The Economic Impact of Telecommunications in the Republic of Cameroon

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the economic impact of telecommunications in the Republic of Cameroon. The empirical analysis conducted suggests that the sector generates a significant direct and indirect economic impact, contributing to 3.74% of the country’s 2018 GDP. From a direct effect standpoint, the Cameroon telecommunications carriers generated US$ 970 million in revenues in 2018 which represented 2.51% of the country’s GDP. Beyond the direct effects, the telecommunications industry has indirectly contributed US$ 476 million on average per year to the whole economy since 2012 (1.23% of the 2018 GDP). This contribution is driven by mobile services (voice and data), but does not consider fixed broadband, which has no economic impact, due to the limited number of subscribers. Sectors mostly impacted by telecommunications were found to be business services (33% of the indirect economic impact), trade (22%), and minerals (8%). Given the economic importance of telecommunications, public policies and regulatory frameworks need to be defined to maximize investment in network deployment, particularly in mobile broadband.