Question 2 (25)

Instructions: Read through the following case study and answer the questions that follow.

Cameroon is situated in West Africa and is a member of the Communaut conomique et Montaire de l'Afrique Centrale (CEMAC) or the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, a trade zone comprising six countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.¹. CEMAC uses a common currency known as the CFA franc (that is, Communaut financire d'Afrique or financial community of Africa.⁵ Cameroon is known for its richness in natural resources.⁴ Cameroon has a population of close to 24 million.⁷. As a bilingual country, Cameroon has both French and English as its national languages.³

The strategic position of the country provides it with an opportunity to provide access to the landlocked Central African countries. However, with poor road infrastructure, electricity supply, information and communication, Cameroon has reaped few benefits from this opportunity.² In a bid to foster development in other areas, the Cameroonian government has put in place some legal instruments to protect and encourage businesses that include bilateral investment treaties for the protection and promotion of investments, signed in 1966, the Patent Right Act³, and The National Industrial Free Trade Zone, which provides zone users with corporate tax holidays for the first ten years of operation and no control regulations on exchange rate as well as profit repatriation.⁸

Currently the country faces instability, arising from demands for session by the Northwest and Southwest regions of the country.⁶ The conflict has led to the death of 1,850 people and 500,000 people being internally displaced.⁶

1. Why is the analysis of macroenvironmental factors and forces of such importance in strategic management?