Transcript creating decent jobs for cameroon`s fast growing youthful population

CREATING DECENT JOBS FOR
CAMEROON’S FAST GROWING
YOUTHFUL POPULATION
Uwem Essia
Regional Director
Pan African Institute for Development – West Africa (PAID-WA)
Buea
Cameroon’s Excellent Investments potentials
• An ambitious but realizable Cameroon Vision 2035.
• Abundant mineral and agricultural resources.
• A peaceful and happy population.
• A stable macroeconomic environment - inflation rate below 3%.
• A thriving middle class of consumers.
• A gradually growing democracy and free Press.
• Diverse ecological and climatic conditions.
• Vast agricultural and mineral resource potentials.
• Enormous cross-border trade potentials:
• Close neighbor to Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria;
• Leading CEMAC country; Cameroon feeds nearly all its neighbors.
• A strong culture of civil obedience, especially with paying taxes.
Cameroon’s Excellent Investments potentials ..1
• Cameroon’s Country Strategy for 2015-2020 aims to:
• Strengthen infrastructure for inclusive and sustainable growth;
• And, build sector governance for effective and sustainable
investments.
• A long history of price control.
• Minimal inter-communal conflicts and civil disturbances.
• Regime longevity is an opportunity for sound long term planning.
• Arable land under-cultivated – extensive rather than agricultural
intensification practices.
• Focus on a few traditional export crops like cocoa, cotton and coffee that
the people consume little.
• High consumer goods’ import – the paradox of producing what is
consumed little, and consuming what is produced little.
Cameroon’s Excellent Investments potentials ..2
• Weak market-making mechanisms, leading to low off-farm prices and rural
poverty.
• Low value-addition from processing; e.g., fruit concentrates’ imports, even with
high seasonal fruit yields!
• More neglected traditional plant species, and undomesticated ‘bush meat’.
• Commercial propagation of neglected plant species and ‘bush meat’ will create
new jobs and new paths for startups.
• Predominant focus on the traditional crops’ and mineral resources’ exports:
• leaves the economy at the mercy of market forces.
• Increases the addiction of dietary habits to imports.
• Makes hi-tech learning difficult, as the makeup of imported goods changes at
a fast rate due to technological change.
• The educational system is weak in practical content and cognitive learning, and
mis-match of acquired and required skills is high.
Cameroon’s Excellent Investments potentials ..3
• Cross-border trade prospects with Nigeria is poorly utilized due to CEMAC rules
(Nigeria is in ECOWAS).
• But, by its geographical location and political history, Cameroon can duly belong
to CEMAC and ECOWAS, and profit from both sides.
• However, sound market making with guaranteed off-farm prices will incentivize
the farmers to produce more.
• Giving the most vulnerable farmers incentives is critical for the eradication of
rural poverty.
• Cutting taxes and sundry regulatory requirements will ease doing business.
• Deliberately growing the population’s purchasing power will expand the domestic
market and attract more investors.
• Equally, speeding up decentralization will further democratize development.
• Economic democracy should be separated from political democracy, and
prioritized to speed up development.
Cameroon’s Development Challenges
Cameroon’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) notes that:
• Income gap is widening and many live below the poverty line.
• A weak private sector with few competitive indigenous firms.
• The economy’s ‘commanding height’ is controlled by expatriate firms.
Additionally,
• Infrastructural development, especially roads and rails, is slow, despite steady
toll charges.
• The country’s wealth is mainly in the hands of top government functionaries
who tend to invest so little.
• Huge resources leak out through the importation of used goods.
• Technical skills’ deficiency has remained high.
• Allegorically, Cameroon is a sleeping lion whose prey prowls around ready to
be consumed.
Cameroon’s Development Challenges .. 1
African Development Bank notes that:
• Africa’s (Cameroon’s) vast potential is constrained by:
• Poor produce quality;
• Inadequate infrastructure;
• Weak market making and price uncertainties;
• And, poor financing.
• Potential investors are inhibited by high taxes, nuisance levies
and excessive documentation requirements.
