E-Government Development in Cameroon

The Cameroonian Government attaches great importance to the digital transformation. In 2011, the National Agency for Information and Communication Technology (l'Agence Nationale des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication, ANTIC) presented a draft of its e-Government strategy, EGOV.CM developed in collaboration with the United Nations University (UNU). Although the draft was not adopted then, it was later used as a material for Cameroon's Digital Strategy 2020. 

The adopted strategy covers 8 strategic areas, namely: increasing the production and supply of digital content, ensuring the digital transformation of state institutions and companies, improving governance and institutional support. This digital strategy was aligned with Cameroon’s Vision 2035 for sustainable socio-economic development and is currently being updated.

A range of public institutions provide the foundation for the development of digital public services, such as: the Telecommunications Regulatory Board (TRB) under the auspices of MINPOSTEL, the National Agency for ICT (ANTIC), the computer divisions in government departments and the National Centre for the Development of Computer Services (CENADI).

Major e-Government initiatives were launched to digitize records of state personnel, salaries (SIGIPES), public finances (SIGEFI), customs transactions (ASYCUDA), transport titles (driving license, car ownership) (SYSTAC) and electoral documents (ELECAM), etc.

Nevertheless most of the digital government platforms are not yet interconnected and interoperable. Most of the data generated in the country is hosted abroad, and cyberattacks are not uncommon, which is a significant impediment to private-sector investment and growth. A single design for public service platforms has not been developed yet, although a number of government sites are available in both official languages, English and French.

Rankings

As of 2022, Cameroon ranked 141th in the UN E-Government Development survey (compared to 144 in 2020), with an EGDI rating of 0.45. According to the 2022 World Bank’s GovTech Maturity report, Cameroon moved up to the group C (countries with some focus on GovTech). 

International Assistance

According to Cameroon’s Vision 2035 some e-projects are being implemented including the creation of the cutting-edge digital ecosystem. With this aim the fiber optic infrastructure was expanded. Besides, the National Emergency Telecommunications Network (RNTU) project was launched in 2022 in collaboration with a Chinese ZTE. The project allows for the government teams to manage emergencies confidentially and securely without having to go through a public network. It also includes the e-police system, a centralized technological platform for managing security operations. The main services offered are: the management of police information, criminal information, register of criminal cases and wanted persons.

Source: Invest Au Cameroun

As a part of the technical cooperation between Cameroon and South Korea, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in 2015, on the development of the Cameroon e-Government Master Plan and the Capacity building of state staff in e-administration. The main objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive e-Government plan.

The UN agencies and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) also invest in assisting the development of the e-Government of Cameroon.

Civil Registration System

The Master Plan for the digitalization of the civil registration system was adopted by the Government in 2018 as a part of the Strategic Plan for the Rehabilitation of Civil Registration in Cameroon (2018-2022). An interface linking the civil status system and other sectors, such as the national identity agency, ministries of justice, transport and health, etc., was implemented under the Master Plan. The introduction of the Unique Personal Identification Number (NIPU) for the registration of vital events is expected to facilitate the connection between the civil registration and the ministries and sectors mentioned above.

e-Taxes

Online tax payment is not available in Cameroon yet. However, some taxes like real estate tax can be paid using mobile money services. 

e-Visa

In July 2022, the eVisa project was confirmed by President Paul Biya. The service is to help centralize and protect data, control entries, and exits, as well as to monitor the revenues from visa applicants, who now have an option to pay the fees online.

e-Commerce and Trade

In April 2022, the Single Window for Foreign Trade Operations (e-GUCE) was launched. On the platform, it is possible to pay customs duties, taxes, duties and various fees. The activity report of the Ministry of Finance shows that the digitization of payments boosted customs revenue on vehicles by 53% in 2022, compared to 2021. In 2022, the general directorate of customs collected 201 billion FCFA of taxes on vehicles, against 132 billion FCFA in 2020.

Source: Guichet Unique

Healthcare

The Ministry of Public Health of Cameroon (MINSANTE) with technical and financial support of I-TECH/University of Washington has started developing the National Digital Health Strategic Plan in 2018.  Mobile Health (mHealth) is designed to store surveillance data, provide real-time monitoring of patients' state of health, therapeutic assistance and health advice. Telemedicine is supposed to provide communities in the remote regions with safe and qualified healthcare through real-time interaction between the patient and his care provider, by videoconference and by other means of remote communication.

e-Identity

In 2016, the government of Cameroon launched a biometric national identity card in partnership with GEMALTO (from 2019 – THALES), an international digital security company. A total of 20 million records were enrolled, achieving a registration throughput of 600 records per minute. The electronic and biometric identity documents, in credit card format, are designed to reduce document fraud and identity theft. Nevertheless, improvements can be suggested as the issuance of ID cards is often delayed.

Source: Thales

Data Management

In 2022, several government ministers along with 70 officials from the public sector, the private sector and the civil society held a meeting focused on the data governance frameworks. During the discussion, the importance of resolving interoperability barriers between national information systems as well as of reinforcing cybersecurity protection was highlighted.

Author:
Sofia Alypova