Douala, Cameroon
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The Paradox of Policy and Performance: The Case of Small and Medium-size Enterprises and Promotional Agencies in Douala, Cameroon A Research Paper presented by: Njemo Batumani Charles (Cameroon) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Major: Social Policy for Development (SPD) Specialization: Public Policy and Management (PPM) Members of the Examining Committee: Dr. Lee Pegler Dr. Sunil Tankha The Hague, The Netherlands December 2014 Disclaimer: This document represents part of the author's study programme while at the Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam. The views stated therein are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute. Inquiries: International Institute of Social Studies P.O. Box 29776 2502 LT The Hague The Netherlands Telephone +31 70 426 0460 Fax: +31 70 426 0799 Email: [email protected] Website: www.iss.nl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iss.nl Twitter: @issnl Visiting address Kortenaerkade 12 2518 AX The Hague The Netherlands ii Table of Contents Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………..…. v Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………….vi List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………….. vii List of Figures………………………………………………………………….…………………… viii List of Acronyms………………………………………………………..………………………… ix Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………xi Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................... 1 1.0 Objectives of study: .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem Statement: ................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology: ............................................................................................ 2 1.2.1 Respondents and Selection Criteria: ................................................... 2 1.2.2 Quantitative Primary method of data collection: .................................... 3 1.2.3 Qualitative Secondary method of data collection: .................................. 5 1.2.5 Research Question: ............................................................................ 5 1.2.3.2 Structure of the paper: ..................................................................... 6 1.2.4 Limitations and Challenges: ............................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Literature on SMEs ....................................................................... 7 2.0 Overview: .................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Defining SMEs .......................................................................................... 9 2.2 Importance of SMEs................................................................................. 11 2.3 SME Failure: ............................................................................................ 15 2.4 Internal Constraints: ................................................................................ 17 2.5 External Constraints: ............................................................................... 19 2.5 Analytical Framework: ............................................................................... 23 2.5.1 The concept of Good Governance: ........................................................ 24 2.5.2 The Role of Good Governance in Agency Performance: ....................... 26 Chapter 3: Economy, Government, Policy Instruments , Promotional Agencies ............................................................................................................ 30 iii 3.1 Economy: .................................................................................................... 30 3.3 Policy Transition: ........................................................................................ 37 3.4 Promotional Agencies: ............................................................................... 39 3.3 The Study Area - Douala:............................................................................ 45 3.3.1 Introduction:......................................................................................... 45 3.3.2 Economic potentials of Douala: ............................................................ 46 Chapter 4: SMEs’ Constraints and MEPA’s Performance: .................... 48 4.1 Survey Findings:..................................................................................... 48 4.1.1 Constraints faced by SMEs: ................................................................... 50 4.3 Performance of Promotion Agencies: ......................................................... 58 4.4 SMEs and MEPA Paradox: ......................................................................... 63 4.4.1 Triple Helix Paradox: ............................................................................ 63 4.4.1 Relevance of GG : .................................................................................. 66 a. Transparency: ......................................................................................... 66 b. Accountability: .........................................................................................67 Chapter 5: Conclusion: .................................................................................. 69 5.1 Recommendation: ....................................................................................... 69 Annex I. Questionnaire for SMEs ......................................................................... 71 Annex II. Questionnaire for PAs...........................................................................76 References: .......................................................................................................... 78 iv Dedication To my late father M. Njemo Natoah, my beloved family, and above all, to Almighty God, Whose hands hold all matters of life and give me the grace of success in the work that I do. He is my model and support, especially at the hour of my greatest trials and tribulations. He was, is, and will forever be my hope and refuge. v Acknowledgements Knowledge building and transfer is a cumbersome process which was a major challenge. Nontheless, I wish to sincerely “say thank you” to my examining committee - Dr Lee Pegler and Dr Sunil Tankha for their immense support and guidance throughout the writing process. To all my friends and the ISS community, I say thank you for your support. vi List of Tables Table 1: Share of enterprises in the economies of SSA .......................................... 8 Table 2: SME definitions used by multilateral institutions ................................... 9 Table 3: SME definitions by the European Union ............ Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4: Enterprise definition by employee size and turnover ............................. 11 Table 5: Internal vs external constraints ............................................................. 20 Table 6: Transparency in business regulation and good business practices in 6 economies ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 7: Cameroon’s CPI between 2009 - 2013 ................................................... 36 Table 8: Lists of SMEs support agencies and institutions .................................... 41 Table 9: Summary of MEPA ................................................................................ 43 Table 10: Cameroon’s CPI between 2009 - 2013 ................................................ 50 Table 11: Benchmarking SMEs needs against MEPA performance with internal practices.. ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. vii List of Figures Figure 1: Share of GDP by sector ......................................................................... 13 Figure 2: Share of labour force by sector ............................................................. 13 Figure 3: Ease to do business ranking out of 189 economies .............................. 33 Figure 4: Policy actions, their implementation, monitoring, outputs and impacts ............................................................................................................................. 39 Figure 5: Organigram of MEPA ........................................................................... 44 Figure 6: Unemployment rate 2010 (%) ........... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 7: Respondents by employee size ............................................................. 48 Figure 8: Responses by position in enterprise ..................................................... 49 Figure 9: Respondents level of awareness of SMEs PAs ...................................... 52 Figure 10: SMEs internal obstacles ......................................................................53 Figure 11: SMEs external obstacles ..................................................................... 54 Figure 12: Structures that support SMEs ............................................................. 55 Figure 13: Barriers to SMEs development ........................................................... 56 Figure 14: Services most important to SMEs ........................................................ 57 Figure 15: Services most important to SMEs ........................................................ 57 Figure 16: Proposed balance scorecard for MEPA ............................................... 65 viii List of Acronyms ADB……………………..Asian Development Bank AfDB ..................African