There has been a growing recognition of the importance and the crucial role the oil industries play in Sub-Saharan African countries in general and Cameroon in particular with regard to their economic development. Cameroon’s oil industry is considered as one of the smallest, ranking 7th or 8th amongst the eleven oil industries in the region. During the pre-oil years (1970-1977) agriculture was the main stay of the economy with primary commodities as main source of economic growth. Came the oil-boom era (1978-1986) crude oil exports became the main source of economic growth, real GDP rose rapidly and the economy experienced an unprecedented growth. The boom was short-lived because from 1986-1994, the economy was hit by a serious economic crisis due to the continuous fall in prices of primary products especially crude oil. Real GDP growth took a downward trend. A glimpse of recovery was noticed when oil prices started rising again in late 90’s backed by the devaluation of the Francs CFA in 1994.
The study attempts to examine the role of the oil industry on economic growth in Cameroon. This is done through the examinations of the contributions of oil export on total export, oil revenue on total revenue, oil GDP on total GDP and the impacts of the oil industry on BOP, FDI, employment and gross domestic investment on the economy. This study reviews a number of existing literatures on the topic and it uses secondary data by converging some qualitative and quantitative data. To validate the findings the research uses empirical analysis to show the relationship between the oil industry and economic growth. The findings of the study show that the oil industry has a significant role on economic growth of Cameroon though this economic growth is not translated into practical development to alleviate poverty. The research recommends that the oil industry can do better if oil profits are reinvested in agriculture that employs 61 percent of the population and if transparency and accountability is instituted.