Erstwhile British High Commissioner to Cameroon, Bharat Joshi, has described himself as a very lucky High Commissioner whose tenure saw relations between the United Kingdom (UK) and Cameroon, reached a high point. Bharat Joshi was speaking to the press on Friday September 7, 2013 after an audience granted him by Prime Minister, Philemon Yang.
The outgoing British diplomat said the first-ever Joint UK-Cameroon Mixed Commission that held in London from September 2 to 4, 2013 with the Minister of External Relations and himself taking part, was a move he will never forget. "It was the first meeting after an agreement that was signed some 20 years ago which is recognition on both sides of a friendship which is based on shared history. The forum revised ties between both countries in the economic, political and judicial affairs for our mutual benefits," Bharat Joshi said.
Prior to his meeting with the Prime Minister, the British diplomat visited the Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey during which they reviewed economic ties between the two countries. He said doing business in Cameroon isn't as hard as in some African countries and the UK investments are very visible in the market with great success and the motive of all of these is to support Cameroon. He praised the putting in place of the Programme Budget and the Investment Code which to him are best at catapulting the economy to emergence. "The perception of Cameroon has changed overseas and investors are eager to come and hear more about the country," he added.
On the weight of UK's development assistance in Cameroon, Bharat Joshi said historically, it has done relatively little. "One of the things we know more than anything is that trade much more than aid drags people out of poverty. UK industries have been investing in Cameroon. A lot of people have heard of Joule Africa which is running a 1.3 billion dollar project to create 500 MW of energy in the North West Region.
There are others like Guinness Cameroon that is getting back to sponsoring the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, Standard Chartered Bank, which supports projects like the Kribi Gas Fired Plant. "These firms are recruiting Cameroonians who are refusing to be corrupt and are helping to develop the economy," he said. .
