Cameroon
eBizguides Cameroon
A country worth visiting
Le guiaré a lugares increíbles
The concept of eBizguides
eBizguides aims to provide on-the-ground information about the country economic performance, the main investment opportunities and acute business intelligence research about who are the leaders and influencers of the country and which are the top 100 companies. All you need to know about doing business in a country and in a unique publication that also includes a small tourism guide. eBizguides are the world's leading business intelligence guidebooks. Click to read more.
Important reforms
Economically, Cameroon has adopted important reforms recently, reinforced by the new government, formed at the end of 2000. It has launched a privatisation process to stimulate more private-sector investment; has invited foreign investors to improve its infrastructure and industrial tissue; has embarked on IMF and World Bank programmes to encourage trade and business investment; and has remodelled the public sector to reduce government control over the economy, touching every sector.
Tourism
Cameroon is also a country that offers plenty of untapped opportunities in tourism. From the north to the south, visitors can find a wide variety of tourist attractions, such as natural parks or reserves, waterfalls and wildlife. Because of the diversity of its traditions, Cameroon has many fascinating cultural assets. Its rich culture is especially reflected in its arts and artefacts (wood carving, calabashes, bronze and iron works, and pottery), which are symbols of the country’s cultural heritage.
INVESTMENT
Therefore, the investment climate is attractive; the country has a dynamic agricultural sector (cocoa, bananas, palm oil and cotton), a strong potential in the oil sector (Pipeline Doba-Kribi), and is an ideal geographical entry point into the Central African market. Cameroon is endowed with abundant natural resources and the country’s human resources are of a high standard. For all these reasons, Cameroon is one of the most influential countries in Central Africa.
The systems instituted by the investment code are granted through authorisation. Application files for authorisation for one of the systems of the investment code is subscripted at the management unit of the investment code (CGCI). This file must comprise the following documents:
- a stamped application based on the rates in force- identification for the person or corporate body requesting
the system in question
- information on the investment programme
- certified true copy of the land title or any other document
relating to the piece of land where the project will be executed
- required application for authorisation to carry out the activity
- documents certifying regularity of their situation vis-à-vis
the National Social Insurance Fund, the tax, customs and
registration departments.
Partner Companies
Cameroon
Since the Palaeolithic era, Cameroon has been inhabited by different linguistic and cultural groups (the Peuls, Fulani and Bantus). Bantu-speaking tribes settled in the south. The Pygmies, the original inhabitants of Cameroon, gradually settled in the forests of the south and east provinces. The Fulani appeared during the 15th century and ended up settling in the north of Cameroon by the 16th century. The first known European expedition to reach the coast of the country was Portuguese. It arrived in 1472, led by Fernando Po. The name Cameroon dates back from that period when the expedition sailed up the Wouri River and discovered it contained a high number of shrimps. The explorers thus named it “Rio dos Camarões” (the Shrimp River), which gradually gave the name to the country. With the arrival of the Europeans, the slave trade started between Europe and Cameroon. Local chiefs started dealing with the Portuguese and then French, British, German and Dutch traders, thus increasing the slave trade. In the 18th century, British missionaries started protesting against the slave trade and created a colony with freed slaves from Jamaica and Nigeria in Limbé (whose name was then Victoria).
