Flavien Kouatcha checks his mail daily, hoping to see a response to the adverts he has posted online to find customers. He is the founder of Save Our Agriculture, an agro-business startup in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala. Kouatcha produces acquaponic kits which enable farmers to grow crops and rear fish in the same water, thereby saving space and water.

"Our customers are few because we are targeting small farmers in rural areas where the Internet connectivity has remained a problem. But we are hoping things will change in the near future," Kouatcha told ChinAfrica.

Cameroon is referred to as the breadbasket of the Central African sub-region because of its large food exports to countries in the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

Kouatcha is hoping to sell his products in this large market.

Kwajika Roland, whose graphic design startup Duracana is almost 18 months old, also thinks his company would be more profitable if Cameroon had a vibrant digital economy.

"Despite the fact that we have an online presence, we depend on a person-to-person relationship to sell our services, which is relatively difficult. So far, I can rate our performance on a scale of 3/10," Roland said.

Glimmer of hope

Like Roland and Kouatcha, many youths in the country are hoping for an improved digital economy to be able to explore the full potential of their ideas and innovations.

They include Arthur Zang, inventor of Cardiopad, a touch-screen medical tablet that can be used to perform heart examinations such as the electrocardiogram at remote villages, after which the results can be sent to specialists in a different location for diagnosis; Patrick Ehode, inventor of Taxi Vairified, an app to ensure passenger security in taxis; and Yann Carrel Amougou, inventor of Gotoschool, which identifies students absent from class.

According to Ariel Ngnitedem, an expert on public finance, the government is working to promote digital economy. Ngnitedem said President Paul Biya has instructed Minister of Post and Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng to improve the country’s digital infrastructure as well as establish a public key infrastructure in Cameroon’s public administration. This will facilitate a range of activities such as e-banking and e-commerce.

The government has also made one of the three privately owned network service providers in Cameroon serve mostly rural areas, as a step toward boosting mobile phone penetration in the country.

Making up for lost time

Digital economy became the new buzzword in Cameroon after President Biya’s address to the nation on December 31, 2015. Biya said the country needs to develop a digital economy, which would accelerate growth and create youth employment.

Vukenkeng Andrew Wujung, a lecturer of economics at Cameroon’s University of Bamenda, told ChinAfrica that on March 23, the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Development of Digital Economy in Cameroon was formed to help accelerate the development of the digital economy. All government programs are expected to be aligned to the plan, with each ministry to forward strategic initiatives to the committee.

Economic impact

According to Wujung, Cameroon has a strong agricultural sector, with commercial cultivation of coffee, sugar, banana, cocoa, rubber, tea and cassava.

Faltering oil production and a sharp decline in global crude oil price have been causing Cameroon’s current account deficit to widen over the years. The country also faces instability in some places, especially in the northern part, threatening to spread to the economically dominant south.

Cameroon’s observed average economic growth rate from 2010 to 2015 was slightly above 4 percent. The World Bank has projected a growth rate of 4.8 to 5.4 percent by 2020.

Wujung said this calls for renewed attention to identify policy areas that can boost growth. Though Cameroon boasts the largest and most diverse economy in the ECCAS, the government has started to publicly recognize that it must improve its investment climate.

The decision to set digitalization as a pivot of economic growth is a step in the right direction, Wujung said.

In Cameroon, digitalization contributes to 5 percent of the GDP, Likeng told participants at an international economic forum in Yaounde in May 2015.

At the same meeting, Bruno Mettling, Deputy CEO of network operator Orange Group’s Middle East and Africa operations, said Cameroon has great potential to switch over from a traditional to digital economy.

Li Jiguang, Vice President of Huawei Central and Western Africa, agreed with Mettling and noted that Cameroon has the potential to move to a digital economy. Almost 80 percent of Cameroonians use mobile phones; however, only a fraction of this figure has Internet access.

Finance expert Ngnitedem says the influx of affordable Chinese smartphones into the Cameroonian market could turn the tide and "definitely be an asset to Cameroon’s digital economy, not only for rural areas but also for poor neighborhoods in urban areas."

With increased Internet range and smartphone access, entrepreneurs like Kouatcha and Roland may find their businesses getting the digital injection they so desperately need.

(Reporting from Cameroon)