2025 Country Report on Cameroon: the African Development Bank urges the country to strengthen capital mobilization for sustainable growth
Country reports form part of the African Development Bank's African Economic Outlook 2025 which provides an annual assessment of the economic performance and outlook of the continent's 54 countries by examining growth trends, socio-economic challenges, and development progress. The 2025 AEO report was released last May during the Bank Group's Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, under the theme 'Maximizing Africa's Capital for Sustainable Development.
"Making Cameroon's Capital Work Better for its Development," highlights the levers that will enable the country to strengthen domestic resource mobilization and boost inclusive and resilient growth. It calls on the government, the private sector, civil society, and development and financial partners to collectively re the drivers of the country's structural transformation.
The ceremony was attended by members of the Cameroonian government, notably representatives from the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade as well as the business sector.
The report paints a picture of an economy in recovery, with estimated growth of 3.6 percent in 2024, mainly by continued investment in infrastructure and strong momentum in manufacturing industries, which have benefited from efforts to transform local agricultural and textile products. The country paper relies on a detailed analysis to identify sectors where Cameroon can make progress, particularly in mobilizing domestic resources, strengthening governance, improving the business climate, digitalization and optimizing its natural capital potential.
The report also identifies several priority reforms to enable Cameroon to transform its potential into concrete growth drivers, including reducing tax exemptions and accelerating digitalization, restructuring strategic public corporations, particularly in the energy and refining sectors.
Report findings also stress the importance of strengthening governance, transparency and the rule of law through greater accountability and the publication of the financial statements of public corporations. This includes the need to adopt the National Integrated Financing Strategy (SNFI) to diversify funding sources and leverage carbon market opportunities.
Consolidating the financial sector, processing commodities locally and developing regional infrastructure round out the list of priorities. Finally, the report calls for preserving macroeconomic balances by gradually reducing fuel price subsidies at the pump while supporting investment spending, prioritizing concessional financing, accelerating development in insecure areas and strengthening budgetary capacity to better absorb shocks.
Ameth Saloum Ndiaye, African Development Bank Senior Country Economist for Cameroon and Godwill Kan Tange, Country Economist for Cameroon, presented the report's main findings. They emphasized the report's concrete proposals to optimize the use of budgetary resources, as well as the country's natural, human and financial capital, with a view to stimulating more inclusive and sustainable growth.
The presentation also explored key issues such as public corporation reform, governance, debt management, industrial development, vocational training and the challenges of mobilizing innovative financing, as well as sovereign debt ratings for African economies.
"The African Development Bank Group commends the Cameroonian authorities for their commitment to implementing a National Integrated Financing Strategy, which is currently being adopted and should enable the country to diversify financing sources for its development agenda. This means that the report is fully aligned with the government's priorities," said Mamadou Tangara, Head of Operations, speaking on behalf of the Bank's Director General for Central Africa.
The Secretary General of Cameroon's Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Jean Tchoffo, representing the Bank's Governor for Cameroon, welcomed the Bank's recommendations, which are aligned with the National Development Strategy 2030 (SND30).
"This report comes at a key moment, as we are conducting a mid-term review of the implementation of our National Development Strategy 2020-2030,' Tchoffo said. 'We are convinced that its recommendations will enrich our thinking and strengthen our efforts to return to solid, sustainable and inclusive growth and accelerate the structural transformation of our economy."
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
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