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In African countries like Cameroon, the reform of network industries is occurring in a context that is characterized by the absence of financial market, a lack of equity culture, a lack of regulation, and inefficiency of public ownership. The question arises as to whether sustainable development of these industries is possible in such a context. We study the case of rail transport in Cameroon and show that, under such conditions, the industry is going through successive stages of opportunism and social responsibility to attain maturity. It is only in this last step that real sustainable development is initiated.