Overview

Cameroon joined the World Bank in 1963. Since then, World Bank assistance has focused on helping the country achieve sustainable economic growth while reducing poverty. For more on the World Bank in Cameroon, visit the Country Brief .

Interim Strategy Note, FY 2007 - 2008

In December 2006, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors discussed the joint FY07-08 IDA/IFC Interim Strategy Note (ISN) for Cameroon. The ISN extends the FY04-06 Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) to ensure that the next CAS—envisioned as a joint strategy with other development partners—is aligned with Cameroon’s second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The Government has begun revising the PRSP, with an expected completion date of 2008.

The ISN takes into account several changes in the development context—changes that provide Cameroon with an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate development and get back on track for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These changes include Cameroon’s attainment of the completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in April 2006, which has freed up significant financial resources; heightened resolve by the country’s political leadership and national stakeholders to tackle the relatively weak state of governance and the high prevalence of corruption; and the new aid environment created by the Paris Declaration of 2005, which is helping build momentum for increased development effectiveness.

The ISN builds on the two pillars of the FY04-06 CAS: strengthening the institutional framework for pro-poor economic management and service delivery and reducing selected constraints to, and directly supporting, private sector development, while introducing adjustments to reflect the country’s changing development context and the World Bank’s Africa Action Plan (AAP). These adjustments embody three guiding principles for World Bank Group support: stepping up efforts to address governance, notably by reducing corruption; strengthening partnership, alignment, and harmonization; and strengthening management for results, based on a modified ISN results framework organized around six outcome clusters.