2018 State Budget : Opportunities Abound For Local Enterprises

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2018 State Budget : Opportunities Abound For Local Enterprises

This year’s State budget previews some FCFA 1,291.5 billion for investment projects which local ente

17 janv. 2018 13:15

Cameroon’s economic machinery is essentially oiled by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) that form about 94 per cent of the economic fabric. These SMEs are involved in diverse fields of the economy including civil engineering (for infrastructure), electrical and water engineering (electricity and water), general service providers as well as consultancies for studies amongst others. During the current financial year, the State budget for the Republic of Cameroon is balanced in income and expenditure at FCFA 4,513.5 billion with investment to gulp FCFA 1,291.5 billion (28.6 per cent) of the total sum. According to statistics from the website of the Ministry of Public Contracts (MINMAP) the amount is allotted to fund some 5,339 projects nationwide. Apart from the investment projects, the government machinery will also need to function with some facilities like office stationaries and furniture which will certainly be supplied by local enterprises, a great deal of them are involved in this line of business as suppliers.

With the foregoing therefore, opportunities are abound for local enterprises in the 2018 financial year. The enterprises will have a myriad of projects to postulate especially as the government has opted to support Cameroonian owned companies. Cameroonian SMEs are given preference in public procurement with at least 15 per cent quota as explained by the Director General of Economy and Investment Programming in MINEPAT, Prof Isaac Tamba. As the government operationalises “economic patriotism, national preferences for public procurement is imbibed in the 2004 Public Contracts law. Following the difficult global economic situation in 2017 due to fall in oil and raw material prices, the State treasury was deeply affected leading to accrued debts owed local SMEs. But the Head of State, has ordered during his end of year speech that attention should be paid to these debts so that SMEs can have liquidity and remain in business. Cameroon Business Today learnt from the senior official of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development that some FCFA 200 billion have been allocated in the budget to service these internal debts owed SMEs in 2018.

The 2018 budget will be executed...