Regulating Technology Transfer for Development: Addressing Infrastructure and Capability Gaps In Cameroon

Technology transfer is frequently presented as a pathway through which developing countries can accelerate economic development. Across Africa, governments increasingly look to innovation, digital transformation and emerging technologies as answers to long-standing structural challenges. However, experience shows that technology on its own does not automatically produce development. Where infrastructure is unreliable, institutions are fragmented and regulatory systems lack coordination, even advanced technologies struggle to generate lasting impact. This article examines technology transfer in Cameroon through the innovation-infrastructure lens, arguing that the failure of technology transferred to translate into development, is rooted less in the absence of technology, but more in the inadequacy of the infrastructures that support its absorption and use. Adopting a doctrinal and qualitative methodology, the study analyzes the legal and regulatory environment governing technology transfer and identifies key infrastructural constraints and capability gaps, with particular attention to the energy sector. It demonstrates that, Cameroon has made progress in facilitating access to foreign technology, regulatory fragmentation, infrastructural deficits and capability gaps continue to impede effective learning, adaptation and diffusion. This means that, technology is introduced but not domesticated. The article thus, contends that regulating technology transfer for development requires moving beyond innovation-focused only, towards governance strategies that prioritize infrastructure development, institutional coherence and long-term capability building. It concludes by advancing context-specific recommendations aimed at aligning technology transfer regulation with Cameroon’s development realities.

Africa, Cameroon, capability building, development

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