• Investment promotion is inhibited by weak capacity for
implementing reforms.
Cameroon’s Development Challenges .. 2
World Bank Group – Doing Business in Cameroon
• Cameroon’s overall ranking dropped by 4 points from 168th in 2015 to
172nd in 2016.
• Starting business, getting electricity, and obtaining credit deteriorated
significant from 2015 to 2016.
• Paying taxes and trading across borders remained the same, while
resolving insolvency improved by just 1 point.
• It notes that Doing business in Cameroon is constrained by:
• Misapplication of resources;
• High lending and charges rates;
• Poor infrastructures;
• And, inefficient government bureaucracy.
Doing Business in Cameroon Indicators 2015 and 2016 (Out of 189 economies)
Indicators
DB 2016 Ranking
DB 2015 Ranking
Overall Ranking
172
168
Starting a Business
137
134
Dealing with Permits
159
158
Getting Electricity
113
110
Registering Property
175
173
Getting Credit
126
118
Protecting Investors
134
133
Paying Taxes
180
180
Trading Across Borders 185
185
Resolving Insolvency 118
119
Source: Ease of Doing Business in Cameroon (2016), World Bank Group
Change in Rank
-4
-3
-1
-3
-2
-8
-1
No change
No change
+1
Cameroon’s Development Challenges .. 3
Global Competitive Index – World Economic Forum
• The overall competitiveness index improved marginally by 2 points from 116
to 114, without any change in the score.
• Sub Index C: Innovation and Sophistication improved significantly in ranking
by 9 points, and 0.1 point by score.
• Sub-index A: Basic Requirements improved from 116th to 113th from 2015 to
2016.
• Pillar 4: Health and Primary Education had an improvement of 2 points and
5 points in score and ranking respectively.
• Pillar 8: Financial Market Development improved in ranking by 10 points.
• Pillar 10: Market Size improved by 0.1 points and 4 points by score and
ranking, respectively.
Global Competitiveness Indicators (World Economic Forum) 2014 – 2016
Indicators
GCI Ranking 2015 -2016
Rank
Score
114
3.7
113
3.8
93
3.6
125
2.4
90
4.4
GCI Ranking 2014 -2015
Rank
Score
116
3.7
116
3.8
91
3.5
126
2.5
Competitiveness Index
Sub index A: Basic requirements
Ist Pillar: Institutions
2nd Pillar: Infrastructures
3rd Pillar: Macroeconomic
90
4.4
environment
4th Pillar: Health and primary
107
4.9
112
4.7
education
Sub index B: Efficiency Enhancers
113
3.5
113
3.5
5th Pillar: Higher education and
114
3.2
117
3.2
training
6th Pillar: Goods market efficiency
113
4.0
113
4.0
7th Pillar: Labor market efficiency
79
4.1
81
4.1
8th Pillar: Financial market
98
3.5
108
3.5
development
9th Pillar: Technological readiness
122
2.7
120
2.8
10th Pillar: Market Size
87
3.4
91
3.3
Sub Index C: Innovation and
93
3.4
84
3.5
sophistication
11th Pillar: Business sophistication
103
3.6
98
37
12th Pillar: Innovation
79
3.2
71
3.3
Source: Global Competitiveness Index Reports (2014 – 2016) World Economic Forum
Change in Rank
Rank
Score
+2
+3
-2
+0.1
+1
-0.1
+5
+0.2
+3
-
+2
+10
-
-2
+4
+9
-0.1
+0.1
-0.1
-5
-8
-0.1
-0.1
Cameroon’s Development Challenges ..4
Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP) seeks to address
unemployment in Cameroon in three perspectives:
• Increasing decent employment opportunities;
• Satisfying the demand for employment;
• And, improving market efficiency.
The GESP notes that:
• Government’s capacity to employ is limited.
• VSEs and SMEs have the capacity to create new jobs.
• Youths can be supported to startup new businesses.
• Government will focus particularly on the rural sector, handicrafts and
services;
• And, appropriate incentives, and optimizing entrepreneurship and
vocational training system.
