Cameroon loses 3 points in world classification of competitive economies

Cameroon has lost three points in the World’s classification of Competitive Economies. According to the World Economic Forum, Cameroon has been ranked 115th out of 148 countries.

In other to reverse the trend, the National Council for Regulation and Competitivity has proposed a series of measures. The ranking of countries by the World Economic Forum is a measure of competitivity which looks at variables like institutional frameworks, infrastructure, public health, primary education and the macroeconomic environment.

The 2013/2014 report classifies Cameroon on the 115th position out of 148 countries which means that the country has regressed by three places and recorded its lowest performance in the past three years.

Instead of contesting some of the variables, the National Council for Regulation and Competitivity has identified some of the factors given the country its poor classification.

These include a decline in the supply of electricity, a low life expectancy resulting from poor health services as well as purely business factors like corruption, access to financing and inadequate infrastructure. To these can be added administrative bottlenecks, complex physical policies and crippling taxes.

In order therefore to improve on Cameroon’s ranking in future reports by the World Economic Forum, these issues must be squarely addressed and more economic reforms undertaken by the government in major domains like the management of public funds, the provision of health services and basic education, the construction of more road infrastructure and the increasing use of information and communication technologies in all sectors of national life.