AU WATCH

Cameroon

Brief Overview

Cameroon is a lower-middle-income country with a population of over 25 million (2018). Located along the Atlantic Ocean, it shares its borders with Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria. Two of its border regions with Nigeria (northwest and southwest) are Anglophone, while the rest of the country is Francophone.

At 475,442 square kilometres (183,569 sq mi), Cameroon is the world’s 53rd-largest country. … The country’s neighbours are Nigeria and the Atlantic Ocean to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south.

Political Context

Cameroon’s ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), has long dominated the country’s political landscape, occupying 148 of 180 seats in the National Assembly and 81 of 100 in the Senate. In November 2018, disputed election results returned President Paul Biya to office. At 85 years old, Paul Biya, who has held power since 1982, is now serving his seventh term as the country’s president.

For many years now Cameroon has been grappling with attacks by Boko Haram in the Far North and a secessionist insurgency in the Anglophone regions. Since September 2017. This situation has displaced more than 500,000 people internally and claimed the lives of close to 400 civilians and over 200 military, gendarmerie, and police officers. Figures from the UN Refugee Agency (HCR) show that Cameroon is currently hosting over 401,213 refugees, primarily from the Central African Republic (289,982) and Nigeria (108,164).

 

Social Context

Because its poverty reduction rate is lagging behind its population growth rate, the overall number of poor in Cameroon increased by 12% to 8.1 million between 2007 and 2014, and poverty is increasingly concentrated, with 56% of poor living in the northern regions.

 

Republic of Cameroon
Capital: Yaounde
Population: 23.5 million

Area: 475,442 sq km (183,568 sq miles)

Languages: French, English, languages of Bantu, Semi-Bantu and Sudanic groups

Major religions: Christianity, Islam, Indigenous Beliefs

Life Expectancy: 56 years (men), 59 years (women)

Currency: CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc

Organization: African Union, United Nations, Common Wealth, World Bank

Paul Biya

Economic Overview

Cameroon is the largest economy in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), a region experiencing an economic crisis triggered by the steep fall in oil prices. Along with its CEMAC partners, Cameroon has therefore had to put fiscal adjustment measures in place to adjust to the terms of trade shock and restore macro-stability and confidence in the common currency.

Growth in Cameroon is expected to reach 4.3% this year. The rebound is driven by three factors: an increase in natural gas production, with a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) offshore terminal coming online; the slight downturn in the oil sector; and sustained momentum in the construction, industry, housing, and services sectors.

The World Bank’s Country Economic Memorandum, issued in April 2017, notes that if Cameroon is to become an upper-middle-income country by 2035, it will have to increase productivity and unleash the potential of its private sector.

Specifically, Cameroon’s real GDP will have to grow by roughly 8% (or 5.7% per capita) between 2015 to 2035, which in turn will require the investment share of GDP to increase from about 20% in 2015 to 30% in 2035, and productivity growth to reach 2% over the same period from its average zero growth rate over the past decade. These challenges, though daunting, can be met. The public expenditure review published by the World Bank in February 2018 proposes five ways to achieve these goals.

Development Challenges

Cameroon suffers from weak governance, hindering its development and ability to attract investment. It ranks 152 out of 180 countries in the 2018 Transparency International corruption perceptions index, and 166 out of 190 economies in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report.

Important Addresses and Contacts

Physical Contacts of the Presidency
Name of Minister:
Address:
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Physical Contacts of the Prime Minister’s Office
Name of Minister:H.E DION NGUTE Joseph
Address:Down Town Yaounde, May 20 Boulevard
Telephone:(+237) 222 238 005
Fax:(+237) 222 235 735

Physical Contacts of the National Assembly
Name of Speaker of the House:Cavayé Yéguié Djibril
Address:YAOUNDE
Telephone:(237) 222 22 04 84
Fax:(237) 222 23 54 75

Physical Contacts of the Chief Of State and Cabinet Ministers
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Physical Contacts of the Ministry of Interior
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Physical Contacts of the Ministry of Justice
Name of Minister:Amadou Ali
Address: Yaounde – Cameroon
Telephone:(+237) 222 23 26 23,
Fax:

Physical Contacts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Name of Minister:Mr. Lejeune Mbella Mbella
Address:Yaounde
Telephone:
Fax:

Physical Contacts of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs
Name of Minister:Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa (nee Obama)
Address:
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Physical Contacts of the National Human Rights Commission
Name of Minister:Dr Chemuta Divine BANDA,
Address: Yaounde
Telephone:+237 242 22 61 17
Fax:+237 242 22 60 82

Physical Contacts of the Police
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Physical Contacts of the Military
Name of Minister of Defence: Joseph Beti Assomo
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Important Information of Key Human Rights Issues in Cameroon

Prisons in Cameroon
Number Prisons in Cameroon:
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Corruption in Cameroon

 

 

Membership of Regional Organisations

  1. Joined the OAU on 25 May 1963

Signed the Constitutive Act of The African Union on: 28 February 2001

Ratified:09 November 2001

Instrument Deposited:19 April 2002

2. The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS); French: CommunautéÉconomique des États de l’Afrique Centrale, (CEEAC)

Signed:

Ratified:

Instrument Deposited:

  1. The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) French: CommunautéÉconomique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale:

Signed:

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  1. Treaty establishing the African Economic Community

Signed:

Ratified:

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Key Regional Human Rights & Governance InstrumentsSigned and Ratified

  1. African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Signed: 23 July 1987

Ratified:20 June 1989

Instrument Deposited: 8 September 1989

  1. Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Signed: 25 June 2006

Ratified:09 December 2014

Instrument Deposited: 17 August 2015 

  1. Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights

Signed:  –

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited:–

  1. Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights

Signed:  –

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited: –

  1. Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

Signed:  – 25 July 2006

Ratified:- 13 September 2012

Instrument Deposited: –28 December 2012

  1. African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption

Signed:  – 30 June 2008

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited: –

  1. African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

Signed:  –

Ratified:-24 August 2011

Instrument Deposited: –16 January 2012

  1. Statute of the African Union Commission on International Law (AUCIL)

Signed:  –

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited: –

  1. OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa

Signed:  –

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited: –

  1. African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention)

Signed:  –

Ratified:-6 April 2015

Instrument Deposited: –24 May /2017

  1. Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment

Signed:  –

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited: –

12. African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Signed:  –

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited: –

  1. Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons

Signed:  –

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited: 

  1. Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa

 Signed:  –

Ratified:-

Instrument Deposited: –