# Cameroon - United States Department of State

- Deputy Secretary Verma’s Visit to Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Angola Office of the SpokespersonDeputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard R. Verma will travel to Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Angola April 21-25.In Cameroon, Deputy Secretary Verma will meet with senior Cameroonian government officials, public health partners, and civil society leaders to discuss U.S.-Cameroon cooperation in the areas of health, peace and regional security, and sustainable economic growth.  In Ethiopia, he will meet with African Union Commission officials.  In Angola, Deputy Secretary Verma will travel with Administrator Samantha Power of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to meet with senior Angolan government officials, business and community leaders, farmers, and public health partners.
- Cameroon HomeReportsBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices&#8230;Cameroon				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cameroon																																					Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor																																																																																							Download Report																																																							Translations																																																																 In this section										/																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																																													EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																															Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person																																																									a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings																																																																											b. Disappearance																																																																											c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses																																																																			Prison and Detention Center Conditions																																																																																																																		d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention																																																																			Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees																																																																																																																		e. Denial of Fair Public Trial																																																																			Trial Procedures																																																								Political Prisoners and Detainees																																																																																																																		f. Transnational Repression																																																																											g. Property Seizure and Restitution																																																																											h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence																																																																											i. Conflict-Related Abuses																																																																																	Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties																																																									a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media																																																																			Internet Freedom																																																																																																																		b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association																																																																			Freedom of Peaceful Assembly																																																								Freedom of Association																																																																																																																		c. Freedom of Religion																																																																											d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country																																																																											e. Protection of Refugees																																																																											f. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)																																																																																	Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process																																																									Elections and Political Participation																																																																																	Section 4. Corruption in Government																															Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights																															Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses																																																									Women																																																																											Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination																																																																											Indigenous Peoples																																																																											Children																																																																											Antisemitism																																																																											Trafficking in Persons																																																																											Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics																																																																											Persons with Disabilities																																																																											Other Societal Violence or Discrimination																																																																																	Section 7. Worker Rights																																																									a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining																																																																											b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor																																																																											c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment																																																																											d. Discrimination (see section 6)																																																																											e. Acceptable Conditions of Work																																																																																																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY				There were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Cameroon during the year.Significant human rights issues included credible reports of:  arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious abuses in a conflict, including reportedly unlawful or widespread civilian deaths or harm, enforced disappearances or abductions, torture, and physical abuses; unlawful recruitment or use of children in armed conflict by nonstate groups; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, and censorship; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; restrictions on freedom of movement within the territory of a state; serious government corruption; serious government restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; extensive gender-based violence, including domestic or intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child, early and forced marriage, and other forms of such violence; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of ethnic groups and Indigenous peoples; laws criminalizing same-sex sexual conduct between adults, which were enforced; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons; and systematic restrictions on workers’ freedom of association, including violence and threats against labor activists.The government took limited credible steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses.Armed separatists, Boko Haram, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-West Africa, criminal gangs, and other societal abusers committed significant human rights abuses, some of which were investigated by the government.																														Section 1.													 Respect for the Integrity of the Person												    																																																a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings										There were numerous reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary and unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings, during the year.On February 27 in Moussourtouk in Mayo-Kani Department of the Far North Region, an off-duty Rapid Intervention Battalion soldier, Woulkam Baba, stabbed to death Etienne Ayang Kolfounq, a high school teacher from a local government school, after a verbal altercation at a drinking spot.  The Ministry of Defense confirmed the killing and announced Woulkam was arrested, as were two other soldiers present during the altercation.  According to the governmental Cameroon Human Rights Commission (CHRC), the three soldiers were incarcerated awaiting trial for homicide.On March 15, University of Buea student Ngule Linus Fonteh died in police custody after he and his roommate, Mboh Jires Akua, were apprehended by nonuniformed members of the Military Security Unit for allegedly supporting armed separatist groups.  According to the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa and a lawyer for the victim’s family, Mboh suspected he may have been targeted because of critical statements he made online regarding the security forces and that Ngule was detained arbitrarily because he was Mboh’s roommate.  Mboh reported he and Ngule were both tortured with machetes after initially refusing to sign prewritten confessions.  Mboh stated he was beaten and received several blows with machetes on the soles of his feet during an interrogation.  When the morgue released Ngule’s remains after four months, his body reportedly showed signs of torture, including scars on his feet.  Security forces detained Mboh for nearly four months until, after a CHRC investigation, he was released without charges.  There were no known reports of government action against the perpetrators.Four soldiers of the 31st Motorized Infantry Battalion based in Tchollire, North Region, shot and killed Souleymanou Bouba in April 2022.  According to the CHRC, the four soldiers were detained in June 2022 and subsequently charged with homicide but released on bail.  The case remained pending at year’s end.Journalists and NGOs reported numerous arbitrary and unlawful killings of civilians by nonstate armed groups in conflicts that continued in the Northwest, Southwest, and Far North Regions.Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-West Africa (ISIS-WA) reportedly committed unlawful killings of unarmed civilians.  On February 3, four persons, including three women, died in an attack attributed to Boko Haram and ISIS-WA in Metchikar Village on the border with Nigeria in the Far North Region.  According to media, on March 3, heavily armed Boko Haram and ISIS-WA terrorists attacked the locality of Assighassia in Mayo-Moskota Subdivision of the Far North Region, killing three civilians in their homes.																																				b. Disappearance										There were no reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities during the year.																																				c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses										Although the constitution and law prohibited such practices, anecdotal reports and survivor testimony suggested government officials employed them.Human rights NGOs documented at least one case in which traditional authorities severely abused civilians.  In the North Region, bodyguards of traditional leader Lamido of Tcheboa detained Woulvang (no last names) following a dispute.  The bodyguards reportedly administered 120 lashes and held Woulvang in a cell without food and water for 72 hours.  The CHRC found the allegations credible, but the office of the local prosecutor claimed it had insufficient evidence to file charges.There were reports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex (LGBTQI+) persons were beaten and physically abused by ordinary citizens, with little or no action by the government to protect them or pursue their attackers.The government took steps to identify, prosecute, and punish some abusive officials, but such action was not consistent.  Outcomes of such procedures were rarely disclosed to the public.  Impunity remained a serious problem, particularly within the armed forces and police.																