Private investment: Four new companies in view

The investment promotion agency prepares signatures of the current convention this January with nearly 45 billion to invest. This is however anticipated to yield 1,600 jobs.

Presently, four companies have been retained by the (API) investment promotion agency, to compile the next batch of beneficiaries of the Act of April 18, 2013, establishing incentives to the private investment in Cameroon.

The signatures of conventions between these private are mostly manned by Cameroonians. The State must thus attend to them before the end of January, according to Marthe Angeline Minja, CEO of API.

"Since September 2014, 13 companies have signed agreements with the Government as it had already been signed on 2nd April, bringing to 14 the total number of agreements signed in fiscal year 2014", explained Ms. Minja.

She ensured that for the next year, "there are only four companies because they are Cameroonian known businessmen, with good records that were easy to complete. But there are several other applications pending, which may also lead to favourable opinions within a few weeks." This will mean that some files will be returned if they are incomplete or if their requested activities are not eligible.

With regard to the Facilitation program and support of enterprises, DG of the API ensured that "6 out of the 14 top companies having received the favourable opinions are actually trying to benefit from the exemptions provided for by the law, through imports of equipment and materials" on eight others, she added, "they are now closing financing. Anyway, the installation phase has a reasonable period of five years". So these companies still have four years to start to produce effectivly.