Exploring the Optimistic Approaches and Directives of Cameroon’s Textile Sector for Reliable Development

Abstract

Cameroon is one of the largest producers of cotton in Central Africa. Currently, Cameroon’s textile sector is facing problems regarding manufacturing that restrict the expectations of various shareholders in the sector. This study examined accurate and strategically reliable instructions for the Cameroonian textile sector by utilizing explorative and depictive techniques and properly applying the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) and AHP (analytic hierarchy process) approaches to perform a pivotal analysis after several surveys of the textile sector in Cameroon. The SWOT–AHP strategy was used in the case of secondary data sources. The resulting analysis underlines the strategic challenges and enhances the textile sector’s competing capability. The weakness and opportunity (WO) strategy broadly had the greatest significance, which indicated, correspondingly, that this strategy should be prioritized for use in the Cameroonian textile sector. Governmental authorities should serve a controlling function rather than a decision-making one, thus facilitating improvements in the management of businesses. Furthermore, it suggested that efforts must be made by the government to promote workforce education and skill development, as well as update obsolete technology, which are currently the deficiencies of the textile sector. Additionally, to add value to the national economy’s capacity, Cameroon should slowly transform its cotton exports to finished textile goods within the country. To achieve this, the government, through a framework of collaboration with foreign companies, should industrialize, deregulate, and denationalize the textile industry and reduce taxes and withdrawal quotas to serve the interests of investors.