Within the framework of the UN SDGs, AU Agenda 2063, and Cameroon’s Vision 2035, describes the Country’s goals for growth and development with the main objective of transforming the Country to an emerging economy by 2035. The vision includes medium-term objectives, with a focus on alleviating poverty, becoming a middle-income country, becoming a newly industrialized country, and consolidating democracy and national unity while respecting the country’s diversity, (Cameroon Vision 2035, 2009). Vision 2035 also serves as the long-term anchor for the Government’s recently updated poverty reduction strategy, which puts employment at center stage. The vision, officially known as the Strategy for Growth and Employment (Document de Stratégie pour la Croissance et l’Emploi, or DSCE), was finalized in 2010.

The Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development (PPRD) of the NW/SW Regions is embedded in the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 adopted by the Government. The first of the three phases of the PPRD, called “Recovery” has as objective to address the immediate needs of the affected populations in the NW/SW regions to restore Social Cohesion, Reconstruct and rehabilitate basic infrastructure, and revitalize the local economy. It is within this framework that the activities of CABEP are conceptualized as a mechanism to contribute to the return to normalcy in the troubled regions that have been going through a severe crisis for almost nine years now.