Boko Haram activities 'jeopardizes' Cameroon's economy

The security crisis posed by the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram in the northern part of the country as well as the political tensions in Central Africa has seriously affected the economy of Cameroon, according to a report released on Friday by the Ministry of the economy, Plan and development (MINEPAT).

In the region of the far North, which is home to 13% of the tourist sites in the entire territory and nearly 7% of national hotel capacity, all tourism businesses (tour operators) are folding up according to the report.

According to this report, the occupancy rate of the hotels has decreased from nearly 50% to about 10% currently. This decline in attendance in hotels is due to complete cancellation of bookings made by expatriates, leading to a decrease in turnover of more than 16% YOY while witnessing a sharp decline in leisure activities at the same time.

In the eastern region, due to the influx of refugees and the arrival of the staff of international organizations, accommodation and food services have however experienced an increase in activity which has also led to a proliferation of illegal establishments.

With regard to the transport sector, the report from MINEPAT noted a decrease of 45% in registrations of new vehicles in the region of the far North, due to the ban of imports from West Africa via transit through Nigeria.

With regard to this cross-border transport, activity has practically come to a halt because of the closure of the border with Nigeria.

On the other hand, in the eastern region, the transport activity remained relatively stable with a traffic increase of 1.7% YOY, mainly due to the increase in traffic-related humanitarian logistics which has offset the decline in trade with the Central African Republic-related traffic.

For the terms of trade, the MINEPAT survey points out the scarcity of products from Nigeria as well as difficulties to sell certain products to the regional market, but also the worsening of the deficit of processing capacity, loss of credits in goods available to some clients fallen bankrupt or deceased following armed clashes.

The livestock sector, from fishing and animal industries, suffered from the same insecurity with the resurgence of conflicts with -ranchers and farmers, increasing the risk of transmission of bovine diseases, the return of some bovine diseases already eradicated in Cameroon, overgrazing created by the significant increase of livestock in border communities, the occupation of spaces protected and theft of livestock.

In the register of agricultural production, several farms have been abandoned by farmers, who are also aware of the destruction of their farms by the influx of livestock in addition to the difficulties of accompaniment and monitoring of producers.

The impact of insecurity is not gratifying performance of budgetary expenditures 2014, several companies of the building and public works are being demobilized due to inability to perform work in the affected areas, where several procurements are threatened with foreclosure.

In the East, the companies face huge challenges of supply and safety of workers, a situation which led to the renunciation of the execution of certain markets, stop or slowdown of some road works and unforeseen expenses related to support for the defence forces.

In terms of tax revenue, the slowdown of economic activity resulting from insecurity resulted in the decrease in the tax potential of the areas affected, but also the reduction of the tax checks to avoid social tension, anything that compromises the effectiveness of tax administrations and the rise of the smuggling of basic necessities.

The effects of this situation are heavily felt on prices with an increase resulting from the decrease in the supply of products from Nigeria, the impossibility of exporting the local products with devastating effects on direct and indirect jobs in the agricultural sectors, tourism, hospitality, transportation, trade, public works and employment.

The report from MINEPAT notes thus redundancies, abandonment of post, accumulations of arrears of salary and updates in technical unemployment in communities affected by the food.