Yaounde — Cameroon will make good use of the recommendations of the Economic Report on Africa 2014, said the country's Minister Delegate in the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development - Mr Yaouba Abdoulaye as he launch the report in Yaounde this Thursday.

The report calls for the adoption by African states of industrial policies that are germane to their own local contexts and the creation of strong institutions with the mandate of formulating and pushing through such policies.

Speaking to a cross section of Cameroonian government officials, resident diplomats, academics, entrepreneurs, journalists and postgraduate students in economics and related fields, Mr Abdoulaye appreciated the depth of the analysis of the document, which he said would help African states to bolster their development, while underscoring the resolve of the Government of Cameroon to prioritise industrial transformation as a backbone of the country's emergence.

The depth of the analysis of the Report also received praise from Cameroon's Employers Organisation (GICAM) through Prof Benjamin Fomba. He said for the country to effectively industrialise, it would need to make huge efforts to reduce its energy deficit, which he feared could still be in the region of 40 per cent by 2030.

During the launch, connections were made between the Economic Report on Africa and a new tool developed by ECA to help African governments achieve socially inclusive transformation, styled the African Social Development Index. Measurements made for the Index piloted in five African countries, including Cameroon, show only a slight reduction in human exclusion (and in some cases, an increase in exclusion) with regards to access to health, education, productive resources, social services and civil and human rights; as well as with respect to the removal of political, gender and cultural barriers to development. ECA plans to continue dialogue with its member states in the coming months to build capacities in order for countries to own and appropriate the Index and subsequently strive to achieve the social, economic and political inclusion of their societies.

The event was an opportunity for the both the Director General of the Sub Regional Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (ISSEA) - Mr Thierry MAMADOU ASNGAR (who hosted the event) and the Director of the Sub-regional Office of ECA for Central Africa - Mr Emile Ahohe to reaffirm their cooperation ties and reassure Central African states of their institution's continuous support towards the social and economic development of the sub-region.