Cameroon’s Development Challenges … 5
The GESP (2010/2020) emphasizes the importance of:
• Adopting flexible tax regulations;
• Streamlining administrative registration;
• Social security;
• Training on basic business management and accounting for Very Small
Enterprises (VSEs);
• And, providing VSEs funding assistantships.
The GESP (2010/2020) notes also that:
• 41% of households are headed by workers, 29.9% by non-workers and
11.9% by applicants;
• Households headed by workers are more poverty-stricken since 43.1%
of workers were considered poor;
• And, poverty is more prevalent in the rural than in the urban areas.
Cameroon’s Development Challenges … 6
GESP (2010/2020)
• 56.9% of informal agricultural workers are poor.
• However, the largely unexplored informal economy makes it difficult
to assess it performance.
• The population in the age brackets 15 -35 years increased
significantly in recent years.
• Urban youth unemployment was estimated at 20%, while rural
unemployment was 5%.
• Urban unemployment was fueled by rural-urban drift, and the
restructuring of modern sector jobs.
• Promoting business startup is key for creating new jobs.
Youth Unemployment in Cameroon
• ILO defines the unemployed as an economically active population
without job but available for and seeking to work.
• People who have lost their jobs or have voluntarily left work.
• The "youth" is defined as people in the age brackets 15-24 years;
• Youth include those schooling and school leavers;
• The age brackets for youths changes from country to country due to
differences in school leaving age.
• Access to good-paying jobs are unequal for women and youths from poor
homes.
• Globally, 75million youths are looking for jobs.
• 26million youths have No Education, Employment or Training (NEETs).
• Globally, Africa has the most youthful population.
Youth Unemployment in Cameroon …1
• About 85% of youths in developing countries search for jobs in cities.
• More than 70% of city inhabitants are aged below 30 years.
• 65% of the total population are aged 35 years and below.
• Many youths are unemployment due to poor transition in the labour market –
• More employers now prefer less educated but skilled workers, leading to
certificate inflation.
• More new jobs are created in the lowest (menial services) cadre and in the hitech cadre.
• More employers now prefer casual workers.
• Machines and IT systems have displaced a large number of workers.
• Growing possibilities for multiple jobs have reduced employment prospects
for new school leavers.
• 55% of crime and moral decadence are unemployment related.
Youth Unemployment in Cameroon …2
• According to ILO, in 2013 unemployment and underemployment rates
in Cameroon were 30% and 75% respectively.
• Government, the highest formal employer, employs barely 2% of the
labour force.
• 40 percent of the population was aged below 15 years, and two thirds
under 30 years.
• Average age of the country's population was 22 years.
• 'Youth' is considered as those in the age brackets 15-35 years.
• Youth-run enterprises (YREs) are considered as necessary agents of
development.
• YREs can link young entrepreneurs to larger organizations through subcontracting, franchising, and so on.
Youth Unemployment in Cameroon …3
• Youths have the benefit of enormous physical and mental energies,
and resilience.
• Youths can learn and innovate faster, and adapt to changes more easily
and quickly.
• Youths are potentially more responsive to changing economic
opportunities and trends.
• What the youths in Cameroon need most is extensive re-orientation
and support to compete in the global markets.
• The choice should not be between seeking either horizontal or vertical
education but striving for both, simultaneously.
Job Creation Initiatives in Cameroon
• Integrated Support Project for Actors in the Informal Sector,
popularly known by the French acronym (PIAASI).
• National Employment Fund (NEF).
• Rural and Urban Youth Support Program (PAJER-U).
• Youth Socio-Economic Integrated Project for the Manufacturing of
Sporting Materials (PIFMAS).
• The success of these programs can be improved further by:
• Strong political will and policy consistency.
• Regular and adequate funding.
• Favorable business environment.
• Targeting the appropriate population.
Job Creation Initiatives in Cameroon .. 1
• The Cameroon National Youth Council (CNYC) was established in 2009 as a
platform for youth groups’ – government dialogue.
