The productive capacities of more than 200 companies operating in growth sectors such as agro-industry, textile, public works and wood will be strengthened during the next four years within the National Programme to Upgrade Cameroonian Companies better known under its French acronym, PNMAN. The revelation was made Wednesday November 3, 2010, in Yaounde at a workshop organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, UNIDO, under the auspices of the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, MINEPAT.
Introducing the study, Chouki Chaib Cherif, consultant, explained that over a thousand small, medium and large companies were thoroughly examined as well as the business environment in which they operate. The study, he said, revealed that despite incentives put in place by government to boost industrial activity, the industrial sector remained very weak because of factors like a high fiscal pressure, difficult access to loans, tariff barriers in the sub-region, among others. With the upcoming implementation of the economic partnership agreement and the fast changes occurring in international markets, he affirmed that Cameroonian businesses needed to upgrade their activities to meet international standards.
Speaking earlier, the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Louis Paul Motaze stated that the implementation of the provisions of the economic partnership agreement signed with the European Union on January 15, 2009 created an apprehension within the Cameroonian business community that in a free exchange market, they could be exposed, without preparation, to strong international competition. “Several sectors will be threatened if the appropriate measures are not taken to strengthen the capacities of local businesses,” he emphasised. This, he continued, explained why the government conceived the National Programme to Upgrade Cameroonian Companies in preparation for the implementation of the economic partnership agreement and government’s ambitious economic programme contained in the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper.
According to the experts who did the study, the PNMAN programme will build the capacities of eligible companies to improve on the quality of their products and increase their exports. The first phase is expected to cost over FCFA 21 billion for a period of four years.
During the workshop, a partnership agreement was signed between MINEPAT and the Douala-based Ken Atlantic company whereby the latter was granted a financial assistance of FCFA 19 million to enable it meet up with standards required to boost its production and exports in textile and clothing to mainly American markets under the American Growth and Opportunities Act, AGOA.
