Market Challenges
• Cameroon continues to be one of the most challenging business environments in the world, ranking among the lower quarter (171out of 181) of the countries surveyed in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” evaluation. Difficulty in resolving commercial disputes, particularly the enforcement of contractual rights, remains one of the serious obstacles in promoting investment in Cameroon. American claimants are often frustrated with the slow pace of the Cameroon legal system. However, the Cameroon Council of Business Managers and Professional Associations (GICAM, French acronym) has created an arbitration center that helps expedite the process, provided both parties clearly agreed in their investment convention that in the case of litigation GICAM’s arbitration center is competent.
• Economic policy mismanagement and a poor business climate have restrained investment and hindered economic diversification. The private sector continues to identify a predatory tax environment, insufficient and unreliable power provision, and inadequate infrastructure as impediments to greater economic growth.
• Although Cameroon is officially a bilingual (French and English) country, most Cameroonians are not bilingual; French is the common language of business, political and social interaction.