The tortoise walk : public policy and private activity in the economic development of Cameroon

To help determine the reasons for this success, this paper examines the effects of public policies on private sector development in Cameroon. Initial sections describe Cameroon's demography and its history and review political and economic development since the country gained independence in 1961. Next, the principles underlying Cameroon's public policies - national unity, political and social order, a mixed degree of government control of the economy, and a slow and cautious approach to economic development - are outlined. Specific government policies and their economic effects are then detailed. External policies are described as being nonrestrictive in regard to international payments and currency exchange, but overly restrictive in regard to commerce, especially exports. Internal economic policies regarding agriculture, finance, and industry are shown to combine direct intervention with a laissez-faire approach. Thus, the government limits its use of price controls and refrains from manipulating food crop production, but has controlled interest rates and promoted import substitution at the expense of local entrepreneurs. A review of the role of U.S. and other donor assistance to the private sector shows foreign aid to be an important source of import capacity, although increasingly overshadowed by oil revenues. It is recommended that future U.S. aid specifically support economic policies oriented toward growth. A detailed case study of one of Cameroon's parastatals, the Corporation for the Development of Cotton, is then presented, and the Corporation's success in providing economic opportunities to small farmers without destroying their economic incentives noted. The study concludes that, while the effects of public policies on private development in Cameroon have been mixed, Cameroon's experience demonstrates the viability of a gradual, cautious approach to economic change. More detailed discussions of select items and a 6-page bibliography citing works in French and English (1954-82) are among the appendices.