean.
Ø The distribution of powers in the management of state affairs: according to the constitution, the laws & texts in force in Cameroon, there is a separation of powers at the level of the top of the state; better, the country is governed by the principle of decentralization in all spheres of government. But in reality, especially with regard to the management of projects that can bring long-term well-being and support sustainable development, everything is still centralized enough and even so the project before reaching the implementation phase has already fail because of chain embezzlements from top to down, this state of affairs causes an enormous loss of funds.
Ø Socio-political stability of the country or wars: The SDGs such as the eradication of poverty, the elimination of hunger, health and well-being, quality education, downhill work and many others, has been seriously undermined in Cameroon since 2013 in the far north of Cameroon with the asymmetrical war against the Islamic sect Boko Haram and since 2016 with the anglophone crisis. The damage is enormous and the obstacles to sustainable development are invaluable.
Between 2012 and 2016, one of the main conclusions of a report by the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (Minepia) highlight that, Boko Haram caused the livestock and fisheries sector to lose nearly 90 billion FCfA: In detail, we learned that, losses due to the fall in the commercial value of animals represent 82% of total losses in the livestock sector against 15.5% for losses due to theft, abduction, slaughter of animals and only 2.5% for losses due to animal diseases. As of August 2018, a report by the International crisis group (ICG) reports the loan of 80 attacks and kidnappings in 2017, and 90 planned suicide attacks (51 of which have been thwarted or failed).
With regard to the anglophone crisis in north-west and south-west Cameroon, overall, we note the complete cessation and slowing down of all economic activities, the destruction and burning of schools, the ban on going to school, fires of large structures and strategic companies in sustainable development such as SONARA (National Refining Company) and CDC (Cameroon Development Corporation) to name a few. In fact, the Inter-employer Group of Cameroon (Gicam) in July 2018 relays through the newspaper ‘’Le jour’’ N°3072 that the security crisis in north-west and south-west Cameroon is estimated at more than 02 billion FCFA with its corollaries that are the "dead cities" or ghost-town, insecurity, destruction of property and much still other damage; for taxes, fees and miscellaneous taxes, the losses are estimated at 8.5 billion CFAF; with regard to the direct losses linked to the companies, GICAM figures them at 40 billion FCFA as of September 30, 2019. To conclude, the cost of reconstruction after the anglophone crisis could be around 500 billion FCFA thus constituting a real brake to any development project in this part of the country which so far has not yet regained its socio-political stability of previous years.
Ø From the anthropological heritage:
Uses, customs and traditions: For one of the major SDGs that is good health and well-being, in the context of the fight against malaria, one of the diseases which alone made up between 35 to 40% of the total death in health facilities: 50% morbidity in children under 5, 40 to 45% of medical consultations and 30% of hospitalizations and; is the cause of 26% of absences from work and 40% of household health expenditure (Youmba and Barrere, 2009: 165). The anthropological effects and especially the habits and customs have played a retrograde role in the case of Cameroon where the local populations are refractory to the measures and protocols recommended by the WHO or adapted by the ministry of health to fight against this disease. In the West region and more particularly in the bandjoun area and its surroundings, malaria is called ''fippa'' for fever and is treated in 80% of cases with natural antipyretics, such as herbal teas and infusions of lemongrass or papaya leaves (unless the patient enters a serious condition that he is taken to the hospital; thus increasing the mortality rate). This practice is also recognized in almost all regions of Cameroon as among the pygmies of East Cameroon, the Northerners of Mindif or even the Bamenda of the North-West and so on. Prevention is therefore mainly ensured by avoiding prohibitions and respecting (ancestral practices). By respecting these prevention rules, you protect yourself from (defilement), which allows you to increase your own strength and helps not to get sick. Thus, as illness generally expresses the rape of a prohibition, respect for traditions is in itself a guarantee against illness, which is not only a physical dysfunction, but the sign of social disorder (Tinta, 1993: 217). Everything that has nothing to do with conventional medicine.
Ø Beliefs, religion and spirituality: In Cameroon, beliefs touch all areas of daily life, be it school, health, politics and others.
· When talking of health: the fight against one of the pandemics of the century I named HIV AIDS which is a priority in the achievement of the SDGs in Cameroon encountered the major obstacle of beliefs and religions or spirituality. In all regions of Cameroon, the religious beliefs of flagship religions such as Islam and Christianity which fundamentally prohibit contraceptive methods (preventive and emergency) such as the use of condoms and abortions, have a significant impact on the brakes on the decline of this disease in populations.
· Besides that, we also have homophobia: In Cameroon, where having sex with a person of the same sex is a crime under the law, homophobia is a brake in the fight against HIV which yet havoc. At least 37% of men who have sex with men are HIV positive in Cameroon, according to a 2016 survey by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Ø Natural factors:
· Natural disasters: In all regions of Cameroon for decades, there have been natural disasters that have an impact on the direct lives of populations, the structuring projects outstanding and much more. We will highlight obvious cases such as the eruption of Mount Cameroon in 1999 and the consequent collapse to the volcano-tectonic activity of Mount Cameroon in 2000; the catastrophic flood of February 2000 in the middle of the central post roundabout in the heart of the political capital of Cameroon, one of the many landslides and catastrophic mudflows of 20 July 2003 in Magha (Far North), in the Caldera of Bamboutos Mountains (West Cameroon), or the last case in Bafoussam on the night of October 28 to 29, 2019, a deadly landslide for local populations.
· Epidemics and pandemics: the most obvious case is Cdvid-19 which imposed a significant brake on all the SDGs in Cameroon, school, health, jobs, poverty…
Conclusion
As we have just seen, the 17 global SDGs in their implementation in Cameroon are blocked, or will fail because of several factors as much human, natural, ideological, anthropological and so on. But far from it, how can we overcome these obstacles so as not to fail in achieving our sustainable development objectives?
References
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