Cameroon :Tunisian companies to invest in health care

Interview with Jalel Snoussi, the new Tunisian Ambassador to Cameroon who explains why the Cameroonian health sector interests Tunisian companies so much. He takes the opportunity to describe the state of cooperation between the two countries.

The Tunisian laboratories Teriak are relaunching production of the Cameroonian laboratory Cinpharm, of which they have taken control. What experience can Tunisia bring to Cameroon in this domain?

Teriak Laboratories, subsidiary of the “Kilani” group, a major player in the Tunisian pharmaceutical industry, has already come to Cameroon by investing in two big projects in Douala. The first is an industrial venture, buying the pharmaceutical production unit Cinpharm. And the second commercially oriented, by investing in a cosmetic products marketing unit. These two units will soon be inaugurated.

Thus, the industrial and commercial installation of Teriak in Cameroon is not a proposal, it is in fact a reality. And I believe that its officials are not intending to stop there. Other projects are being studied, in Cameroon or in the region, in the sectors of production and distribution of pharmaceutical products as well as at the level of medical marketing. Already, the group plans to set up, in time, a second unit of cosmetic product marketing in Yaoundé.

The investments of the “Kilani” group have thus opened the way, which will incite other Tunisian companies to establish themselves in Cameroon and to invest in cooperation with Cameroonian partners. In the same or other sectors, the spread of sectors is wide.

What is the special feature of the Tunisian pharmaceutical industry?

The pharmaceutical industry in Tunisia is developed and flourishing. Its expertise and know-how in this domain are recognized worldwide, in the sense that the country exports throughout the world according to international norms which have stringent requirement levels. Tunisia has 40 production units in respect of human medicine and six units in the veterinary medicine sector. Local, public or private production covers 60% of national needs.

The reputation of medical care in Tunisia relies on three principle pillars: Medical know-how associated with quality service, the comparative competitive cost with the guarantee of high level care and cutting edge hospital infrastructure. Indeed, in terms of infrastructure, Tunisia has 85 highly equipped and qualified clinics with 4,200 beds receiving more than 400,000 patients each year for different types of medical care, of which 80% are Africans and 20% Westerners, notably Europeans.

What’s more to date, in view of all the aforementioned advantages, Tunisia is the foremost destination in Africa in matters of health care, world leader in heart surgery as well as one of the top places for plastic surgery.

One notes that Tunisian companies that are active in the health domain are more and more interested in Cameroon in the last two years. Your first official outing as ambassador to Cameroon was moreover during the health professional days organized in Cameroon. What explains this attraction of Tunisian health professionals for Cameroon, from your point of view?

In organizing “the Tunisian professional days in the domain of health care in Cameroon, in June 2015 respectively in Yaoundé and Douala, the objective was to identify cooperation opportunities, establish a partnership framework between Tunisian and Cameroonian health professionals and to conclude marketing agreements for services, equipment and products, in the mutual interest of both parties. It was also a question of exploring investment opportunities, of encouraging the exchange of experiences, of prospecting mutually advantageous new paths and examining the possibility of training, retraining and development for Cameroonian students and young doctors, and putting Tunisian expertise and know-how in matters of medical care at the disposition of Cameroon.

The principle objective being to establish, for the long term, a platform of cooperation and partnership between professionals and Tunisian and Cameroonian establishments operating in the health sector. In any case, just the fact that the professionals of the two countries met is already a step forward. One cannot speak of cooperation without an initial contact. This has been done and well done. It is now up to the professionals to transform the test and achieve tangible results. Thus, the mission cleared the way, which is in itself a success.

Precisely, what is your assessment of Cameroon-Tunisia cooperation on the economic and political level?

First of all, on the economic level, relations are progressing in commercial exchange matters, investment, and market development. On both sides, there is the will to progress, to develop relations and broaden the framework of cooperation. But, at this stage, the results are mixed. The potential above all commercially is under exploited and would gain in being better developed. Then on the political level, although there is similarity in the positioning of the two countries on major international or regional issues, one can objectively observe that political consultation is not at the same level as bi-lateral economic cooperation. There are few high level visits.

ne can therefore say, on the economic as well as the political level that a lot more needs to be done. There is still a long way to go to set up an optimal framework of cooperation, in conformity with the existing potential between the two countries.

To date, what are the main companies in your country (big and SME) which invest in Cameroon?

Apart from the investments of the “Kilani” group, which I spoke of earlier, and the Tunisian consulting firms established in Cameroon, one must admit that the range of Tunisian investors is not large, in fact it is below the opportunities the Cameroonian market offers.

Tunisian industrial presence in Cameroon would benefit if increased. One must keep in mind that for all investment, there is really no secret. It is all a question of the capacity of investment, of opportunity, of partnership and business environment. Perhaps potential Tunisian investors lacked means or missed opportunities or partnerships, truly ready to collaborate.

But, things are beginning to move. Aside from Teriak Laboratories, I know that certain Tunisian companies plan to invest in the domain of health and medical care, by constructing clinics, polyclinics and healthcare units, above all if Cameroonian partners are available and prepared to be associated. Also, other investors are currently studying partnership projects and joint-ventures in the sectors of agribusiness and tourism. All this is to say that things are moving.

What is your opinion on the business environment in Cameroon?

In every country, the business environment is dependent on different factors on the political, economic, legislative, institutional, infrastructural, professional and technical sides. For Cameroon, the situation remains to be perfected. It is clear that the government is surely taking steps to improve national business environment indicators, but there is no getting away from the statistics that give an idea of the scale of the work.

