Hurdles of Technology Transfer in Cameroon’s Petroleum Industry

Technology (know-how) is a vital tool for the advancement and sustenance of any country especially in its petroleum sector as huge capital and technology is required to carry out crude oil extraction. In almost all African countries possessing petroleum, extraction is by multinational oil companies owned by developed countries. This is due to the fact that they possess the required technology. As such, many of these African states have included local content requirements in their petroleum legislations and one of such policies is technology transfers to enable them learn to extract their own resources. But over the years, these African states have still been unable to extract their own resources because of the lack of or obsolete technology acquired. Consequently, they still turn to multinational oil companies who are protected by international standards restricting performance requirements. Thus the desire of Cameroon and many other Africa states to tap from foreign technology has to an extent been a failure. Technologies are grouped into tangible technology such as tools, parts and finished goods, and intangible technology including patents, know-how and trade secrets. The transfer of these technologies can be achieved bilaterally, multilaterally, through commercial or non- commercial means by the use of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or licensing. Even though oil companies are not ready to part with their intellectual property (technology), Cameroon and many African states have hurdles preventing the assimilation, absorption and adaptation of their technology.