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Home » Economy of the World » Cameroon
 

Cameroon Economy
Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It borders countries like Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic and parts of Gulf of Guinea. The country is often called “Africa in miniature”. Cameroon Economy is comparitively high for an African country. The per capita PPP GDP of Camerron was estimated as US$ 2,421 in the year 2005. major export makets are: France, Italy,, Spain, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Cameroon is a part of the Bank of Central African States and also the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC). The growth of the private sector is constrained because of red tape, high taxes, and endemic corruption. Unemployement was estimated at about 30 per ecnt in the year 2001 and about 48 per cent of the total population lives below the poverty level in the year 2000.

Since 1980, World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) has implemented several reforms to develop Cameroon Economy. They are: privatise industries, reduce poverty, and increase economic growth. Tourism is a growing sector, particularly in the coastal region.

Cameroon's natural resources are more benevolent for agriculture and forestry than to industry. Agriculture foems the backbone of the Cameroon Economy. An estimated 70 per cent of the population farms, and agriculture contributes to about 45.2 per cent of GDP for the year 2006. Most agriculture is done at the existing scale simple tools of the local farmers. They sell their surplus produce, and some even maintain separate fields for commercial use. Urban centres are particularly dependent on peasant agriculture for their foodstuffs. Factory-based industry accounted for an estimated 16.1 per cent GDP of Cameroon Economy for the year 2006. More than 75 per cent of Cameroon's industrial strength is located in Douala and Bonaberi. Although Cameroon possesses substantial mineral resources, but these are not sufficiently mined.



Livestock are raised throughout the nation. Fishing employs about 5,000 people and provides 20,000 tons of seafood each year. The southern rainforest has vast timber reserves and cover 37 per cent of Cameroon's total land area. This section also contributes to Cameroon Economy. For almost a quarter-century, Cameroon was one of the most properous countries in Africa. The overestimated currency hike, economic mismanagement and fall in commodity prices for its chief exports like petroleum, cocoa, coffee during mid-1980s and cotton led to a decade-long recession. Real per capita GDP fell by more than 60 per cent from 1986 to 1994. The government ventured on a series of economic reform programs supported by the World Bank and IMF beginning in the late 1980s. Recent signs of Cameroon Economy are however, encouraging. GDP has grown by about 5% a year beginning in 1995.