Foreign Direct Investment And Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises In The Realms Of Investment Laws In Cameroon : A Strict Appraisal Of The Incentive-Based Approach

Abstract

The incessant proliferation of diverse defies plaguing investments in general and foreign direct investments (FDIs) in particular in the world over have led to deteriorating and devastating effects to human kind and the business environment in such a way that if nothing is done to obviate it, it will only lead to egregious anomalies, wanton incongruities and why not the complete obliteration of some investments albeit in the sector of Small and medium-sized enterprises. In the contemporary world today especially the less developed and developing world, Foreign direct investments stand out to be the most common tool of development, but when they are not properly harnessed and managed due to some ills and economic nightmares like embezzlement, corruption, looting of funds and wide spread incompetence, it becomes pedantic and arcane to the very development it so intended. These nightmares and challenges are multi-facetted and spring from different directions to wit; the investor, the investing state and the local population. The issue is worsened when the investor gangs with some few stakeholders of the state as against the state and the entire population leaving us in a state of literal ecstasy to ponder whether or not, it still falls under the very objectives of foreign direct investments. It must be emphasized that, although incentives are generally good measures for the boosting of investments, it does not give any impetus on the parties or stakeholders to the investments to relinquish their efforts given that there can never be a successful investment without challenges, FDIs business inclusive. FDIs are generally enforced by a number regulation and supervisory bodies both in Cameroon and abroad as the investing partner must also ensure that his investments are save. From this stance however, several national laws and international legal instruments as well as national and international institutions aimed at arriving at a solution have been envisaged. But it is rather with regrets that, the so many institutions and legal instruments not leaving out incentives arrived at are not apt enough to curb and curtail the challenges to the effectiveness of FDIs on SMEs in Cameroon. If nothing is done to this present status quo, impending doom awaits Cameroons SMEs. This paper therefore focuses on an in-depth analysis of the incentive-based approach with particular emphasis on the specialized institutions charged with the implementation and the executing of incentives for development in the sector of SMEs. To attain this objective, the secondary method of data collection and the qualitative method of data analysis were employed.