Minimum wage in Cameroon: a dream far-fetched?
The question is posed as the President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, has announced a revalorisation of the minimum wage as from January 1 2023. The minimum wage in the neighbouring country will witness a 15,000frs increase, giving a total of 75,000 frs from the 60.000 frs they had adopted in 2013.
If changes are being made in some African countries to ameliorate the living standards of the population, the case of Cameroon is still in the limbo. Minimum wage still stands at F CFA 36.270, eight years after its adoption. Prices of basic commodities have increased, so has cost of living. The minister of labour and social security announced a “possible” raise of the minimum wage in May 2022 but as of June 2022, talks between workers’ trade unions and government are yet to be concretized. Some trade unions have been advocating for a shift from F CFA 36,270 to at least F CFA 82,000 while government is within the F CFA 40.000-100.000 range.
Going by the national institute of statistics, prices of basic commodities rose to 9.2% between 2016-2021 and the situation is not getting any better with the Russia-Ukraine war.
The minimum wage in Côte d’Ivoire moved from 36,607frs to 60,000frs and will get a 25% increase in 2023. In Cameroon, the money has moved from F CFA 28,000frs to 36,207 as agro enterprises advanced they could not pay above this amount looking at their low financial revenue. In Chad, minimum wage stands at 60.000frs, 80.000frs in Gabon, 35.000frs in the Central African Republic and 128.000frs in Equatorial Guinea.
