The 40,000 FCFA Salary: Value, Growth, and Mutual Obligation
A meditation on low-wage employment in Cameroon that resists easy blame, examining the tension between business sustainability and worker dignity. The writer argues that both employers and employees bear responsibility for understanding the real value being exchanged, and that clarity and environment matter as much as the paycheck itself.
I have heard many people complain about low salaries that many companies offer out here. Some say they are hired and promised raises that never happen. They find themselves working for years without any change, etc.
I know there are exploitative business owners out there, very many indeed. However, as someone who is running a business, I can tell you how hard it is to pay salaries in the beginning stages of your business especially when you have to rely on sales to make that happen.
Many startups require a huge amount of funding so they can attract and keep the best minds. Even the best minds don’t make a business successful overnight. The business owner is however supposed to be able to keep them comfortable in that time when the business is not yet profitable.
That said, if you work for a 40,000 FCFA salary for years without leaving and you don’t have equity in the company, it means that is how much you value yourself and it also probably means that is how much value you bring.
Some people start with that salary and their bad attitude makes sure the company never grows but they expect to see a salary increase. Many people work in companies where they do not create any real value for the business but they expect to be paid at the end of the month. They take no initiative and only pretend to be busy when the boss is around.
For most companies, every employee can tell when the company is making sales or not. Whether the company is getting new clients or not. Sometimes when a new client comes, the company is already behind on rents and other operating expenses that have to be taken care of first.
In direct sales businesses the problem is solved by pay based on a commission. For many other businesses it is hard to measure input vs output of a single employee.
For employees, I can suggest you continue working for a low salary of you are learning everyday and improving your skills. You must know your value to the company and make a judgement on the real value you are getting back from the company. Many neglect that low paying job only to find out it is harder finding a better job with their skill level.
For employers, I believe transparency is key. Employers must also communicate expectations clearly when it comes to how and when salaries will be paid. Sometimes to attract the best minds, employers make premature promises that they cannot meet up to. A good work environment can also compensate for low salaries. Make the employees feel like owners and they will bear the brunt with you.
This piece emerged during a period of sustained economic pressure in Cameroon, where startup culture and informal employment have created widespread anxiety about wages that stagnate for years. The writer speaks from the position of a business operator navigating the gap between ambition and cash flow—a common condition in Cameroonian entrepreneurship.
The piece refuses the comfort of simple narratives (greedy bosses or lazy workers) and instead insists on mutual reckoning: employees must honestly assess what they are gaining and what they are worth; employers must honor their commitments and create conditions that transcend salary alone. That balance—pragmatism tempered by dignity—remains urgent in an economy where precarity is structural.