Petroleum Products Price Fluctuations and Economic Growth in Cameroon

Commodity exports have over the years been the main source of foreign exchange earnings to most developing countries. This is especially the case with crude oil producing countries such as Cameroon since the discovery of oil in the late 1970s. However, as evident in the economic crises era of the mid 1980s, this exposes the commodity dependent country to heavy external shocks such as price fluctuations which affect the level of growth of the country. It is in this light that this study was conducted to examine the effect of petroleum products (crude oil) price fluctuations on the economic growth of Cameroon. Secondary data from1980 to 2013 were used to estimate the coefficients of the ordinary least square technique used to analyse the dependency between the dependent and independent variables of the phenomenon. The results obtained reveal that petroleum product prices have a positive significant effect on the economic growth of Cameroon, while the volume of trade to GDP (openness) and real interest rate have a negative significant effect on the economic growth of the country. Human factors (demand and supply imbalances, and interest rates) and natural factors (geographical location and resource endowment) are the principal causes of variations in the prices of petroleum products among different regions. From these, it is suggested that for Cameroon to benefit from the global trade process by opening up to the rest of the world, the revenue generated from crude oil exploitation should be re-directed towards investment in both human and physical capital so as to enhance the productive capacity of the nation, especially in the manufacturing and transport sectors

The Impact of Key Monetary Variables on the Economic Growth of the CEMAC Zone

This study seeks to empirically explore the impact of key monetary policy variables on the economic growth in the CEMAC zone from the period of 1981 to 2015. Carried out using the Ex post facto research design based on the principal components selection approach, the study interacts money supply, interest rate, economic growth, and inflation rate, among themselves and their lagged values using the Vector Auto-regressive (VAR) analytical technique. The Classical quantity theory of money, the Cambridge Cash Balanced, the liquidity preference theory and the Monetarists as theoretical frameworks were explored to appreciate the time trends of the selected variables on the economic growth of the CEMAC zone. Based on the (VAR) methodology, the study reveals that key monetary policy variables influence economic growth of the CEMAC zone in different ways with inflation rate as the impact factor. On the basis of the above findings and the evidence from other studies, lending and inflation rate generated substantial destabilizing impacts on the economic growth, suggesting that the monetary authorities should play a critical role in creating an enabling environment for growth. The determination of the optimal lending rate should reflect the overall internal rate of returns in the productive sectors with due attention to market fundamentals. In line with this, the Central Bank of CEMAC should be given complete instrumental autonomy to operate depending on a set of in-built targets by the individual countries of the zone. Effective monetary targeting and accommodating monetary policies should be designed and implemented as the need arises with little or no political motives

Households’ choices of healthcare services in the north west region of Cameroon

Efficient healthcare systems in developing economies are significant indicators of development. Health can either be optimised households’ choices between preventive and curative healthcare services. In Cameroon like other developing countries, domestic healthcare service is either considered to be a normal or luxury good to households with competing alternative providers such as the public and private providers. To examine the healthcare preferences of households in the North West Region of Cameroon, a purposive sample of 300 households were collected and analysed using a multinomial logistic model. Households’ characteristics such as sex and age of household heads, marital status of household heads and monthly income as well as providers’ specific characteristics such as the reputation of the healthcare providers are significant determinants households ‘healthcare choices. Implicitly the reputation of the healthcare provider serves as a signal for households to overcome information asymmetry on the quality of healthcare services offered. This study suggests that standardizing the measure of reputation of healthcare providers would be an efficient signal of quality to healthcare clients. Also, household access to quality healthcare can be improved with efficient healthcare support programs and deferred payment options.Keywords: Healthcare Services; Healthcare Providers; Multinomial Logistic Model; Healthcare Systems; Primary Healthcar