By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Results on two studies; capital flight and tax havens in Cameroon conducted by the Director of the Laboratory of Analysis and Research in Mathematical Economics (LAREM) of the University of Yaounde II, Jean Marie Gankou and members of LAREM; Marius Bendoma, Hans Tino Ayamena Mpenya, Clarisse Metseyem and Boniface Ngah Epo and that on agriculture, water quality and pro-poor growth in Cameroon conducted by Motio Simo Epiphanie, Kamdem Cyrille Bergaly of the University of Yaounde II and the African Economic Research Consortium were launched respectively last February 22 and 23, 2018 at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel.
Placed under the patronage of the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Louis Paul Motaze, the two days event that brought together some top Cameroonian university researchers was chaired by his representative, Nkou Jean Pascal.
The study on natural resources and capital flight in Cameroon apprises government on the necessity to ameliorate governance in the oil and timber sectors and also quality of institutions in charge of commercial transactions in the country.
Revealing that Cameroon is ranked 10 among African countries which register highest level of capital flight (83% between 1970 and 2010) due to trade false invoices, the study indicates that from 1995 to 2012, these false invoices were greater than capital flight and are primarily source from oil and timber sectors.
To curb such ill practices, researchers urged the government to reinforce control and information of civil servants of the Customs administration so that they can be able to identify bad practices that fuel and increase capital flight and to reinforce sanctions against corrupt agents.
On the other side, releasing results on studies on agriculture, water quality and pro-poor growth in Cameroon, researchers called on the government of Cameroon to educate and sensitize the population on health effects of unsafe water consumption and the efficiency of water treatment at home. They equally urged the government to reduce taxes on imported water filters so as to facilitate the population’s access.
While revealing that the South West, South and Centre regions produce 95% of cocoa in Cameroon, researchers recommended in their studies that government should promote farmer field schools in the areas where there is none to highlight agricultural extension service and to improve the quality of training in such schools in order to increase their impacts on cocoa yields.
Talking to reporters, the Executive Director of the Kenyan based African Economic Research Consortium, Prof Lemma W. Senbet called on Cameroon which is a member of his institution to make good use of the various recommendations so that the work of these researchers should not go in vain.
The events were organized with support from the Cameroon Policy Analysis and Research Centre (CAMERCAP-PARC).