IMF on Cameroon :Making the impossible possible? The International Monetary Fund said, that per capita real GDP and most social indicators have stagnated despite an abundant and diversified natural resource in Cameroon. The IMF said “Cameroon’s ambition to become an emerging market economy by 2035 is unlikely to be achieved without an acceleration of growth,” it said, adding that this will require addressing risks, public spending, and suppressing bottlenecks to boost the private sector. The IMF believe Cameroons economy is in stagnation despite it’s economic potential but failed to point out in it’s report- that France is responsible for the stagnation to a greater extent. It’s beggars belief to see how Cameroon can become an emerging market economy when France has ‘mortgaged’ the National oil refinery (SONARA) for 44 years with Cameroon receiving just %10 of a widow’s mite. The IMF Further said Cameroon‘s economic growth will hit 5 percent next year, up from 4.8 percent in 2013, but expansion is masking potential economic instability and the lack of reform is stifling the country’s potential, the IMF said. A modest crude producer in the Gulf of Guinea, Cameroon is also the world’s fifth largest cocoa producer and the Central African region’s bread basket, supplying food to Chad, Congo Republic, Gabon and Central African Republic. If reforms are carried out, Cameroon’s economic growth could climb to 5.5 percent in 2014 and hit 6.5 percent by 2018, but without reforms, it will hover around 5 percent in 2014 and 5.5 percent in 2018, IMF said. Among key reforms to be adopted, the IMF urged Cameroon to gradually reduce fuel subsidies and target the poor with social programs in order to free up resources for public investment. The IMF also urged the government to clear arrears with national oil refinery SONARA, where unpaid subsidies have risen to represent 3.4 percent of GDP in 2012. The debt poses a medium risk of bankruptcy for the refinery and is a threat to the country’s banking system, growth and energy supply, it added. Whilst most African countries might take the IMF report as a serious indictment on their economy, I would urge them to take it with a pinch of salt. Governments are elected base on their manifesto not by expert advice. Whilst I respect the brains behind the IMF reports, it is wrong to suggest a one size fits it all policy. The IMF either deliberately or ignorantly left out the crux of the matter in it’s report. This is no surprise having had two consecutive French suspects at the helm of it’s organisation (Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn & Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde ) who were associated with serious criminal offence. It is my opinion that, France should be kicked out of the FCFA zone with immediate effect. This would pave the way for immediate and positive effect on the economy rather than waiting by 2035 as suggested by the IMF. Africans have waited for more than 50 years to gain economic independence. How much more can they wait?
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:29:00 +0000
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