our man in cameroon

So we launched COPAAP Okadas (motorbike taxis aimed at generating funds for our NGO – see here).

There was a brief couple of weeks where we were quietly pleased with our progress despite the occasional hiccup.

While a couple of drivers were slightly behind with their 3,000 CFA rental per day, we felt that the amounts involved were nothing to get too alarmed at.

Then a driver disappears.  Fortunately not with the motorbike.

We hear that he is in Douala and expect his return soon but the break stretches into days. Eventually it appears he’s not coming back.

One of the stipulations in their contract is that if  it’s broken in the early days of employment the driver is liable to pay back all investment in him.  From uniforms to riding lessons – as well as, of course, rental money owing.

And this being Cameroon we planned for such an eventuality as a disappearance.  The reason people employ family so often here is not so much about nepotism but trust.  An employee might think that a couple of hundred dollars is worth doing a flit with and disappearing into a far flung corner of Cameroon, but you’d hope a family member would think twice.

The okada driver was, no doubt, a friend of a friend who was recommended.  And to further guard against the flit his mother, a respected local woman, was his guarantor.

Now sadly, with the driver no longer around, she is stuck with her son’s bill.

I feel very bad about this but don’t want to see COPAAP look like a soft touch. I suggested at our weekly meeting that while she was the guarantor it will still the son owing the money and we should do what we can to chase him instead. An older female African colleague explained that, no,  the mother is in charge she must put things right.  This is how it is in Cameroon.

Meanwhile I’ve turned up today to find out that the Police have impounded one of the other bikes. The driver swears that he did nothing wrong.  I don’t know how accurate that is but I can well believe that it’s simply a money making operation by local cops.

Our system of 3,000 a day hire purchase of the bikes (after a certain amount is paid off they get to keep them) has not included the bonus of free bike use on Sundays.  With some Okada owners Sunday is a free day whereby they pay zero Francs for rental and its all profit.

Personally I’d be in favour of it but have listened to Cameroonian colleagues who think that Sunday is the day when drivers are liable to get drunk and leave the bikes somewhere or have them stolen.  I want to make it clear that this is not my judgement – it’s there’s.

This income generation operation is aimed at boosting everyday funds for COPAAP.  In particular covering the day-to-day running costs that otherwise there simply is no provision for.

I’m still confident of its success and that we can go on to make this work and despite the above issues I’ve seen enough to think that with the right drivers we can make this work.

But what is also true, so far, is that we are seeing a microcosm of why Cameroon is failing. If it isn’t already harming us then the fear of it is.

En-forced nepotism, gender inequality, corruption, alcohol abuse, mistrust …the list goes on. I hesitate to say “work ethic” because I think it’s the most frequently levelled accusation from foreigners and it comes unpleasantly close to a dangerous, and often inaccurate, stereotype – but the signs aren’t good.

It’s not hard to see what entrepreneurship is so limited in Cameroon.  You don’t have to look too hard to see the odds are stacked against any kind of commercial success.

In addition while corruption may be the a cause of this apathy and lack of ambition that haunts Cameroon – it’s not the only problem.

The wider situation:

The 2009 Doing Business Report (the World Bank Groups’ ranking of objective measures of business regulations, enforcements and the suitability for foreign investments across 181 countries of the world) has Cameroon ranked at 164, six spots worse compared to the 2008 ranking and indeed our country is even worse than Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.

You can read the rest here and ask yourself – how did Cameroon get into such a mess?