Senior business executives from France and Cameroon scanned new investment opportunities on July 3, 2015 on the sidelines of President François Hollande’s visit.

Business executives from Cameroon and France have discussed ways of deepening trade ties existing between the two countries for the growth of their economies. They met in the Conference Hall of the Secretariat General of the Presidency of the Republic yesterday July 3, 2015 on the sidelines of the State visit of French President, François Hollande to Cameroon. This was notably to seek ways of strengthening and diversifying existing trade ties.

Opening the deliberations, Cameroon’s Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, told the over 25 visiting French business executives that government has a long-term development plan contained in the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper with goal to attain a middle-income economy status by 2035. To attain this objective, the Minister said government engaged in giant projects in varied sectors of the economy.

The free fall in oil prices in the international market and the terrorist activities in the northern regions notwithstanding, Minister Nganou Djoumessi told the potential investors that Cameroon has stood the test of time and the economy has been growing from strength to strength. Proof, he noted, is that in 2013, economic growth rate stood at 5.6 per cent and moved to 5.9 per cent in 2014. Projections are that it would hit 6 per cent this year. Inflation is maintained at below 3 per cent. These are good indications for stability needed in business.

Like Minister Nganou Djoumessi, other Cabinet Ministers who spoke during the business-to-business (B2B) discussions enumerated the country’s rich potentials and socio-political stability which could serve as opportunities for desiring investors. Cameroon, they reiterated, is a good risk for win-win investments.

The April 18, 2013 law on private investment incentives in the country with a multiplicity of advantages for investors was also presented to the French business executives. Finance Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey, speaking on the fiscal incentives for startups in Cameroon, said during the installation phase, for instance, businesses that sign agreements with the State within the framework are exempted from registration duties in cases of creation or increase in capital; exemption from registration duties on leases of buildings for purely professional use and exemption from transfer taxes on the acquisition of buildings and land considered essential for the realisation of the investment programme.

Meanwhile, at the operation phase, the investor may enjoy exemptions from registration duties relating to credit facilities, loans, advances on current accounts, bonds, increments, reduction, reimbursement and liquidation of share capital, or any transfer of activities, ownership or enjoyment of real-estate property.

Business groupings like GICAM lauded the public-private sector partnership existing in the country which according to their spokesperson during the discussions Mathieu Mandeng, augurs well for investments. He said the rate of bankarisation in Cameroon is on the rise and the rate of financing the economy by local banks is also increasing. These, he said, are good signs for profitable investments and opportunities worth embracing.

French business people who spoke during the discussions lauded the reforms in place, expressing optimism for better days ahead. French investors, they noted, go in for long-term ventures and that Cameroon has all what it takes both in agriculture, forestry, mining and infrastructure to attract substantial and sustainable investments.