CMR develops strategy to boost exports

The State of play of Cameroon with foreign trade suggests a contradicting presence of the country in key markets as well as prominent goods compared to services, says Minister of Commerce Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana.

He was speaking on Thursday on the occasion of the cabinet council which is an instance of coordination of government action in Yaounde, the capital of the country.

According to him, the penetration of the African markets by Cameroon remains insufficient, especially in the economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) which only absorb 5% of exports, which mainly include raw materials, including 50% for crude oil.

The preferred destinations of Cameroonian exports thus remain the European Union (59%) and East Asia (24%). "It follows a structurally deficit trade balance, particularly since the devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994."

In order to gradually reverse the trend, the Government, according to Mr. Mbarga Atangana, built a spin-off of the 'made in Cameroon' strategy including actions conventional promotion, but also introduced many innovations in the direction of abroad considering the first 6 countries targeted; Algeria, Brazil, the United States, Morocco, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This strategy of boosting exports, which employs three main axes are the deepening of regional integration, the consolidation of North-South cooperation and the increase in the volume of trade with emerging countries, public authorities accompanied by interested companies in the sub-regional markets to translate into reality the principle of free movement of goods enshrined in the regional economic communities to which Cameroon belongs.

These actions, said Minister of Commerce, will be complemented by major projects such as the creation of a stock exchange of raw materials, the construction of a national food laboratory, certification of products for export, the organization of training session for exporters in October as well as the dematerialization of procedures of international trade.