Doing Business and Transparency International have so far placed Cameroon in a disturbing position.

Every year, the World Bank's Doing Business programme and German-based Transparency International publish their reports on the business environment among selected nations and the corruption index respectively in a bid to measure the World socio-economic and political trends.

Doing Business in effect, investigates regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. The report presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies. A set of regulations affecting 10 stages of a business's life are measured: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business.

The 2010 report puts Cameroon in a very disturbing position. As far as ease of doing business is concerned, Cameroon is reported to occupy 171st position out of 183. Other rankings are as follows: starting a business, 174th, dealing with construction permits, 164th, employing workers, 126th, registering property, 143rd, getting credit, 135th, protecting investors, 119th, paying taxes, 170th, trading across borders, 149th, enforcing contracts, 174th, and closing business, 98th.

According to Doing Business, it takes at least 34 days to start a business, 426 days to obtain a construction permit, 93 days to register property, 23 days to trade across borders, 800 days to get contracts through, and 3.2 years to close business.

The story is not different on the Transparency International report for 2009. The report tells of Cameroon as still having a corruption problem. "In Cameroon, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Uganda, more than 50 per cent of respondents reported paying a bribe in the past 12 months", the reported stated. This situation deters investors many who foresee bribery as the leeway to getting installed.

Companies must do more, according to the report, to address the challenges posed by corruption. More than half of those polled in the survey process believed that the private sector uses bribes to influence public policy, laws and regulations. Half of respondents view the private sector as corrupt.