• Cameroon’s imports of industrial equipment hit CFA 573.6B in 2024, the highest in six years.
• Kribi, Edéa, and Douala see new factories, cement units, and SABC’s CFA 200B expansion plan.
• Surge in imports also tied to EU trade deal cutting industrial equipment tariffs to 0% in 2023.

Cameroon imported 573.6 billion CFA francs ($944.4 million) worth of machinery, electrical appliances, and other industrial equipment in 2024. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS), this represents the largest volume of spending on industrial equipment imports over the six-year period from 2019 to 2024.

The INS report indicates that after stagnating at around 400 billion CFA francs per year, these imports surpassed the 500 billion CFA francs mark for the first time in 2023 and are nearing 600 billion CFA francs as of 2024. This increase in industrial equipment imports reflects a growing dynamism in Cameroon's industrial sector, marked by the establishment of new factories in recent years.

This momentum is particularly visible in the Kribi industrial and port zone. Officials at the Port Authority of Kribi (PAK) state that between 2018 and 2025, approximately 400 billion CFA francs was invested in the port's industrial area by companies in various sectors, including cocoa processing, cement production, milling, vehicle assembly, and logistics.

A similar trend is occurring in Edéa, where three new cement production units have recently been established. It is also evident in Douala, the country's economic capital, with the visible expansion of existing industrial units and the establishment of new companies. A striking example is Société anonyme des Boissons du Cameroun (SABC). Following its acquisition of Guinness Cameroon in 2022, the subsidiary of France's Castel Group launched a five-year, 200 billion CFA francs investment program to boost production capacity at its factories in Yaoundé, Douala, Bafoussam, and Garoua.

In addition to signaling a strengthening of Cameroon's industrial capacity, the massive increase in equipment purchases since 2023 can also be attributed to the full implementation of tariff dismantling under the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between Cameroon and the European Union. These agreements aim to establish a free-trade zone through a progressive reduction of customs duties. Industrial equipment falls under the second group of products, for which tariff dismantling began on August 4, 2017, with a 15% annual reduction in customs duties, reaching 0% since August 4, 2023.

Brice R. Mbodiam