Cameroon’s Labor Market Dynamics and Prospects

Abstract

Abstract Cameroon has experienced substantive economic growth in the past two decades between 2001 and 2019, but this growth has not been inclusive enough to provide jobs to hundreds of thousands of new Cameroonian job-seekers entering the market every year. This chapter provides a comprehensive assessment of the Cameroon’s labour market, with a focus on the dynamics and patterns of key labour market indicators and factors affecting the performance in the labour market. Our analysis uses both macro- and micro-economic approaches and combines country-level times-series data from the World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI) and household survey data (ECAM) produced by the Cameroon’s National Institute of Statistics. In terms of findings, first we observe an overall limited increase of the capacity of the Cameroonian economy to absorb its labour force, with a fluctuating pattern over time. Second, we show that the positive dynamics observed in labour force participation, employment and unemployment actually hide the precarity of jobs and poor working conditions prevailing in the country. Third, our results reveal that significant gaps persist across different groups of the population in terms of labour market outcomes, and women, youth, low-educated people, and population of northern regions of the country are the most affected groups by the scarcity of formal and decent jobs. Finally, our analysis also corroborates previous findings of the literature showing that gender, education, area of residence, and economic sector of employment are key drivers of the labour market outcomes in Cameroon. From a policy perspective, we argue that to mitigate the growing demographic pressure in Cameroon’s labour market and convert it into a demographic dividend, there is a need to accelerate the structural transformation of the Cameroonian economy, invest more in education and human capital, and therefore set up conditions for extensive job creation in more formal and more productive sectors. Additionally, targeted economic policies aiming to formalize the labour market, expand social protection programs, especially for women and youth, would help improving employment and earning prospects for the growing and young Cameroonian population.