Within the framework of the work initiated by the Cameroonian authorities aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Douala and its metropolitan area, NWA was given responsibility for the economic phase of the studies and the creation of a development strategy.

Douala, Cameroon's main economic hub, today accounts for a little over 75% of the country's companies, generates more than 60% of its GDP and, with an estimated 2 million inhabitants, accommodates almost 11% of the country's total population.

The city boasts the country's main international airport and a seaport that plays a major role in the economic development of the central African sub-region (fourth-largest port on the continent's Atlantic coast).

Following more than ten years of sustained growth, the crisis that affected the Cameroonian economy in the second half of the 1980s had a profound impact on the country's economy and society as well as on the city's infrastructure.

Despite a return to growth and notwithstanding the efforts made by Douala's urban community over the last few years, particularly as far as infrastructures are concerned, the city is experiencing difficulty in asserting itself as the economic capital of Cameroon and the sub-region of central Africa.

The Cameroonian government and the city of Douala therefore initiated studies in this respect.

The objectives were as follows:

• To boost the attractiveness and competitiveness of the city of Douala.
• To create the conditions for the city's emergence as a competitive sub-regional economic hub capable of attracting investors and promoting new activities.
• To improve Douala's urban governance, in particular through institutional reform adapted to the new context.
• To improve the living conditions of the poor populations, in particular by providing impetus to the informal sector and ensuring greater land tenure security.