The 2009 general census of businesses also reveals these businesses employ more than 300,000 workers.

In 2009, Cameroon counted 93,969 companies and business establishments during the General Census of Businesses organised between August and November 2009 by the National Institute of Statistics, NIS, and published last week on October 20, 2010 in Douala as part of celebrations to mark the World Statistics Day. The census was interested in all modern production units localised and exercising their activities in fixed or permanent places.

According to the results of the census now available on the NIS website, 33,004 of the business units are in Douala while 22,436 are in Yaounde. Hence, 59 per cent for both cities, explaining their strong demographic affluence, while the rest of the country hosts 41 per cent of business establishments counted. In terms of activities, the tertiary sector carries 86,5 per cent of businesses, while the secondary sector and primary sector share 13,1 per cent and 0,4 per cent, respectively.

Sole proprietorships or individual companies represent 89 per cent of the modern businesses while public companies, limited liability and uni-personal companies represent less than 11 per cent of the businesses surveyed. In other words, eight commercial businesses out of 10 are owned by individuals. The public limited companies are mostly owned by expatriates of particularly French, European and American origin.

Looking at employment, the businesses surveyed employ 386,263 permanent workers, 73 per cent of whom are men while women make up just 27 per cent. “Even by adding 43,495 temporary workers, only 429,758 jobs are obtained in the business sector, that is only 4,3 per cent of the active population estimated at 10 million persons in 2009,” remarks the report adding that companies reveal their weak capacity to create jobs, beside the 196,056 workers employed in the public service. This weak employment capacity explains the fragility of the modern business sector and its incapacity to create decent, salaried jobs for the majority of the active population which finds refuge in the informal sector doing precarious activities.

Economically, all companies surveyed produced a total turnover of FCFA 10,255 billion in 2008 with 59,7 per cent from Douala and 14,1 per cent from Yaounde.

In the course of the census, businessmen generally submitted that there were obstacles to a sound business environment in Cameroon. Fifty-eight per cent among them cited fiscal pressure as the main obstacle while corruption, access to loans, unfair competition, infrastructure, cost of finance loans, insufficient dialogue between the private sector and public powers, insufficiency of energy, transport and the functioning of justice were also enumerated as key obstacles.

Lastly, NIS notes that the report shows the effect of the economic crises lived in the 80s and 90s on the private sector while reinforcing the pertinence of the measures projected in the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper, GESP.