CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Valentin Siméon Zinga, January 1999
THEME = COOPERATION
Last year, the assembly plant for mechanical cultivators was
opened,
with much official fanfare, in Kribi. But the enthusiasm was somewhat tempered
by memories almost drowned in the waters of oblivion
With great pomp and ceremony, the assembly plant for mechanised cultivators was opened in the town of Kribi in Cameroon's central region. The Hualong Tractor Factory (HTF) was presented as one of the most ordinary results of China-Cameroon cooperation in recent years. The idea of cooperation between the two countries dates back to 1993, when President Paul Biya made a state visit to China, accompanied by a strong delegation of ministers who signed several agreements with their Chinese counterparts.
The cost of the Kribi project?: Nearly one-and-a-half billion CFA francs. The total share capital is valued at 120 billion CFA francs. Up to 60% of the shares is retained by the Hualong Company, while 40% belongs to the Cameroon government. The HTF should produce about 5,000 tractors, 2,500 trailers and other accessories for the market in Cameroon and neighbouring countries. It is hoped that this will result in the mechanisation of agriculture in this part of Africa. One can therefore understand the reaction of the government officials at the plant's opening ceremony in Kribi.
"The choice of investment -þ namely the assembly of multipurpose cultivators, which can be used as a means of transport, as electricity generators or mechanical pumps -þ seems very judicious on many counts. It's an original and fitting answer to the problem of rural development in an area which suffers from an obvious lack of transport for goods and people, and from lack of equipment for work and irrigation, as well as lack of electric power. Thanks to the assembly plant at Kribi for multipurpose tractors, one can reasonably hope that in future, counting on the well-known dynamism and enterprising spirit of the people of Cameroon, there will be more mechanised farms to promote agriculture and a more productive and rewarding economy". So declared Mr Bello Bouba Maigari, Cameroon's Minister for Industrial and Commercial Development, who was invited to cut the ceremonial ribbon to inaugurate the HTF.
During the same ceremony, the HTF's managing director, Zhang Min, declared: "A mechanical cultivator is a tool whose efficacy in agricultural production is well proven (...) I am convinced that the use of this mechanical cultivator will increase farmers' harvests in Cameroon and the whole region, because we plan to distribute it throughout the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC).
The Press was particularly enthusiastic for what was described as "this achievement in China-Cameroon co-operation", and took advantage of the occasion to spread "the good news" among the public. The Press pin-pointed some factors as worthy of special praise, factors, which, when examined more closely, are calculated to temper the euphoria generated by the opening ceremony.
In the first place, there is the cost of the mechanical cultivators. It is rumoured the price will be between 1,250,000 and 1,500,000 CFA francs. Obviously prohibitive for farmers who simply can't afford the money. This means private individuals will find it hard, if not impossible, to buy the machines. The answer is: Farmers must be encouraged to form themselves into groups, so they can cultivate larger areas together by using machinery.
However, the use of machinery in agriculture raises other criticisms. Some say the natural transition from hoe to machinery must pass via the animal-drawn plough. The projected use of mechanical cultivators bypasses the second stage.
Secondly, mechanised agriculture in Cameroon should be preceded by a change in mentality. Farmers are not used to machinery and so they must adjust themselves to another way of working and of production. A farmer must accepts the idea (or perhaps the necessity) of producing more than he consumes.
Another cause for concern: The Hualong Tractor Factory, as both the Cameroon authorities and the Chinese admit, is an assembly plant. Some people see this as just another step in an industrial process begun elsewhere, rather than a more radical first step towards changing a whole way of thinking and producing. They would have preferred that the whole manufacturing process of mechanical cultivators be located in Kribi. This would present a real challenge to young Cameroonians interested in mechanical engineering. Officialdom replies (half in annoyance and half dismissive): "The present choice is determined by the current economic situation".
Observers adopt a "wait-and-see attitude". They have not forgotten the delays that dogged many previous China-Cameroon co- operation projects, some dating back to the state visit to China by President Paul Biya in October 1993.
At that time, there was talk of the twinning agreements already considered to be well-underway, between the Province of Hubei, in south-east China, and the Central Province of Cameroon. Five years later, at the opening of the assembly plant in Kribi, the fine promises extolled on that occasion, as concrete results of the visit by Cameroon's head of state, were forgotten.
Also during that visit, it was learned that some Chinese business men had expressed an interest in Cameroon enterprises which were slated for privatisation. We are forced to admit that the take-over of these enterprises is not now very high on the agenda. Neither, by the way, are defence arrangements, particularly the protection of the Cameroon coast which seemed to interest the Chinese at that time, but who have not achieved much in this area for Cameroon.
Then there was the idea of a car assembly plant in Cameroon. On 27 October 1993, Paul Biya was invited to visit the Beijing Jeep Corporation, a factory, as its name implies, specialising in the manufacture in China of a Jeep-type of vehicle. Franc Krebs, the managing director of the factory, was favourably disposed to the President's invitation to have a similar factory in Cameroon. Since then, nothing has been heard of the idea.
Such is the history of China-Cameroon co-operation, praised last August at Kribi, but conveniently forgetting, of course, the well- known past failures.
What's holding things up? What's causing the hiccups in co- operation? The Chinese say very little when they're asked about it. Perhaps Cameroonians are satisfied in taking for granted promised Chinese aid for the building of the Palais du Congres in Yaounde, for the Lagdo Dam, for hospitals, for the exploitation of bauxite, natural gas etc. Of course, China can always plead its status as being one of the "less advanced countries", especially when compared to the "heavyweights" in partnership with Cameroon -þ chief of whom is France þ with whom it cannot compete.
END
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