Article 22 laying down the provision relating to the revenue from the affixing of the visa on the contract of workers of foreign nationality in Cameroon specifies in its paragraph 3, a levy fixed at the equivalent of two months of gross salary and wages for workers non-Africans and the equivalent of one month's gross salary and wages for African workers and an allowance (deduction made from an amount to be paid) of 50%.
The Minister of Employment and Vocational Training Issa Tchiroma Bakary, declared during his working visit to the East-Cameroon region in August 2023, "that a good appropriation of the legal system in force in terms of the employment of personnel of foreign nationality and its effective application will enable Cameroon to move the lines and objectives that the government has set itself in the context of youth employment and the development of national skills”. But of the 14 billion expected from this collection, we are only at 20% (source: Business in Cameroon). There are therefore still efforts to be made in this direction, especially from the side of foreign investors so that Cameroon further strengthens its essential education system in the pursuit of its march towards more effective professionalization through the multiplication of vocational training centres at a lower cost and accessible to a large part of the Cameroonian population.
The sense of responsibility of Cameroonian youth
The Cameroonian population in general and young people in particular are aware of the importance of know-how in the realization of their lives. The proof, the growing number of children and young people who find themselves in mines in search of precious materials such as gold for example. Finding a youth or school-aged child in a mine rather than at school is concrete proof that he is aware that going to school does not guarantee him a daily meal. Awareness of the mining potential of a locality influences the behaviour and habits of residents.
How to succeed in persuading children to join the path of school when they are aware that it is only by working and earning money that they will have enough to meet their needs, or help their parents in solving their daily problem? What do people really want from their leaders?
We remember a school built in a very small town in Northern Cameroon and without any learners at the beginning because they preferred to go and devote themselves to agriculture (breeding and growing plants). In fact, the parent who is himself a farmer, educates his child and trains him to become a farmer just like him. The mother, who is a very good housewife, teaches her daughter how to become a good wife and how to cook. When there is already all this savoir, savoir-vivre, and this know-how, why still go to school?
The African consciousness of development is anchored in its traditions that globalization and its multiple achievements continue to influence both positively and negatively. The populations are aware of the importance of practical know-how and only expect support from the public authorities or other partners who go in the direction of optimizing the profitability of their activity, or of their know-how and not oblige them to do what they do not want or what obeys only a theoretical activity devoid of any practice.
If there are several decades before and even today after several decades one could qualify as absurd the fact of not going to school and of going rather to graze a herd or to work in mines among other things, the difficulty of Cameroonians to meet their daily needs shows us that those who make these choices are not wrong. Rather, they need adequate assistance. We cannot force parents to enrol their children in school and not offer them an alternative as practical as the option they have chosen. The dynamism of the Cameroonians teaches us that they need more local tourism schools, local mining schools, local livestock schools, local professional establishments and at a lower cost because the proving ground is nearby. One cannot impulse a development only on the basis of what we think, but above all on what those for whom we have undertaken this project think of this project.
The partner and the partners
The first partner of Cameroonians is not foreigners but Cameroonians themselves. We know what we need and it is on the basis of this that we invite others to work with us because our economic potential needs technical expertise and substantial funding to be better valued or transformed into wealth. A foreigner cannot afford to do what he wants if the Cameroonians themselves do not encourage him to act as he wants. How is a foreigner not going to make Cameroonians work in deplorable conditions when they themselves accept being martyred in this way, or when their rulers turn a deaf ear to their complaints? If there will always be accidents, we can at least prevent and avoid them by taking adequate measures.
Environmental standards must be respected. The partnerships that we forge with the outside must take into account the particular interests of the Cameroonian populations on the economic, social and environmental levels. An exploitation will surely allow us to have a lot of money but, what are the guarantees that our ecosystem will not be polluted following an arbitrary and excessive exploitation, motivated only by the gain of billions of CFA francs. How can we stop having unfortunate incidents like the one that happened in the third district of the capital of the West Cameroon region Bafoussam which is Bamoungoum and more precisely the locality of Tchipou where populations have had and find it difficult to feed themselves properly because of the disastrous consequences of the exploitation of a quarry in their environment by a foreign company? How will operators respect the security perimeters if the partner only cares when the tragic consequences arise? And it is the same situation in most African countries and in particular in the mining sector. Everything leads us to believe that it is in Africa that we can afford to do anything. In 2020, a study by the European Commission revealed that mining and extractive companies in Africa are responsible for 65% of tax fraud. How could they indulge in such practices if the laxity of governments was not a galvanizing factor of obscure and scabrous practices? African countries and Cameroon in particular will benefit more from their mining potential if they restructure the sector by taking into account the real needs of the populations, the control of the activity of the operators, the respect of environmental standards and the promotion of a government ethics in terms of management necessary to give a good image of the country on the international scene.
Partnerships, capacity building and segmentation of the sector of operation
Foreigners cannot come to Cameroon and treat Cameroonians as they want simply because their country contributes to the development process of Cameroon. Land of welcome and hospitality does not mean land of acceptance of absurdities. Foreigners should not be satisfied at the expense of locals. If there are foreigners in a Territory, it is because this country has potential, the rational exploitation of which could contribute to the development of both partners. But when partnerships seem to amount to a form of expropriation for the benefit of a foreign partner, there is cause for concern.
A company that excels in a sector where Cameroonians are struggling must respect the perimeters of operation and contribute to building the capacities of locals, mostly in the informal sector under the proposal of the public authorities. For example, you cannot be a seller and a reseller at the same time within a specific perimeter. Either we are not a seller, or we are a reseller. The scope of operation should be segmented so that there is one space for sellers and another for resellers. Leaving the two on the same perimeter is to favour on the one hand unfair competition and on the other hand insecurity, insalubrity and fraudulent practices.
Public authorities and municipalities must prioritize the interests of Cameroonians by putting in place measures that satisfy both locals and foreigners. If foreigners are manufacturers and sellers they must not also be resellers. It is the locals who must rather enjoy the privilege of being at the same time producers, sellers and reseller even if the industrialization process of Cameroon is lagging behind.
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