Chapter 12: Creative Industries in Cameroon: Problems and Prospects

Increasing evidence from high-income countries has revealed the positive impacts of creative entrepreneurship on the local economy, and these have attracted substantial attention in recent years. Creative industries are considered as the seedbeds for innovation; they are highly innovative and productive and are seen as drivers of economic development and social change. Creative industries are distinctive in that they have several transaction networks and income streams. Although creative industries are generating increasing interest in the minds of researchers and policy-makers in developed countries, the institutional and economic settings in Cameroon and other developing nations may not be so conducive to creative industries. The available evidence is insufficient to understand their performance and sustainability, let alone to estimate their contribution to the rest of the economy. This chapter demonstrates how the creative industries could contribute to the economic and social development of a nation. The chapter further explores the current situation of creative industries in Cameroon, with a focus on the artists of popular and folk music, the challenges they are facing, and provides ways forward.