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Labs · Jobs impact

How many direct, indirect and induced jobs by phase?

First phase: 450 to 550 direct jobs in the planning estimate. Ranges, not commitments.

Inputs

t/yr

Planned first phase: 300,000 t/yr; target capacity in the long run: 1,000,000 t/yr.

Phase in the unit chart
Estimate in the unit chart

Result

Assumption

—jobs

Jobs supported in operation

—jobs

Direct operating jobs

—people

Workforce at the construction peak

At 0.3 Mt/yr, an electric steelworks with its mills would employ 150 to 840 people in operation (central ≈ 500, the middle of the 450 to 550 planning range) and support about 380 to 7,200 jobs in total once indirect and induced jobs are counted. Benchmark ranges, not commitments.

Ranges by category and phaseBand: low to high assumption; tick: central value
01,0002,0003,0004,0005,000Operation: permanent jobsDirect150 – 840 · central 500Indirect150 – 4,400 · central 1,000Induced75 – 2,000 · central 500Construction: peak workforce, temporaryDirect600 – 1,000 · central 800Indirect180 – 1,000 · central 480Induced120 – 800 · central 320
  • Direct
  • Indirect
  • Induced
  • Central value
Each square stands for 50 jobsOperation · central estimate
  • Direct · 500
  • Indirect · 1,000
  • Induced · 500
  • Headroom up to the high case
Not a commitmentThese orders of magnitude come from international benchmarks and the project’s planning estimates. They are neither a hiring promise nor a commitment by Cameroon Steel. No vacancies are open today. Trades and training →

Assumptions and data

ParameterValue usedRangeStatusSource
Direct operating jobs167 jobs per 100 kt/yr50 – 280 jobs per 100 kt/yrDerivedLow: US scrap micro-mills, ~500 direct jobs per Mt (Nucor Lexington 2022; CMC Berkeley 2022). Central: Cameroon Steel, planning estimate (2024), 450 to 550 direct jobs for 0.3 Mt/yr, to be confirmed. High: Prometal Douala, ~1,000 jobs for ~360 kt/yr (Journal du Cameroun, 19 Jan 2024)
Indirect jobs (suppliers, contractors, transport)2.0 per direct job1.0 – 5.2 per direct jobAssumptionLow: thin local supply chain (Labs assumption). Central: Cameroon Steel, planning estimate (2024), about 1,000 indirect jobs for 450 to 550 direct. High: EU steel Type I multiplier 6.2, i.e. 5.2 indirect per direct job (EUROFER, European Steel in Figures 2025), an upper bound for Cameroon
Induced jobs (spending of wages)1.0 per direct job0.5 – 2.4 per direct jobAssumptionHigh: EU steel Type II minus Type I job multipliers (8.6 − 6.2 = 2.4 per direct job; EUROFER 2025). Low and central: Labs assumptions for an economy where much household spending goes to imports
Workforce at the construction peak267 jobs per 100 kt/yr200 – 333 jobs per 100 kt/yrAssumptionCameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1: 600 to 1,000 workers at the peak of first-phase construction (central 800), from mini-mill construction benchmarks; external reference: Nucor Lexington, ~500 construction jobs for ~390 kt/yr (2022)
Indirect construction jobs0.6 per direct job0.3 – 1.0 per direct jobAssumptionLabs assumption: lower than in operation because most equipment is imported; local quarries, cement, transport, catering and lodging
Induced construction jobs0.4 per direct job0.2 – 0.8 per direct jobAssumptionLabs assumption, consistent with the operating ratio of induced to direct jobs and shorter employment spells
Staffing scale exponent (above or below 0.3 Mt/yr)0.655—AssumptionLabs assumption, calibrated on the RC-1 staffing scale-up (450 to 550 direct jobs at 0.3 Mt/yr, about 1,100 at 1 Mt/yr)
Planning estimate for the first phase (0.3 Mt/yr)450 to 550 direct, ≈ 1,000 indirect; construction 600 to 1,000—AssumptionCameroon Steel, planning estimate (2024), to be confirmed

How this is calculated

Direct jobs. Intensity per 100 kt/yr × 3 × (output ÷ 300 kt)0.655. The anchor is the first phase (300 kt/yr); the 0.655 exponent reflects economies of scale: a plant three times larger does not employ three times as many people. It is set so that 1 Mt/yr gives about 1,100 direct jobs, the value of the RC-1 reference configuration. Low: US micro-mills, about 50 jobs per 100 kt; central: Cameroon Steel’s first-phase planning estimate, 450 to 550 jobs for 300 kt (centre 500); high: Prometal in Douala, about 280 per 100 kt.

Indirect and induced. Direct jobs × multiplier. European multipliers (Type I 6.2 and Type II 8.6, Eurofer 2025) serve as upper bounds: in Cameroon, local supply chains are shorter and part of spending goes to imports.

Construction. Peak workforce, temporary: 600 to 1,000 people for the first phase (reference configuration RC-1), scaled the same way, with lower multipliers because most equipment is imported.

Reading. Each range combines low with low and high with high: it is the envelope of the benchmarks, not a confidence interval. Figures are rounded. Neither a hiring forecast nor a commitment.

Sources

  1. worldsteel and Oxford Economics, Economic and social impact of the global steel industry, 2019
  2. EUROFER, European Steel in Figures 2025 (Type I 6.2 and Type II 8.6 job multipliers)
  3. Nucor, rebar micro-mill in North Carolina, news release of 7 Apr 2022
  4. Journal du Cameroun, Prometal opens two plants in Douala, 19 Jan 2024
  5. Cameroon Steel, planning estimate (2024), to be confirmed

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