Impact of Management Practices in Industries in the Industrial – Free – Trade Zones in Douala, Littoral Region of Cameroon: “Challenges and Prospects”

Abstract

In Cameroon of late, there is growing consciencious that the deleterious impacts of industrial activities on safety health and environmental quality has motivated government and industries to adopt environmental management practices such as the EMSs and EMA, that is, Environmental Management Systems, and Environmental Management Accounting respectively at the least. This paper however, examines the implementation of EMSs and EMA amongst others in industries in the Industrial –Free – Trade Zones of the South West and Littoral Regions of Cameroon that interact with its environment which has been affected by the effluents emanating from industrial activities.

This paper also presents an overview of various initiatives like policies that have been crafted by the government of Cameroon to address the problems of industrial activity such as pollution etc. It also seeks to prescrible recommendations which could be used to save the regions, from industrial pollution. After the participation of Cameroon in the Earth’s Summit in Rio de Janerio, Brazil (1992), and ever since the publication of the Brunditland Commission’s Landmark Report ‘‘Our Common Future’’, in (1987), the government has taken significant steps to overhaul  its institutional framework vis – à – vis the regulation of industrial pollution.

Through a questionnaire based survey carried but from January to July 2016 with the sampled industries in the Industrial – Free – Trade – Zones of the South West and Littoral Regions of Cameroon, data was collected. This paper also aims at addressing motivational factors, implementation hurdles as well as benefits accrued by these industries as a result of adapting environmental management systems in their management practices generally. Studies also support that many benefits arise as a result of EMSs and EMA enforcement, but the paradox is the plethora of hurdles that still persist in industries. Against this background, this paper concludes by prescribing recommendations that seek to promote management practices such as EMSs and EMA in industries in Industrial – Free – Trade – Zones in Cameroon.