Cameroonian Diaspora: An Assessment of its Role in Local Development

Abstract

This paper is aimed at proving that the Cameroonian Diaspora, otherwise referred to “Bush fallers or bush falling”, is an indispensible tool for local development. Through its contributions to local development back home, it has asserted itself as an important source of financing development projects back home. However, the projects financed by the Cameroonian Diaspora lack coordination, simply because the Cameroonian Diaspora has not constituted itself into an organization embodying the entire Cameroonian Diaspora. Instead, the Diaspora groupings are formed through ethnic or community linings. Secondly, the State of Cameroon has not put in place any mechanism to help facilitate the return of het citizens living abroad. Against this backdrop, this paper has come up with some challenges faced by the Diaspora in local development projects and proposed recommendations that will make the involvement of the Diaspora in local development projects felt at all levels.