AfCFTA: Cameroon plays key role in continental integration
On 4 July 2025, Cameroon's Trade Minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, received in audience the Secretary General of the AfCFTA, H.E. Wamkele Mene, on behalf of the Prime Minister, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute. It was an opportunity to acknowledge Cameroon's significant progress in implementing the Agreement, making it the only Central African state to have engaged in trade under the preferential regime of the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative.
A number of measures have been announced to encourage Cameroonian companies to buy in on intra-African trade. These include:
- Extension of Approved Exporter status to Cameroonian companies whose products are already approved for the CEMAC/CEAC Community General Preferential Scheme.
- Creation of the status of ‘Trading Company’ giving access to financing via AFREXIMBANK and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
- Consolidation of tariffs in the sub-region.
Discussions also touched on infrastructural development where a flagship project was said to be underway at Kyé-Ossi, a strategic trading point with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. There are plans to set up a digitized Single Border Post, financed by the AfCFTA Secretariat.
Final remarks dwelled on the inclusion of private sector capacity-building as part of an inclusive and sustainable approach. The meeting ended with a business dinner in honour of the Secretary General, underscoring the importance of public-private partnerships.
Source: Celcom/Mincommerce 4 July 2025/ official Facebook page (Article summary)