The disclosure was made by the World Bank’s Country Director for Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, Gregor Hans Binkert during a press conference last Thursday, September 8, in Yaounde. “Studies on unemployment from different African countries will be presented to help discuss adapted and feasible solutions,” he said. Cameroon, he further said, was even more concerned as underemployment averaging 70 per cent in urban areas and 77 per cent in rural areas, remained a greater challenge. With the projection of more than 85 million jobs leaving China to countries with lower wages in the years ahead, the World Bank official saw the urgency for Cameroon to align professional training and education to the human resource and productivity needs of companies.
Outlining the scope of the World Bank’s new strategy for Africa that is based on partnership, knowledge and financing, Binkert explained his institution’s shift of focus to job-creating initiatives like agricultural competitiveness, telecommunications and transport infrastructure as well as assistance to growth-boosting sectors like wood and tourism industries. Binkert’s close collaborator and Lead Economist for Central Africa, Raju Singh, said Cameron could unlock its huge employment potential by improving the business climate, energy supply and enhancing internal sources of growth like agriculture, services, building and public works. “The upcoming annual meetings in Washington D.C. will offer opportunities to discuss projects,” he said.
The Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF occur ahead of the meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Development Committee, the Group of Ten, the Group of Twenty-Four, and various other groups of members. Cameroon’s delegation, the pressmen learnt, will be led by the Minister of Finance and his counterpart of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development.
