Small And Medium Size Enterprises (Smes), Made In Cameroon, Import-Substitution: Possible Or Mirage?

The objective of this research was to apply scientific methodology to assess the capacity in term of Technical, Innovation, and Financial of Small and Medium Sizes Enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon to face the challenge of Import Substitution with “Made in Cameroon” products and services. This was done through analyzing data on a sample which was randomly selected from SMES operating in different sectors in Cameroon. A structured survey questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data on SME efforts on key variables such as SME size, years in operation, investment in technology, R&D expenditure, access to finance, and perceptions of government support. The Mean Computation analyses allow us to compare two or more important variables to achieve the main objective, while the Correlation Analyses bring us to analyses the relationships or the interdependencies that exist between a given set of variables. The study concludes that the main findings are in line with our hypotheses and show that using strategies to replace imports can help increase local production, particularly in manufacturing sector. To support SMEs a pack of recommendations was proposed to enhance government support toward SMEs