• The National Civic Agency for Participation in Development (ASCNPD) was
created in 2012.
• ASCNPD aims to empower youths through training and micro grants to start
small ventures.
• Many complain that the selection process for ASCNPD has not been
inclusive.
• The implementation success for ASCNPD has been far below expectation.
• A compulsory National Youth Scheme (NYS), similar to Nigeria’s National
Youth Service Corp is needful in Cameroon.
• Cameroon’s NYS can focus primarily on preparing higher education
graduates for skilled jobs and startups.
Job Creation Initiatives in Cameroon .. 2
The proposed CNYS should in a period of one year strive to:
• Promote re-orientation towards innovativeness and self-employment.
• Instill a value system that venerates truth, honest services and patriotism.
• Achieve the military-type reskilling of the graduates to ‘think’, ‘learn’, ‘do’, ‘manage’,
and ‘sell’ at the same time.
• Equip the youths with basic military and self-defense skills.
• Expose the youths to the basic skill they require to compete globally.
• Ensure that they are able to start and run business, either individually or in groups.
• Decree 2005/151 of May 4 2005 was enacted to organize the Ministry of
Youth and prioritize the affairs of youths.
• In 1990, government created the National Employment Fund (FNE) for the
promotion of employment.
Job Creation Initiatives in Cameroon .. 3
• The National Youth Policy (NYP) of Cameroon identifies the leading causes of
youth unemployment as:
• the mismatch of training and employment;
• discrimination in the labor market;
• weak capacity for startups;
• Inaccessible and non-affordable key production inputs, particularly, land,
credit and information on innovations.
• The NYP admits that fewer youths are able to secure decent jobs.
• Therefore, the NYP endorses all the strategies developed to promote the welfare
of Cameroonians.
• NYP defines youths as persons whose age is between 15 and 35 years.
• The NYP envisions by 2020, the full development of young people by:
• creating conditions favorable to their welfare;
• ensuring their socio-economic integration for increased participation;
Job Creation Initiatives in Cameroon … 4
• And, growing the commitment of youths to sustainable
development of the nation.
• Additionally, the Government of Cameroon:
• Ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993:
• Signed the African Charter on the Rights and Well-being of the Child
in 1997;
• Participated in the 57th Special Session of the UN General Assembly
on Children in 2002;
• Joined the Global Summit Action Plan for Children of 1990.
• Ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1994.
• Success with implementing the NYP and other programs requires
effective CSOs-public -private sector partnership (CPPP).
New Jobs in Today’s Knowledge Societies
• Well paying jobs have become highly competitive and dynamic.
• The gap between the workplace, playground and home is closing at a fast
rate.
• With a smart phone, you can play, chat and plan household choirs while at
work.
• Combining work and play in an increasingly complex world, requires both
horizontal and vertical learning.
• Hence, the modern sector requires teachable, pliable, handy and adaptable
employees.
• Equally, startups require versatility and broad knowing that is beyond the
normal outcome of classical schooling.
• It is no longer just enough to go to school, ability to think outside the box is
important.
New Jobs in Today’s Knowledge Societies .. 1
• The knowledge society is changing almost at the speed of light.
• Incidentally, the reform of higher education in many poor countries has
been much slower.
• More employers are compelled retrain new employees no matter the
high grades earned in school.
• Consequently, entrepreneurship and other cognitive skills and
knowledge should be mainstreamed in the school curriculum.
• Indeed, enterprise culturing should start from crèche, to ensure that
the child grows up with it.
• A good knowledge of how the global economy works is important.
• It is also needful to make startup facilitation an essential soft
infrastructure of the higher education system.
New Jobs in Today’s Knowledge Societies .. 2
• The final long essay, theses or dissertation should be prepared along
with an implementable business proposal.
• Higher education institutions should have one-stop-shops to ease
registration, taxation, and other approval requirements.
• The small and medium enterprise bank should harvest and support
business ideas during theses defense.
• The young graduate will become more competitive when such
assistantships are provided right from the school.