I cite one single figure to place the Cameroonian business environment on the world scale. In the 2015 ranking of the World Bank and out of 189 countries identified, Cameroon has fallen back between 2014 and 2015 on two principle indicators: on the first criterion, that is business environment, Cameroon has lost 10 places, dropping from 148th position to 158th. On the second criterion, that is business creation, Cameroon has also fallen back 6 positions, over the same period, going from 127th position to 133rd. Moreover, all the members of the CEMAC are lagging behind in the ranking. Thus, for Cameroon, as for the region, much remains to be done to improve the business environment.

In spite of this observation, prospects for improvement are real. This in the measure that the government is well aware of its inadequacies and is working to redress the balance by trying to put into practice the recommendations resulting from the work of different sessions of the Cameroon Business Forum (CBF), a platform of public-private dialogue given the responsibility of identifying the bottlenecks and proposing solutions to allow the government to refine its strategy on cleaning up the business environment and to follow and appraise the reforms being undertaken in the domains concerned.

Aside from the health sector, in which other sectors of activity would you encourage Tunisian companies to invest in Cameroon?

I would say notably in the sectors where Tunisia has a comparative advantage and a well-recognised expertise and where, at the same time, Cameroon offers opportunities in terms of investment and partnership such as pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, information technologies and communication, seaside tourism, thermal or medical, energy, higher education, professional training, electric and chemical industry, agribusiness, etc.

For my part, I consider that there are some sectors where there should be greater emphasis without a doubt and where particular attention should be paid, keeping in mind their potential. But, I remain in service for any Tunisian project of cooperation, of partnership or investment, whatever the nature and the scope.

How many Tunisian nationals live in Cameroon and what are their occupations?

According to the embassy’s registers, there are approximately 150 Tunisians living and working in Cameroon in the engineering, research, technical audit, trade sectors and hotel business.

I can say that the Tunisian community is, for the most part, made up of high level senior managers. A colony, rather small in number, but big in its involvement and expertise, well established, well liked and who brings its know-how and contribution to the development of Cameroon. I am pleased and proud that Tunisians in Cameroon enjoy a good reputation in terms of expertise, discipline and commitment. This is a professional and human investment from which both countries are invariably benefitting.

I absolutely do not want to overshadow another community, Tunisian by adoption, made of many Cameroonians who went to university in Tunisia and who, after returning to Cameroon, have kept a very strong link with Tunisia and do not miss any opportunity to bring their help and support to Tunisia and to promote its image as an open, moderate and secular country. I see them as the surrogate children of Tunisia and its permanent ambassadors in Cameroon. I have met some of them and every time, their words of praise, gratefulness and love for Tunisia have moved me, sometimes to tears.

How many visa applications from Cameroonians are registered every day in your embassy and how many visas are granted on a daily basis?

The number of granted visas is cyclical and the frequency depends on the period. For example, the peak is noted during the months of July to October, and this for an objective reason, being young Cameroonians travelling to Tunisia for their university studies. In fact, study permits represent approximately 60% of the total visas issued. The remainder is spread among medical care, business and tourism. On average, the Embassy grants, every year, between 1,500 and 2,000 visas.

So, between 900 and 1,200 Cameroonians students attend school every year in Tunisian universities, including private ones. Moreover, since the 70’s, the Tunisian State grants every year a number of scholarships for public universities and colleges to Cameroonian high school graduates, amongst other sub-Saharan francophone Africa nationalities. Tunisia also grants other types of scholarships in terms of professional training and Islamic civilisation.

To finish, the Nobel Peace Prize was recently awarded to the Quartet in Tunisia. As a Tunisian ambassador in Cameroon, what does this prize mean to you?

As if often the case, the Nobel committee defied all expectations and took everybody by surprise. They paid homage to a structure from the Tunisian civil society who helped salvage a democratic transition showing signs of failure. Indeed, the Quartet, made up of the main dynamic forces of the country, being the association of trade unions, the employers’ union, the Human Rights League and the bar association, led and brought to a successful conclusion the “National Dialogue”, between the power and the opposition, at a moment where the country was on the brink of civil war.

The Nobel committee wanted to reward uniquely Tunisian concept of “National Dialogue” as an accomplished civil mechanism of dialogue and negotiation, and the Quartet for its decisive contribution to building a pluralist democracy in Tunisia and to have launched and successfully completed, in consensus and moderation, an alternative, pacific political process at a moment where the country was facing a serious political crisis, and this despite the economic and internal security instability and the hostility of the regional environment.

For Tunisia, still confronted to socio-economic and security problems, the Nobel Peace Prize was a breath of fresh air, a historical moment of pride, joy and also surprise. Nobody was expecting Tunisia in its whole to be rewarded. Indeed, the Nobel Committee chose the Tunisian Quartet out of 273 candidates (205 personalities and 68 organisations) to reinforce the triumph of the ideal of dialogue and the search for compromise and to show that the democratic model is still achievable in the Arab world, provided that the notions of dialogue, negotiation and consensus be put at the centre of the process and the objective of the conflicting parties and be the basis for the structure of any crisis resolution process.

You also perceive an economic impact. Which one exactly?

We have to make the Nobel Prize profitable in economic terms, capitalise on this wave of sympathy and transform the international mediatisation into operational prospects to attract more investors, to mobilise even more resources and means and to better promote Tunisia as a destination on various levels, in particular tourism, a sector currently in disaster because of the cowardly terrorist attacks on tourist sites at Bardo and Sousse.

The Nobel Peace Prize is not only an honour or an award, but first and foremost a responsibility and a commitment, involving the entire Tunisian society, to support the progress of Tunisia towards the completion of its own democratic model and towards the optimisation of its socio-economic development framework. Through its message and symbolism, the Nobel Peace Prize is capable of uniting Tunisians and call the international community to better mobilise behind a young experience of democratisation, result of a painful independence process, which as exemplary and irreversible as it may be, is still vulnerable nonetheless.