Since early 1987, the ODI has been engaged on a major piece of research under the general title: 'Industrialisation in sub-Saharan Africa ', involving in-depth case studies of seven African countries: Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The case study work falls into two distinct parts. First an analysis of the industrialisation process from the early 1960s to the mid-1990s, followed by discussion of the options for and possibilities of accelerated industrialisation the late 1980s and 1990s. This Working Paper presents the first phase of the research for Cameroon.

The study concludes that, after a close look at Cameroon's experience with diversifying its resource-rich economy, the result of industrialisation is one of disorientation and under-utilisation of available policy instruments, much of it due to inadequate, poorly processed basic data, and to an overly accommodating application of economic ground rules.