• Entrepreneurship should be an essential element of education at all
levels.
• The education system should popularize ‘portfolio careers’ instead of
the traditional 'job-for-life' careers.
New Jobs in Today’s Knowledge Societies .. 3
• Schools should empowered youths with a portfolio of conceptual and
practical skills and knowledge.
• Job creation should be mainstreamed in the strategic plans of all
government departments and budgeted for.
• On-going learning, networking and youth partnership programs are
necessary for creating new jobs.
• Linking local entrepreneurial learning in Cameroon with those in other
countries will promote cross-border learning.
• The success of job creation programs will depend on how participatory the
engaged processes are.
• Many job creation programs fail due to poor management.
• More job creation programs focus just on giving grants, leaving out the
aspect of teaching/learning.
New Jobs in Today’s Knowledge Societies .. 4
• Many job creation programs targeting higher education graduates fail
because:
• Formal schooling in many LDCs fail to train the students on how to run
real businesses in their local environment.
• The problem is that textbook finance, economics, accounting and other
business disciplines are alien to local realities.
• The classic ‘enterprise’ alluded to in the business disciplines is alien to
many African countries.
• In reality, the conditions of production are shaped by local policies and
country-specific socioeconomic history.
• To be relevant the teachers/instructors need to be regularly trained and
re-trained to meet local needs.
• Otherwise they will continue to teach what they were taught.
New Jobs in Today’s Knowledge Societies .. 5
• In todays world, the long run could be barely as long as one year.
• After just a year what you thought you knew can become obsolete.
• Moving from ‘best practices’ to ‘best fit’ answers is the right spirit in
today’s new economy.
• It follows that learning and training is needed for all actors in the
society.
• Learning continuously will help everyone to distill useful information
from the overflow provided by the internet.
• Cameroonians and Africans generally need to be more committed to
adding value, whether in public or private life.
• The mindset that schooling will end with paid employment has to be
restructured.
New Jobs in Today’s Knowledge Societies .. 6
• The new mantra should be education for productive work and self worth.
• The perception that vocational and skills’ acquisition training is for school
dropouts and misfits has to change.
• Many unemployed higher education graduate will readily become
employable with some dose of vocational training.
• Productive work, creativity, and a sense of service, has to become the
essence of life.
• Achieving the above calls for culturing education at all levels with the
following:
• Vocational skills, to promote handiness and adaptability.
• Practical skills in project making and management, and monitoring.
• Emotional skills to promote team building, effective communication
and a sense of self worth.
New Jobs in Today’s Knowledge Societies .. 7
• Basic education has progressively become accessible and affordable in
Cameroon.
• But better and cheaper access has to be complemented with improved
quality and entrepreneurial culturing.
• Particular attention must be paid to teachers’ training.
• Studying education ought not to a consolation for those who are unable to
fit into other professions.
• Indeed, the best brains should be incentivized to study education to become
teachers, instructors and lecturers.
• Equally, end-of-period assessments for the students should give adequate
premium to cognitive learning.
• It follows that the teacher/instructor should have the ability to promote
cognitive learning.
Making Local Entrepreneurs Global Players
• High dependence on mineral exports:
• Causes the real exchange rate to appreciate, and makes local goods
less competitive;
• Creates easy money that de-incentivizes industrialization, and
weakens the desire to industrialize.
• Processing mineral resources will create new jobs and opportunities for
self employment.
• Youths can be started with simple activities like stone polishing, carving
and stone slate making.
• Creating molded forms can be achieved with clay, and medicinal
powder can be prepared from kaolin.
• Global exposure will enhance the competitiveness of young
entrepreneurs.
Making Local Entrepreneurs Global Players ..1
• However, it is difficult for more Cameroon youths to enter the export market
with traditional export goods like cotton, cocoa and coffee.
• Identifying new niches for exports from agriculture, solid minerals and craft
sectors should be a deliberate export promotion strategy.
• This should not stop efforts at promoting the processing traditional export
produces.
