The historic date for the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and Cameroon is there.

Doubting Thomases may now down their sceptical analyses. The ball, in effect, is now in the court of businesses. Government has played its role of administrator paving the way for real action to begin.

The last of such facilitating administrative measures ahead of today’s D-day was the discussion held at the commercial city of Douala last April between the government represented by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development and some members of the private sector organised at the initiative of the office in charge of upgrading Cameroon’s business enterprises. That meeting held within certain challenges, some, if all of which are still valid today.

At that time there was talk of a significant drop in the price of oil by 46 per down to around 40 dollars a barrel and other export crops by 5.1 per cent with timber prices falling by 21 per cent, cotton by 17 per cent, Robusta coffee by 14 per cent, aluminium by 11 per cent and rubber by 8 per cent. All these were said to be having dangerous signals as indicated by the 6 per cent drop in export revenue. The situation was and continues to be feared to worsen in the course of the year especially with the country’s security crisis exacerbated by the Boko Haram insurgency.

The effect is already being felt in the export sector and local industries need to sit up especially as some locally made products are already facing stiff competition from products coming in from Asia and where country is virtually serving as a dumping ground for cheap and incidentally low quality products. As the EPA goes operational, it is no longer time to ask how prepared is our industries? How many of them do exist? What is the quality of their performance? Shall they be ready for the competition? In effect, since the deal had been sealed, the real issue now is how do Cameroonian businesses adjust to face the new dispensation?

This in effect, is the real challenge and from all indications, government is quite aware of what challenges Cameroonian actors are getting into. A Presidential Decree signed yesterday lays down the guidelines on the implementation of the agreement in a bid to avoid any derailment. The EPA sounds like a trap but can be a haven for Cameroonian enterprises if its opportunities are well explored and exploited.