Cameroon Eca Play Tender

Cameroons Minister of Mines Industry and Technological Development Mr. Gabriel Dodo Ndoke has solicited the support of the Subregional Office for Central Africa of the UN Economic Commission for Africa ECA in the updating of Cameroons Industrial Development Masterplan PDI in French and coordinating the contribution of a league of development partners in the implementation of its next phase.The PDI is seen as a switchboard for Cameroons sustainable development especially with the advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA which requires a transformation of production systems in favor of the manufacturing sector from any country that wants to reap substantial benefits from it. This would contribute to an increased share of trade in intermediate and manufactured products.During a meeting with a team of experts from ECAs Office in Central Africa led by the Director Antonio Pedro a wide gamut of actions to be undertaken to overhaul Cameroons second generation Industrialization Masterplan were explored.Minister Dodo Ndoke said that although the PDI which was formulated in 2016 and presented to the public in March 2017 would continue to be the foundational document which would inform Cameroons industrialization drive it was necessary at this stage to sharpen it and render it more current dynamic and responsive to the new opportunities including the AfCFTA.He noted that the concourse of SRO-CA to coordinate the exercise was justified given the Offices networks across Africa and beyond its credentials on economic diversification and industrialization processes as well in coordinating the work of development partners. The parties agreed that it would be vital for the success of the review process and its implementation to bring on board the United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO and the African Development Bank AfDB in particular.Mr. Antonio Pedro of ECA was upbeat about the vote of confidence in ECAs work and indicated that ECA has strategic partnerships with both with UNIDO and the AfDB at operational and leadership levels. He added that the physical presence in Yaounde of both ECAs and AfDBs as of July 2019 subregional offices for Central Africa would certainly facilitate consultations.Coordination among key ministries to review and operationalize the Industrialization Masterplan is also crucial as an industrial policy and strategy must federate efforts from across several government departments to render it successful Pedro told an attentive Minister Dodo Ndoke. This included the ongoing work to formulate Cameroons AfCFTA national strategy he added.The parties agreed that developing and operationalizing a masterplan that speaks seamlessly to Central Africas regional value chains was vital. It must therefore collocate for instance with CEMACs Regional Economic Program PER CEMAC in French which by coincidence would be the object of a regional consultative review process in Douala Cameroon on 5-6 July 2019.Addressing binding constraints such as inadequate infrastructure and poor quality of services was considered vital to industrializing the region and boosting Central Africas competitiveness. ECA experts noted that Cameroon was well-endowed with natural and human resources to lead the subregion along this path including the production of renewable energy.On Cameroons endowments Pedro rejoiced and said The recently announced discovery of over 300 new mineral occurrences in the country including cobalt nickel and manganese the largest since independence places Cameroon in a good position to join DRC the world largest producer of cobalt in the development of a profitable regional battery and electric car value chain.He noted that it is projected that the global electric vehicle market would grow from the current 2 million vehiclesyear to 160 million vehiclesyear by 2050 a factor which the PDI should not ignore. Lomie in the East Region of Cameroon has one of the largest if not the largest lateritic cobalt deposit in the world.The privileged place of the digital economy its transformational processes and its architecture for the success of Cameroons overall industrialization strategy was also in focus as the discussions with the Minister of Industry and his team comprising Secretary General Mr. Fru Jonathan and Director of Industry Mr. Ntakeu Bruno Armel progressed.In all of these the ECA delegation which comprised of Mr. Adama Coulibaly Head of the Subregional Initiatives Section and Ms. Mama Keita Head of the Economic Diversification SectionOf ECAs Central Africa Office stressed the need for experience-sharing with other African countries including Ethiopia which have made considerable progress in industrial development.The Government of Cameroon considers its Industrialization Masterplan as indispensable for achieving the status of an upper middle-income country by 2035. According to the Minister the plan is being reviewed against a backdrop of three urgent goals for the country accelerating the pace of economic growth regaining Cameroons leadership in the industrial sector and cushioning the country against structural or systemic shocks through deeper economic diversification.