Prison and Detention Center Conditions						Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening due to food shortages, gross overcrowding, physical abuse, inadequate sanitary conditions, and a lack of medical care.Abusive Physical Conditions:  Severe overcrowding remained a significant problem in most prisons, especially in urban centers.  Although the country’s dilapidated, colonial-era prisons had a designed capacity of 19,415 persons, the government reported in June 2022 they held 32,003 inmates.  Conditions in detention cells located at gendarmerie and police stations were often worse.  Officials made extensive use of shackling as a disciplinary measure.Lack of access to food, potable water, medical care, sanitation, heating, ventilation, and lighting was life threatening.  Inmates suffered from malnutrition and were exposed to numerous communicable diseases.  Several cases of cholera were reported at the Kondengui central prison in Yaoundé, with at least three deaths in May.  Prisoner-on-prisoner violence occurred during the year.Administration:  Authorities reportedly did not address all credible allegations of mistreatment.Independent Monitoring:  Independent monitoring of prisons was inconsistent.  NGOs and lawyers reported prison access was significantly curtailed during the year.  The government did not readily allow independent human rights groups access to review prison conditions, and groups reported prison access depended greatly on relationships between group leaders and prison officials.  Organizations that implemented government-approved projects in prisons reportedly had easier access.																										d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention										The constitution and law prohibited arbitrary arrest and detention and provided for the right of persons to challenge the lawfulness of their arrest or detention in court and receive compensation for serious injuries resulting from illegal detention.  The government did not always respect these provisions.																Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees						The law required police to obtain a warrant from a judge or prosecutor and to disclose their identity and state the reason for the arrest prior to apprehending a suspect, except when a person was caught in the act of committing a crime.  Police often did not respect these requirements.  The law provided that suspects be brought promptly before a judge or prosecutor, although this often did not occur, and citizens were detained without judicial authorization.  The law allowed police to legally detain a person in connection with a common crime without charges for up to 48 hours, which could be extended up to 96 additional hours upon written approval of state counsel.  The law provided that a terror suspect could be held indefinitely in investigative detention with the authorization of the prosecutor.  Administrative authorities, such as governors and civilian government officials serving in territorial command, also could approve detentions of individuals without charge for renewable periods of 15 days.  Police and gendarmes reportedly often exceeded prescribed detention periods.The law allowed access to legal counsel and family members, although police frequently denied detainees access to both.  The law prohibited incommunicado detention, but such cases reportedly occurred, especially in connection with those accused of being or supporting separatists in the Northwest and Southwest Regions.  The law permitted bail, but bail was approved only on a selective basis.  The law provided for the right to sue for unlawful arrest, but this right was seldom respected.Arbitrary Arrest:  Police, gendarmes, military officials, and other government authorities reportedly arrested and detained persons arbitrarily, often holding them for prolonged periods without charge or trial and at times incommunicado.According to the NGO Mandela Center International, on February 12 authorities in Ekona, Fako Division, arrested 97 persons as suspected terrorists, 81 of whom were released two days later after women protested in Buea.  On March 2, the Mandela Center reported members of defense and security forces arrested 160 civilians in five villages of the Mbonge and Konye Subdivisions, Meme Division, of the Southwest Region.  A military magistrate charged 14 of them with terrorism, manufacture of weapons, and undermining state security.  The other 146 detainees were released without charge at different times, from one week to one month after their initial detention.Pretrial Detention:  The law provided for a maximum of 18 months’ detention before trial, but many detainees waited years to appear in court.  Factors contributing to lengthy pretrial detentions included insufficient court staff, mismanagement of case files, inability to pay court fees, and the politicization of some legal proceedings that required direction from the central government.																										e. Denial of Fair Public Trial										The constitution and law provided for an independent judiciary, but the government did not always respect judicial independence and impartiality.  In some instances, the outcomes of trials appeared influenced by the government, especially in politically sensitive cases.  Despite the judiciary’s nominal independence from the executive and legislative branches, the president appointed all members of the bench and the legal department of the judicial branch, including the president of the Supreme Court, and could dismiss them at will.																Trial Procedures						The constitution and law provided for the right to a fair and public trial without undue delay, and defendants were presumed innocent.  Authorities did not always respect these provisions and applied the presumption of innocence in a selective manner.  Criminal defendants had the right to be informed promptly and in detail of the charges against them, with free assistance of an interpreter if needed; the quality of interpretation often was poor.  Defendants had the right to be present and to consult with an attorney of their choice, but in many cases the government did not respect this right, restricting access to lawyers, often at the preliminary investigation phase, particularly in cases of individuals suspected of complicity with separatists or political opponents.  