National Development Strategy: Study Advocates Acceleration Of Import-Substitution

The Advanced School of Translation and Interpretation’s (ASTI) Hall of the University of Buea was jam-packed by scholars and other dignitaries who sho­ wed up to witness Ewane Clifford Ngabe’s PhD thesis public defence in partial fulfilment for the award of a Doctoral Degree in Political Science with speciality in Political Economy. The can­ didate whose study titled “Cameroon’s National Development Strategies and Socio-Economic Challenges: An Evalua­ tion of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP)”, x-rayed the go­ vernment blueprint economy programme that spanned from 2010-2020. Before a six-man jury chaired by Prof James Abangma Arrey, Ewane Clifford Ngabe dissected the Growth and Stra­ tegy Paper, arguing that the policy did not attain the set objectives of reducing poverty to the barest minimum, creating jobs and providing adequate infrastruc­ ture. “My findings indicate that the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper made great strides in many sectors, but the success was greatly mitigated by many challenges that the country faced. These challenges played on the great efforts that the State did in achieving the GESP.” Dr Ewane Ngabe further un­ derscored that “the GESP, though we can neither say it failed nor succeeded, it however made great strides in many areas which I think were taken into consideration durin...