Yaounde: NW Regional Councillor, Gordon Anyele, bags Master’s Degree in Public Finance.

He recently bagged a Master’s Degree in Public Finance from the Higher Institute of Public Finance, Cameroon under the Higher Specialisation Programme in Public Finance.

Hon Anyele publicly defended a dissertation on the topic: “The Effects of Capital Flight on Economic Growth in Cameroon”, before a no-nonsense panel, including Prof Schouame Ebenezer sitting as President of the jury, Prof Epo Boniface Ngah as the Rapporteur and Nganje Kinge Monono as the examiner.

At the end of the defense, the dissertation, which was supervised by Senior lecturer at the University of Yaounde II, Soa, Prof Epo Boniface Ngah, and Associate lecturer of Yaounde II University, Dr Nana Mbafong Emmanuel, Regional Councillor was earned an excellent score of 17 on 20.

Speaking to The Guardian Post after his defense, Hon Anyele alluded that he was inspired to go back to the classroom after years of service by a quote from former Indian Prime Minister, Mahatma Gandhi, who said: “Live as if you will die tomorrow, learn as if you will live forever”.

“I decided to go in for a Master’s Degree because I have the desire to learn, study and know, in order to give back to my community. Life is a learning process. If you don’t go to a formal school you will learn from an informal school,” he said, adding, “some will say I have already achieved so I need not go back to school, but it is the best thing I have done in my life”.

On importance of dissertation topic

Hon Anyele, who is also an Entrepreneur and telecoms engineer, reiterated that his topic of dissertation, capital flight, has been a worry for some years now within the scope of the North West Regional Assembly and the country.

“People are leaving. Assets are leaving, money is being taken out of the region, out of Cameroon. What becomes of those left behind?” he questioned.

Hon Anyele disclosed that there is a lot of illicit transfer of capital and human resource out of the country, so he decided to research on this domain to see how he can help the government curb it.

“I am studying to see how my voice can be added to the domain, to provide solutions. We have a lot of foreign companies exploiting our resources, but who fail to properly declare their assets and revenue, thus evading taxes. As a result, the country is at a loss,” he said.

“As the people’s representative, I have to know what my community needs so as to give back what they want whole heartedly. I am learning to know more about my society,” he added. 

Hon Anyele pointed out that the country has accrued external debts and if those taxes were being paid, those debts could have been easy to pay while improving on the balance of trade and balance of payment of the country.

Proposed solutions

According to Hon Anyele, if the issue of capital flight is resolved, it will have a huge impact on Cameroon’s Gross Domestic Product.

“Capital flight causes a lot of economic problems. It is a huge call for concern as in the long run it may lead to inflation, reduce foreign direct investments and make it difficult for the country to be able to settle its external debts,” he explained.

To stop capital flight, Hon Anyele has called on government as well as stakeholders to enhance financial transparency and governance, strengthen the domestic investment climate, reinforce international cooperation and financial regulations, and invest in human capital development among others.

He also called on fellow countrymen to be more patriotic, take ownership of their country and its resources and jealously guard it. He said by doing so, the issue of capital flight will be solved.

“It is all about active participation in the country’s democratic processes,” he underscored. 

Future academic pursuits

The erudite seeker of knowledge for growth and development pointed out that his academic pursuits are yet to end.

Already a holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Telecoms Engineering from the University of Bamenda, he is awaiting another public defense in Master’s in Engineering Management from the National Advanced School of Public Works, in affiliation with the Golden State University, San Francisco, California, USA. The defense is scheduled to take place in two months time.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3219 of Wednesday September 04, 2024