(Business in Cameroon) – For many years, agriculture has been the largest employer in Cameroon. However, according to the 2024 country report from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the role of agriculture in job creation has significantly declined from 1990 to 2018.
The report shows that the share of agricultural jobs in total employment in Cameroon was only 54% in 2018, down from 75% in 1990. This marks a 21% drop over 30 years. The AfDB highlights that this decline began in the mid-1990s, following the government’s pullback from key agricultural industries like cocoa and coffee, as well as the privatization of the banana sector, which included the liquidation of the National Office for the Marketing of Agricultural Products (ONCPB) and the Cameroon Banana Office (OCB).
The report states that the decline in agricultural employment has been offset by growth in the services sector. Specifically, the share of jobs in wholesale and retail trade rose from 7.3% in 1990 to 17.7% in 2018. In other words, while agricultural jobs decreased amid privatization and liberalization of cocoa, coffee, and banana industries, the commercial sector in Cameroon flourished.
Meanwhile, massive recruitment into the civil service increased the share of public sector jobs, which rose from 1.8% in 1990 to 6.4% in 2018. The report also notes a slight increase in manufacturing jobs, which grew from 5.6% in 1990 to 8.9% in 2018. However, the report points out that the manufacturing sector has been the least dynamic in terms of job creation.
The AfDB concludes that the current distribution of employment across sectors does not indicate a strong industrial development and is far from the structural transformation Cameroon seeks.
