Cameroon "Africa in Miniature" Offers Investment Opportunities!

Cameroon ( or Cameroun in French ), is a country in Western Africa, and one of the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa. This country does not only attract investors worldwide but also draws both safari-goers and big-game hunters. It offers large craft markets andmuseums and has the largest and best-run wild-life reserves in West Africa - The Waza National Park (both animal viewing and big-game hunting).
Cameroon is home to many of Africa's iconic animals such as: cheetahs, chimpanzees, elephants, giraffes, gorillas, chimpanzees, hippopotamus, rhinoceroses, other rainforest faunas.
Some of its touristic attractions include:
- The Waza National Park
- Mount Cameroon or Mount Fako, Buea
- Traditional Chiefdoms or Fondoms e.g The Sultanate of Foumban
- The National Monument, Yaounde
- Two major beach resort towns: Limbe - English-speaking with black volcanic sand, and Kribi - a French-speaking city with white-sand beaches
- The Alantika mountains in the Western part of Cameroon
Indeed, it is an interesting country to do business with specifically as it is often described as “Africa in Miniature” due to its ethnic, linguistic and geographic diversity.
As the largest economy in the six-nation of CEMAC (Central African Economic & Monetary Community), this country has:
- Ample labor force
- Wealth of natural resources
- Rich potential in the agricultural, forestry, and mining sectors
- Enviable location between markets in West & Central Africa
Moreover, the Government of Cameroon actively seeks to attract foreign investment in order to create much-needed economic growth and employment.
In recent years, numerous trade delegations have been visiting, exploring investment opportunities, and fully establishing their businesses in Cameroon. These include delegations from Germany, China, Singapore, India, Thailand, Brazil, and Turkey.
Cameroon mainly imports semi-processed products, industrial inputs, machinery, food products, pharmaceuticals, automobile, machinery, and light crude oil from other countries.
The European Union is Cameroon's main trading bloc, accounting for about 41.1% of total imports and 55.1% of exports, according to government statistics. France and China are Cameroon's main trading partners, but the United States is a leading investor in Cameroon.
With regard to the U.S - Cameroon trade facts, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) reports:
"Cameroon is currently our 113th largest goods trading partner with $698 million in total (two way) goods trade during 2013. Goods exports totaled $331 million; goods imports totaled $367 million." (Kindly read more on this at: http://www.ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/cameroon).
Cameroon is ranked 78 with an Economic Complexity Index (ECI) of -0.410107 according to the recent report made by The Observatory of Economic Complexity (http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/cmr/).
Quick Facts
Quick Facts
Full name: Republic of Cameroon
President: Paul Biya
Type of State: Unitary Republic based on parliamentary democracy.
Major languages: French, English (bilingual country)
Population (May 2014): 21,699,631
Area: 475,440 km²
Capital:Yaounde
Economic Capital: Douala (commercial centre)
Area: 475,442 sq km (183,568 sq miles)
Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc = 100 centimes
Main exports: Crude Oil & Petroleum Products, Timber, Cocoa, Aluminium, Coffee, Cotton
Internet domain: .cm
International dialling code: +237
Noteworthy memberships: African Union (AU), and AEC (African Economic Community).
Top 10 Products imported by Cameroon
Top 10 Products imported by Cameroon
- Crude Petroleum (6.8%)
- Non-fillet Frozen Fish (5.3%)
- Rice (4.3%)
- Packaged Medicaments (3.3%)
- Cars (2.6%)
- Wheat ( 2.5 %)
- Delivery Trucks ( 2.5 %)
- Electric Generating Sets (1.7 %)
- Cement ( 1.6 %)
- Special Purpose Ships ( 1 .5 %)
Top 10 Products exported by Cameroon
Top 10 Products exported by Cameroon
- Crude Petroleum (35%)
- Cocoa Beans (11%)
- Sawn Wood (9.7%)
- Rough Wood (6.2%)
- Bananas (5.5%)
- Rubber ( 4.8 %)
- Refined Petroleum ( 3.8 %)
- Raw Cotton ( 2.6 %)
- Raw Aluminuim ( 2.3 %)
- Coffee ( 2.2 %)
Cameroon's Top 10 Export destinations
Cameroon's Top 10 Export destinations
- Spain (14%)
- China (12%)
- Netherlands (10%)
- Italy (9.5%)
- France (8.7%)
- United States ( 6.3 %)
- India ( 5.8 %)
- Germany ( 4.9 %)
- Belgium -Luxembourg ( 4.7 %)
- Republic of the Congo ( 2.3 %)
Top 10 Import origins of Cameroon
Top 10 Import origins of Cameroon
- France (16%)
- China (13%)
- Nigeria (7.1%)
- Germany (3.8%)
- Belgium-Luxembourg (3.7%)
- United States ( 3.7 %)
- Italy ( 3.7 %)
- Thailand ( 3.1 %)
- India ( 3.0 %)
- South Africa ( 2.7 %)