Biya’s 283,443 jobs in 2014?

Many Cameroonians say President Biya’s statistics on job creation in the country are too good to be true. But some others say consider the figures as valid
By Mercy Neba in Douala
In his traditional state of the nation address on Wednesday, 31 December, 2014, President Paul Biya announced in a somewhat joyous tone the creation of 283,443 jobs in Cameroon in 2014 alone. This is pleasant to hear, but at the same time it raises a number of questions in the minds of critical observers.
    What was the method used to count these jobs? In which sectors of activity were the jobs created? Are they short-term or long-term jobs? For a country that is writhing in the pangs of unemployment and underemployment, these questions ought to be answered if the President’s figures are not to be taken with a pinch of salt. For, according to the Strategic Document for Growth and Employment (SDGE), the country has an unemployment rate of 31.1% and an underemployment rate of 70%.

    The creation of 283,443 jobs in the country would mean an increase by 33,443 if the forecast of 250,000 jobs in President Biya’s 2013 end-of-year speech is taken into consideration. For this reason, boggling minds ask further questions: where are these figures from? Are they in conformity with the daily realities lived by Cameroonians?
    An economist, Serges Armel Fotso, who spoke to the press after the President’s address, said the figures are correct and are in line with the growth rate of Cameroon’s economy. Explained he:
    “Every economy that grows creates jobs. The growth rate depends on the increase of investments in a country at a given period (one year, for instance). The more there is investment (that is, increase in wealth in a country) the higher the figure. Conversely, the global wealth of a country can also reduce when, for instance, businessmen fail or delocalize, that is, when they massively displace their businesses to another country).
    “This movement causes a reduction in the wealth of the country and, when on three consecutive semesters we have growth that is below 0%, we say the country is in recession. But this is not the case of Cameroon…To invest, people are recruited and jobs are created. The operation is therefore summarized thus: the more there is investment, the more jobs there are (to make the investments practicable) and the more rapid the growth.
    “Therefore when Cameroon experiences a 4.9% growth rate it means that the totality of wealth in the country has increased by 4.9%. This rate corresponds to investments, so there at the same time people who are recruited to work. It is therefore not surprising that all these investments have generated 284,000 jobs in one year.”