For example, in agriculture, in addition to exporting cocoa, cotton and coffee
From cocoa – more beverages and chocolates can be processed for local
consumption and exports.
From cotton - ceremonial traditional apparels of Cameroon can be
produced for local use and exports.
From coffee – native species can be processed for local consumption and
export.
Making Local Entrepreneurs Global Players ..2
In mining and quarrying – in addition to exporting sand, granite and others.
From rocks and stones – gift items and souvenirs can be crafted from
polished and carved stones.
 From kaolin and clay – sculptures, molded effigies, native chalks etc can
be produced and marketed locally and internationally.
In forestry, in addition to exporting timber:
Herbal leaves, roots and barks can be processed for local use and
exports.
Wood carvings and sculptures can be produced for gift items.
Forest resorts can be created to promote tourists visits.
• Commitment to industrializing based on the processing of traditional export
produce will add value significantly.
• But it is also vital to re-introduce neglected food and vegetable species.
Making Local Entrepreneurs Global Players … 3
• Agricultural simplification is necessitated by several factors, including:
• Globalization of western values, and suitability of certain crops for mass
production.
• Globally, the food basket is shrinking, because agricultural
“simplification” has favored some crops instead of others.
• The simplification process has made species with comparative
advantage easier to propagate than others.
• In addition to enriching the local diet, commercial breeding of the
neglected food species can support export diversification.
• Globally, people crave for unique products, discoveries and inventions
with local flair.
• The re-introduced traditional food species will enrich the food basket,
and help to reduce addiction to foreign diets.
Making Local Entrepreneurs Global Players … 4
• Producing them enough for the export market will increase rural income and
widen the possibilities for startups.
• Restoring traditional plants and livestock biodiversity will unleash opportunities
for healthy food and traditional medicines.
• There is growing nutritional paradox because the more popular species have:
• Simpler cultivation requirements;
• Easier processing and storability;
• And, nutritional properties and taste favor some crops more than others.
• Investment in R&D for the popular species has grown more than those for other
species.
• But the simplification process has lowered food quality and weakened ecosystem biodiversity.
• Both the intra and inter-specific diversity of crops and livestock are progressively
eroded.
Making Local Entrepreneurs Global Players …5
• This has increased the vulnerability of the poor who need the traditional species as a
matter of necessity instead of choice.
• Focusing on the popular species has as well led to genetic erosion in staple crops,
leading to reduced quality of life.
• This justifies the global concern to re-introduce the underutilized species.
• The emphasis has been on how re-introduction of the underutilized species can raise
the income of the rural poor.
• Re-vitalizing the under-utilized species can grow Africa’s importance in global trade.
• When tourists come to Cameroon, we need to give them our vegetables, fruits, grain
and livestock species.
• Dependence on the traditional export produce has placed the lot of the local farmers at
the doorstep of global market events.
• Fluctuations in export earnings have adversely affected the country’s earnings, growth
prospects and debt servicing.
Making Local Entrepreneurs Global Players …6
• Global food security and economic growth now depend on a declining number of
plant species.
• The neglected crops has the potential to contribute to improved incomes, food
security and nutrition.
• Many neglected and underutilized species are nutritionally rich and are adapted
to low input agriculture.
• Re-introducing these species, can promote food and health security, and export
earnings.
• Today’s global population is adventurous in everything including diet and
cuisines.
• The search for diversity and novelties in foods is creating new market niches for
the neglected and underutilized species.
• Many neglected and underutilized species play a role in keeping cultural diversity
alive.
Building Capacity for Project Implementation
• Underutilization of capital budget is a common in most LDCs that are
reforming their procurement processes.
• For Cameroon, in 2014 the Public Investment Budget (PIB) execution
rate was 36%.
• In addition to poor understanding of the relevant laws, synergy among
the different government units is weak.
• Here again is a typical case where textbook knowledge is way apart
from the realities on ground.
• The other issue however is why not have best fit procurement laws and
mechanisms that meet local needs.
• It is also needful to have in place a robust value-for-money M&E
mechanism that tracks public spending.