By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Government has promised to tackle in the second phase, poverty that stubbornly resisted the implementation of the first phase of the Growth and Employment Strategic Paper from 2010 to 2018.
The promise was made by Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Paul Tasong last January 23, 2019 at the Yaounde Mont Febe Hotel as he chaired a two-day workshop to finalize the report on the review of development policies carried out in Cameroon between 2010 and 2018 and planning of the second phase of the 2035 Vision.
Talking to reporters, Minister Delegate Paul Tasong admitted that despite sustaining economic growth, “we are less satisfied because the growth did not transform squarely into improving the quality of lives of Cameroonians though poverty rate improved by 2.5% as it slightly dropped from 39% to 36.5%, it was not good enough. Our wish is to bring poverty rate down to at least 30%.”
He explaining that “We had to sustain economic growth but so long as sustaining this economic growth is not translated into improving the living conditions of citizens, we think we will still have much to do especially in the second phase of the new planning instrument for Cameroon as from January 2020.”
Paul Tasong explained that “We are here for two days to finalize the report on the review of government development policies for the past 9 years (2010-2018). This is one of the stages in the elaboration of the new planning cycle which is ongoing given that the Growth and Employment Strategic Paper comes to an end by December 2019. From January 1, 2020 therefore, government will be introducing a new planning instrument for Cameroon. For us to ensure that we have the ground prepared for the elaboration of the new planning instrument, it is important for us to evaluate the path covered between 2010 and 2019 in validating the report, identifying the shortcomings and noting where we performed well so that the shortcomings be taken care of in the new planning instrument in the walk towards emergence by 2035.”
He nonetheless rejoiced that despite the difficult terrain crossed by the government in its strive for emergence, “The target in terms of the economy was to stay on a trajectory of an average of 5.5% growth rate per annum between 2010 and 2019. As of today, we are falling short of slightly about 1% point in growth as we are somewhere around 4.5 to 5% annual growth rate by the end of the planning cycle. Though we did not attain our objective, we can still consider it as good progress because despite the strong headwind faced by the economy from the middle of the planning cycle, Cameroon’s economy remained resilient.”
The validation workshop was attended by officials from the public administration, private sector and civil society.