Better access to improved infrastructureservices is an important engine for economic growth. Thepoor state of infrastructure is a key bottleneck to growthin African countries, and Cameroon is no exception. Between2000 and 2005, improvements in information and communicationtechnologies boosted Cameroon's growth performance by1.26 percentage points per capita, while deficient powerinfrastructure held growth back by 0.28 percentage points.If Cameroon could improve its infrastructure to the level ofthe middle-income countries of Africa, the growth effectcould be on the order of 3.3 percentage points. Cameroon hasmade significant progress in many aspects of infrastructure.Across a broad range of sectors, the country has madeserious efforts to implement institutional reforms with aview to attracting private sector investment. Private sectorconcessions have been awarded for the Port of Douala, theCAMRAIL railway, the national power utility, and thenational water utility (CDE). These arrangements havegenerally led to performance improvements and attractedsignificant volumes of finance. Power supply remainsexpensive and unreliable. Cameroon needs to accelerate thedevelopment of some of its prime hydropower sites, whichwould greatly improve the domestic power situation andpotentially allow Cameroon to play its natural role ashydropower exporter to the Central African Power Pool.Cameroon's information and communication technology(ICT) reform remains frozen at an early stage. The telecomincumbent, CAMTEL, remains state-owned and receivessubstantial public subsidy. The mobile sector is relativelyuncompetitive, operating as a duopoly. Moreover, whileCameroon enjoys access to a submarine cable, CAMTEL'smonopoly control over the international gateway hasprevented consumers from benefiting.
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