IMF sees Cameroon's economy improve in 2018

 

Cameroon has, according to the IMF, witnessed a "moderate economic growth under its current economic policies" in 2013. The news was broken in Cameroon on 4 July by Finance Minister Ousmane Alamine Mey, referring to an IMF executive board meeting that was held earlier in the week in the Cote d'Ivoire capital of Abidjan.

 

The IMF forecasts that Cameroon's real GDP growth will gradually increase to reach 5.5% by 2018, and said this would be bolstered by non-oil revenue, which should be supported by expected key public investment projects and that economic recovery strengthened in 2012 with growth reaching 4.4% when compared with the 4.2% in 2011, which reflects an increase in the value of oil exports.

The board noted that, following the decline in net income, the current account deficit widened from 2.9% of GDP in 2011 to 3.7% in 2012.

 

"Although Cameroon has had robust growth in the past few years, there has been little growth in per capita income, despite a relatively diversified and well-endowed economy," it said.

While acknowledging that the banking system had stabilised, the IMF says that only two out of the five commercial banks in financial distress appear to be in the process of re-establishing their financial soundness.

 

In commending the recovery of economic activity in a low inflation environment, the IMF also cautioned the Cameroonian government to redouble its efforts on fiscal, financial and structural reforms that are necessary to meet the country's growth potential.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Cameroon, please see Cameroon Politics & Security.

© 2013 Menas Associates

US government and chocolate industry pledge $17 million to end child labour

The US government and the chocolate industry have pledged US$17 million (GH¢24.1 million) to help end child labour in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. The Labour Department pledged US$10 million (GH¢14.17 million) and chocolate industry groups pledged US$7 million (GH¢9.92 million) to build schools and help rural families escape poverty so they don't need to rely on their children's earnings.

At a signing ceremony between representatives from the two countries, industry and the US Labour Department, Senators Tom Harkin and Eliot Engel, who drew up a similar agreement with industry in 2001, said that although some progress had been made over the past ten years, much remained to be done, and the pace of change was too slow

The initiative calls for a 70 per cent reduction of internationally unacceptable child labour by 2020. According to the new plan, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire will be responsible for enforcement. The agreement doesn't provide for a certification programme to ensure consumers that their chocolate isn't produced by children.

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates