YAOUNDE, CAMEROON, AFRICA. NOVEMBER 2010 (NEWS.CAMEROON-TODAY.COM)  -  World Bank wants Cameroon to focus on sectors that will help it to maximize its competitive advantage over other nations.

Cameroon World Bank / IMF Spring Meeting

The World Bank’s Africa Director for Sustainable Development, Mr Jamal Saghir,had been on a three day tour to Cameroon . During the course of his visit he has had numerous talks with representatives of the respective departments of the government to determine methods for overall development of the country spanning across robust sectors .The sectors that came under the purview of the discussions were telecom, energy, mining and forestry.

“Cameroon has a great potential to be a regional leader on telecommunications” Mr. Saghir said. “It is not only geographically well located to be a regional hub, it also has a qualified workforce.”

Mary Barton-Dock, the World Bank’s country director for Cameroon, added:

“Africa is the new frontier for telecoms. Mobile phones are opening opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs. Broadband is the next step to make telephone services cheaper and increase access to the internet.”

“During meetings with public and private operators, Mr. Saghir discussed a regional management structure providing open access to the fiber-optic cable planned under the World Bank -financed Central African Backbone project,” World Bank said.

The World bank also wanted to have detailed ideas on current investment for Rural Energy Fund and finance plans for future projects like the Kribi Gas plant which will be the answer to the power shortage that the country is currently going through as well a the Lom pangar Hydro Electric Power plant.

“Cameroon’s mining sector is at critical cross-roads,” says Paulo de Sa, World Bank Sector Manager for Mining, who accompanied Mr Saghir. “A number of exploration licenses in the past years have identified large deposits of bauxite, iron, and other minerals,” Mr. de Sa added. “The challenge is now to exploit those resources in a sustainable way that benefits all Cameroonians”.

The World Bank specifically pointed at the amount for time that corporate have to wait to secure the mandatory licenses for mining purposes. They were especially critical of the fact that the delay was one of the main reasons that many of the big names in the mining and metal sector in the world were apprehensive of starting operations in the country and that so far only a single license has been provided to date for exploration of metallic minerals.

The world Bank has promised to provide whatever aid will be necessary so that Ministry of Industry, Mines and Technological Development can process such requests without further delay. They have also agreed to provide the necessary know how which the ministry would need in order to prevent the mineral resources of the country being exploited excessively by big sharks of the industry. The other pertinent issues that were debated upon in the mining sector were the inadequacy of proper transportation and infrastructure in the country and also how local participation can be ensured to participate in the mining activities which will in turn ensure that they get their share of benefits from it as well.

Cameroon was one of the first countries to pioneer laws for ensuring legal and sustainable felling of timber. However the World Bank feels that the sustainability will not last too long if adequate reforms do not follow suit. Many industries which are in the timber logging business still cut wood without proper licenses. There were detailed talks with the Government, NGO and private sector which essentially targeted on developing and deploying concrete plans for better synergy among various cross sectors for which the World Bank evoked the support of the Cameroonian Government. There were also numerous field visits which guaranteed that Mr Saghir would get to see the real conditions first hand and talk to the locals as well.

“Our visit looked especially at how to resolve the overlapping interests between forest, environment, mining, and agricultural sectors,” Mr. Saghir said. “This requires better land use planning and inter-sectoral coordination. Combining economic growth, poverty reduction, and environmental protection is at the heart of sustainable development. Cameroonians are facing the challenges of sustainable development every day. Cameroon’s potential is impressive – I would like to challenge the government and other actors to show leadership and unlock this potential to benefit all Cameroonians.”