BANQUE MONDIALE (BM)
Banques & Organismes Financiers |
 | BP 1128 YAOUNDE
1792 - Rue 186 Bastos Ekoudou |  | (237) 22 21 08 36 - (237) 22 20 38 15 |  | (237) 22 21 07 22 |
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 | Cameroon’s main development challenge is to stimulate growth and to ensure dividends are equitably shared among the population in order to reduce poverty. The government’s development objectives are outlined in “Vision 2035” – an ambitious document that serves as the long-term anchor for the country’s new Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the 2009 Growth and Employment Strategy (Document de stratégie pour la croissance et l’emploi, or DSCE). The principle objectives of “Vision 2035” are to reduce poverty to less than 10 percent, for the country to become a middle-income, industrialized nation, and to consolidate democracy and national unity. The DSCE identifies weak productivity, a looming energy crisis, the effects of the global financial crisis, food insecurity, stagnating poverty, and high unemployment as key challenges over the 2009 to 2019 period. It envisions significant investment in infrastructure to stimulate growth, notably in energy, roads, port infrastructure, water supply, and information technology. Productive increases are sought in agriculture and livestock farming, mining, key value chains (timber, ICT, tourism), and in the business climate. It looks to strengthen human development and create more robust formal sector employment. The DSCE also places important emphasis on regional integration and dedicates an entire chapter to improving governance, including specific initiatives related to corruption, public procurement, business climate, and civic participation.
Since reaching HIPC Completion Point in 2006, Cameroon has enjoyed substantial debt relief from the HIPC, the MDRI and additional debt relief from Paris Club creditors. As government revenues have increased dramatically and new overseas development assistance earmarked for Cameroon has stagnated, the role of development organizations, including the World Bank, has changed. For the current Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) period, from 2010 to 2013, the Bank will, in its relations with Cameroon, focus on serving as a key advisor and catalyst for attracting investors to large projects, emphasizing the provision of high quality and operationally relevant analytical work. |
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 | The World Bank’s 2010 to 2013 CAS is aligned with the latest iteration of the DSCE, and while focused on catalyzing growth, the strategy also aims to ensure that this growth is shared in an equitable manner. The strategy is grounded in governance, and to this regard the World Bank will continue to leverage its program to promote improvements in core governance, including public financial management, deepen its governance work at the sector level, and aims to mainstream a governance dialogue in-country. To stimulate demand-side governance, the World Bank will work to develop the capacity of civil society organizations in order for these to more transparently manage governance- and integrity-related activities and assure more effective coordination and information-sharing in the area of governance and integrity.
The two strategic themes of the CAS are (a) to increase Cameroon’s competitiveness, and (b) to improve service delivery. World Bank support to improve competitiveness will focus on three main axes: (i) increased infrastructure investment in the energy, transport, and telecommunications sectors; (ii) activities aimed to ensure the transparent equitable, and sustainable use of natural resources; and (iii) promotion of high potential value chains and improved business climate. Regional integration is also included under this theme. World Bank support to service delivery will focus on three main areas: (i) human development, aiming to improve the efficacy and accountability in the health sector and to increase utilization and improve quality of health services; (ii) the establishment of an effective safety net system based on targeted programs; and (iii) local development, where the focus will be on increasing access to basic services through infrastructure upgrading and capacity building for improved local governance and management. A mix of lending and analytical activities will be used to support the two themes.
The current World Bank portfolio in Cameroon represents a total of US$774 million in commitments, which includes US$394 million for 12 national IDA-and GEF-funded projects, four regional projects totaling US$371 million, and seven trust funded activities totaling US$8.2 million. Operations cover the following sectors: education, health, water, urban management, community development, governance, agriculture, energy, natural resource management (forestry, mining), transport, and information technology. |
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