When defendants could not pay for their own legal defense, the court could appoint trial counsel at public expense, but the process was often burdensome and lengthy, and the quality of legal assistance was often poor.  Authorities generally allowed defendants to question witnesses and to present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf but did not compel witnesses to testify.  Defendants had the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defense and not to be compelled to testify or confess guilt, but authorities often abused these rights.  Examining magistrates sometimes attempted to induce political opponents and suspected separatists to incriminate themselves.  The law provided for the right to request recusal of judges and to sue for unlawful arrest, but these rights were seldom respected.  Applications to recuse judges with conflicts of interest rarely succeeded, especially in politically sensitive cases.Defendants could appeal convictions up to the Supreme Court and subsequently petition the president for pardon, but there were significant delays in appeals.  For example, on November 10 the Court of Appeals of the Far North Region in Maroua overturned a 2015 military court decision and reduced an initial death sentence, imposed by a military judge over the objection of the military prosecutor who had argued for release due to lack of evidence, to a 10-year term of imprisonment.  The defendant, a woman, was accused of acts of terrorism based on an anonymous denunciation.  According to the defendant’s lawyer, no investigation was conducted, no witnesses were heard, and no victims were identified in the case.Civilian courts also often limited the rights of defendants in politically sensitive cases.  Military tribunals were sometimes used against civilians and political opponents, bypassing defendants’ procedural rights regarding their detention, prosecution, and appeals.						Political Prisoners and Detainees						Several human rights organizations claimed they had limited access to political prisoners, alleging difficulties in securing authorization from prosecutors.  Although a reliable estimate of the number of political prisoners was not available, common purported charges used against government critics reportedly related to the security of the state, including secession, terrorism, rebellion, revolution, and “hostility against the fatherland.”  Prison sentences in many such cases went beyond the limits prescribed by law for the relevant offense.																										f. Transnational Repression										Not applicable.																																				g. Property Seizure and Restitution										On May 25, the Littoral Administrative Court ruled that the government’s 2020 appropriation of approximately six acres of land in the Bali-Dikolo area of Douala violated the law.  The ruling followed the government’s forcible eviction of several dozen residents from the area in May 2022 as part of a project to build a five-star hotel.  Government workers and security forces bulldozed houses and deployed tear gas against protesters.  The May 25 ruling called for the reinstatement of the land certificates and associated rights of the affected displaced persons.																																				h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence										Although the constitution and law prohibited such actions, these rights were subject to restriction in the interests of the state, and there were reports police and gendarmes abused their positions by harassing citizens and conducting searches without warrants.  The law permitted a police officer to enter a private home during daylight hours without a warrant only if pursuing a person suspected of or seen committing a crime.  Police and gendarmes often did not comply with this provision and entered private homes without a warrant.  Unconfirmed anecdotal reports indicated the government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority.  In contrast with 2022, there were no reports authorities punished family members for offenses allegedly committed by their relatives.																																				i. Conflict-Related Abuses										There were reports of abuses associated with continuing conflicts in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, where government forces clashed with separatists.  The abuses included killings and abductions by both government forces and armed separatist groups.  There were also reports of abuses, including killings and abductions, committed by Boko Haram and ISIS-WA in the Far North Region.Killings:  There were reports government forces and separatist fighters deliberately killed numerous civilians.  Although independent observers accused government forces of killing unarmed civilians, officials claimed those killed by government forces in conflict zones were in fact separatists.  Separatists also attacked and killed government workers and civilians alleged to have assisted government forces or who did not observe separatist-imposed lockdowns.According to the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, on June 24 government security forces killed five men in Ekona Town in Muyuka Subdivision of the Southwest Region.  Reports differed as to whether the victims were armed at the time.  The CHRC claimed the men were suspected separatists celebrating the birthday of a nonstate armed group leader known as General Sagta, noting they died during a gun battle with soldiers.According to media reports, on the night of July 15 security forces killed five men in a compound in Bamenda’s Awing neighborhood.  Media sources differed on whether the men were separatists who were engaged in kidnapping.  On July 17, Northwest Region Governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique alleged the deceased men had in fact kidnapped citizens in Awing before transporting them in unidentified cars to Nacho Junction and executing them in public to send a message to other citizens who might consider collaborating with government forces.Journalists and NGOs reported numerous arbitrary and unlawful killings of civilians by nonstate armed groups.  In a July report, Amnesty International reported that on January 12 armed men believed to be separatists killed six individuals in the village of Munkep.  The killing was reportedly connected to several months of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and armed separatists concerning land disputes.  