Developments in Cameroon’s social economy law and policy
Introduction
The United Nations established Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 including 17 goals and 169 targets that include, inter alia, eradication of poverty and hunger, access to clean air and water, employment, and community development. The African Union also set a roadmap made to solve socio-economic issues known as the Agenda 2063. As it is widely understood, social and economic factors, such as income, education, employment, community safety, and social supports can significantly affect how well and how long we live hence it is essential that these are provided efficiently at national, regional and international levels. For instance, employment provides income that shapes choices about housing, education, child care, food, medical care, and more. In contrast, unemployment limits these choices and the ability to accumulate savings and assets that can help cushion in times of economic distress. This states the importance of ensuring that the former is provided.
In Cameroon, a country that faces a plethora of socio-economic issues, the development of a social economy is imperative.
Socio-economic issues in Cameroon
According to the United Nations (2021), since November 2021, Cameroon is experiencing high inflation, driven mainly by shortage and increase of the price of staple goods (bread, wheat and related products, vegetable oil, and meat), which can be explained by the disruption of the global value chain due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent Ukraine-Russia war. The war in Ukraine has impeded Cameroon's economic recovery, heightening inflationary pressures and domestic structural vulnerabilities. Despite the global economic turmoil, real GDP growth is projected to reach 4.0 percent in 2022 and 4.6 percent by 2024.
Similarly UNECA (2018) is in sync with the aforementioned as it shows how economic growth in Cameroon has not translated, as in the case across the Global South, into equitable poverty reduction, largely due to spatial and social inequities, an unfavorable business environment including infrastructure lags, and weak governance. Poverty levels have stagnated around 40%, and widespread regional disparities exist with rural areas carrying the bulk of the country’s poor. Yet, Cameroon holds a strong potential to develop and build, including important natural resources to ensure inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction.
In the social context, due to Cameroon’s poverty reduction rate which is lagging behind its population growth rate, the overall number of poor increased by 12 % between 2007 and 2014, totalling 8.1 million individuals living in poverty. Poverty is concentrated in the country’s northern regions, where 56 % are the impoverished. According to the 2021 Transparency International corruption perceptions index, Cameroon ranked 144 out of 180 countries. Cameroon has suffered from weak governance, hindering its development and ability to attract investors (African Peer Review Mechanism, 2021).
Provisions in the Law/ Policies
To tackle the aforementioned issues in the social economy of Cameroon and to make sure the right institutions and enterprises are there to work and solve these issues, the government of Cameroon adopted a new framework law on 25 April 2019 known as Law N° 2019/004. The bill establishes structures and instruments as a way of promoting the development of social economy enterprises and organizations, as a means of promoting balanced and sustainable economic growth in Cameroon.
This bill is part of a larger shift whereby a number of pre-existing and new supporting initiatives have been developed. In 2004, the Cameroonian’s Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts (MINPEESA) was established as a governing organ to make sure issues of social economy are tackled and provided to the citizens, businesses inter alia. Further, in 2009 the National Development Strategy for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts (2010-2014) was launched. This Strategy had the following social economy components:
Improving knowledge on the social economy;
Adopting an appropriate regulatory framework;
Promoting collective and group entrepreneurship;
Facilitating access to finance by social economy enterprises and organizations, amongst others.
In 2018, the MINPEESA and its Department of Social Economy (DES) commissioned a study on the formulation of the National Programme for the Development of the Social Economy (PNDES). National Programme aimed at “improving the contribution of social economy organizations to the GDP, through better organization around value chains and sectors and better territorial anchoring to contribute to the local development, fight rural poverty and improve food security”.
It is important to note that, in line with the aforementioned strategy and programme, progress has been made around the regulatory framework. However, of much paramount importance is that on 25 April 2019, the Framework Law No. 2019/004 enacted to govern the social economy in Cameroon was adopted. The law defines the standards, principles and forms social economy units should follow and it also establishes structures and instruments that advance their development. To be specific, the social economy units are defined as enterprises and other organizations which meet the following criteria, irrespective of their legal forms:
primacy of individuals and social objectives over capital;
freedom of membership;
transparent, democratic and participatory governance;
collective or social utility of their project;
search for collective interest and fair distribution of surpluses: pooling of members’ resources; and
compliance with their original legal status
To effectively implement the aforementioned law, in 2020, the government of Cameroon also passed a Decree No. 2020/0001 on the structuring and functioning of the network of social economy units that had been published. The government has also gained support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) including technical support for the implementation of the Framework Law and the PNDES in collaboration with MINPEESA.
Closing notes
The government of Cameroon has taken an encouraging step in enacting laws and policies to tackle the social and economic issues of the country. These strategies if effectively implemented could potentially tackle some of the key structural issues the country faces. Through implementing the provisions of the strategies, and tackling the aforementioned challenges, the government of Cameroon needs to stimulate both private and public sector-led growth, which will require an improved business environment and sector governance, lower cost of inputs (e.g. energy, transport, telecoms) and a better educated workforce. A major effort to improve infrastructure is also required. It will also be key to maximize the benefits of the infrastructure effort through relevant sector reforms. Specific poverty reduction efforts should be undertaken to address the multiple poverty traps affecting the country. Some of the efforts should target essential areas like increasing agriculture yields and production; providing greater access to basic infrastructure and improving education and health outcomes. Finally, Cameroon, like many low and middle income peers, has the necessary texts and policies to, in theory, tackle these challenges. However, due to a wekened policy process, polictical failures, lack of coordination, and unstructured implementation and evaluation plans, the impact of these bills and policies remain elusive.
Sources:
https://www.prc.cm/en/multimedia/documents/7473-law-n-2019-004-du-25-04
https://www.prc.cm/en/multimedia/documents/7473-law-n-2019-004-du-25-04