Those that live up to expectations will be beefed up to enhance their competitiveness.

The government of Cameroon has set out conditions to be fulfilled by local companies seeking upgrading within the framework of the government-European Union Support Programme for Improving the Competitiveness of the Economy in Cameroon (PACOM).

According to a press statement issued after the fourth steering committee session of Enterprise Upgrading, companies eligible for this programme must operate in the steel, metal, textile, clothing and textile, agro-foods, tourism, construction, electronics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and leather and shoe manufacturing sectors. The companies must have a business turnover ranging from FCFA 50 million to FCFA six billion excluding taxes, be Cameroonian enterprises with Cameroonian-own majority shares and must have been operating for at least two years.

They must produce a non-indebtedness attestation, taxes, National Social Insurance Fund attestation, business register and contribution card. They are equally expected to produce certified statements of their finances, possess an  industrial processing certificate that represents more than 70 per cent of their business turnovers for the last fiscal year, wilfully adhere to the national upgrading programme as well as have the technical and organisational capacities needed to conduct the upgrading process.

Meanwhile, for consulting firms, those desiring must be legally constituted and should have been operating for at least one year, produce a non-indebtedness attestation, taxes, National Social Insurance Fund attestation, business register and contribution card and must have worked to support  small and medium-size enterprises. They must also have at least two senior permanent staff in the domain of upgrading or quality. It must also show proof of collaboration between the experts solicited and the consulting firms.

The objective of the programme is to strengthen the competitiveness of the Cameroonian economy by improving the company performance and to support the implementation of the two components of business strategy desired by the State notably development of comparative advantages of competitive chains on export markets (regional and international) and development of domestic enterprises in the domestic market including the axis of the subcontract.

The 10 million Euros (about FCFA 6.5 billion) programme consists in the upgrading of small and medium-size enterprises in the productive sector of the industrial and agribusiness sectors, strengthening standardization and quality and increasing availability of skills and support structures to businesses.