Last August 23, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng, officially launched the Digital Transformation Acceleration Project (PATNuC), in Yaounde.
Funded to the tune of FCFA55 billion by the World Bank, the 3-year project aims to boost the development of the digital sector in Cameroon.
The project’s component focused on data-driven solutions in the agriculture sector targets 70,250 small-scale farmers and livestock breeders in rural areas. They will receive input subsidies in the form of electronic vouchers. “Small producers need to know how to use new technologies to improve their productivity,” said Mfuh Windfred, PATNuC’s national coordinator. A matching grant will also be awarded to producers’ organizations, associations, and cooperatives, to encourage the adoption of digital innovations developed by agritech startups.
Overall, PATNuC aims to pursue the reforms and policies implemented by the government in the ICT sector, extend Internet access, improve the digital skills of Cameroonians, promote the development of digital applications and services, improve digital inclusion, increase the scope of use of digital services and stimulate employment and entrepreneurship.
Despite being presented as the hub of telecoms infrastructure in Central Africa, given the five fiber optic subsea cables to which it is connected (SAT3, WACS, ACE, SAIL, and NCSCS), Cameroon is still struggling to develop its digital potential. For example, many of these subsea cables are under-utilized. “Only around 15% of the capacity of the SAT3 cable and 30% of the capacity of the WACS cable have been used since their launch 17 years ago,” reveals the International Finance Corporation in a report on digital development in Cameroon.
According to data from the GSM Association, an organization representing the world’s telecommunications operators, Cameroon had 10.05 million Internet users in 2022. This represents an increase of 967,000 users (+10.6%) compared with 2021. PATNuC’s challenge is therefore to increase the number of ICT users in all sectors of activity for Cameroon’s development and economic growth, in the massive digitalization and all-digital era.
Its launch comes at a time when, despite a significant increase in its revenues (FCFA600 billion) from the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector between 2012 and 2015, Cameroon still ranks behind countries of comparable level such as Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. In those two countries, for instance, the ICT sector’s contribution to GDP is two and even three times greater than that recorded by Cameroon.
BRM & FN