The traditional chief of Munkep was among the six victims.On February 10, armed separatists killed five workers of the Cameroon Development Corporation because they worked during a separatist-imposed lockdown ahead of a February 11 government holiday celebration.  The Ambazonia Governing Council, an armed separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack.  On February 20 in Bali, Northwest Region, suspected separatists beheaded a teenager whom they accused of revealing separatist hideouts.  In one of the largest attacks since the conflict began, on November 6, suspected members of a nonstate armed group entered Egbekaw Village in Manyu Division of the Southwest Region, shot randomly, and set ablaze several houses.  In a November 7 statement, the government indicated the preliminary death toll from the attack was 25 persons.  The government attributed the attack to a separatist group known as the Manyu Unity Warriors, affiliated with the Ambazonian Defense Forces.  Subsequent estimates put the death toll between 40 and 60, making it the single deadliest attack of the seven-year conflict.Abductions:  Armed separatists reportedly abducted several individuals for not respecting separatist-imposed lockdown measures.  Separatists held civilians as hostages, including public officials, political leaders, teachers, schoolchildren, and religious and traditional leaders.  There were reports abductors physically abused their victims.On May 19 in Kedjom Keku, Mezam Division of the Northwest Region, armed individuals abducted 30 women for denouncing separatist-imposed lockdowns and taxes.  On May 20, the nonstate armed group Ambazonia Defense Forces abducted Stephen Ujambeng, ruling party Councilor for the Northwest Region, along with an unspecified number of other civilians, allegedly for participating in a May 20 national day parade.According to official sources, on June 1, security forces rescued Fon Yakum Kevin Shumitang II, the president of the Northwest House of Chiefs, who had been abducted by armed separatists in 2021.In August, the bodies of five government officials abducted in 2021 by separatists were exhumed.  The bodies, along with the remains of four other unidentified victims, were discovered in a mass grave outside Ekondo-Titi in the Southwest Region.  A former separatist fighter who had been present during the killings informed authorities of the grave location.Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture:  According to reports, both government agents and separatists physically abused civilians, as well as prisoners in their custody.Multiple organizations reported Rapid Intervention Battalion soldier Ewome Eboko John, better known by the pseudonym “Moja Moja,” continued to abuse with impunity civilians he accused of being separatists in the Southwest Region.  In a March video released on social media, Moja Moja could be seen walking on the corpses of two alleged separatists killed in the locality of Muea, Fako Division of the Southwest Region.  The posting followed a pattern in which Moja Moja recorded videos of his victims as he abused them and published the videos on his social media accounts.  In June 2022, for example, one of the videos depicted Moja Moja beating an unarmed civilian with a metal object and forcing him to confess to being a separatist fighter.  After the video was posted, a group of lawyers wrote a letter to the chief prosecutor of the Yaoundé Military Tribunal, requesting that he take appropriate action against Moja Moja.  According to the CHRC, in June the Southwest Region Military Tribunal summoned Moja Moja, but at year’s end no known actions were taken against him.  CHRC officials noted complaints against Moja Moja were often anonymous because of victims’ fears of reprisal, which they claimed made investigation difficult.Child Soldiers:  Observers reported Boko Haram continued to recruit and use child soldiers, including girls, in attacks on civilian and military targets.  Some community groups, known as vigilance committees, were reported to use and recruit children in armed operations against Boko Haram and other nonstate armed groups.  Separatists in the Southwest and Northwest Regions recruited and used child soldiers in combat roles and to gather intelligence, according to observers.Other Conflict-related Abuse:  As in the previous year, there were reports of violence directed against health workers and of the use of firearms near health facilities by members of security forces and armed separatists.  There were also reports of such incidents targeting schools and civilian residential areas.The UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that on February 5 suspected armed nonstate elements attacked the Ouzal Health Center in Mayo-Tsanaga Division of the far North Region, looting and destroying medical equipment and supplies.  The attack was the second suffered by the health facility in a three-week period.Of the 6,515 schools expected to open during the 2022-23 academic year in the Northwest and Southwest, only 3,013 were operational as of January, with insecurity as the primary reason for this, according to OCHA and echoed in Amnesty International’s July report.  Nonstate armed groups announced and enforced a lockdown that delayed the start of the 2023-24 academic year in the Northwest and Southwest.  The government reported only 35,000 primary students (8 percent) of the estimated 450,000 students in the region reported to classes on the September 4 school year start date.  Nonstate armed groups enforced the lockdown with several violent attacks on civilians, including on two elementary school teachers in the Northwest.  Schools were not permitted to reopen until September 19, when students gradually returned to school.																																					Section 2.													 Respect for Civil Liberties												    																																																a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media										The law provided for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, but the government often restricted this right, explicitly or implicitly.Freedom of Expression:  Government officials reportedly denied individuals or organizations the ability to criticize or express views at odds with government policy.  Government officials also denied citizens the ability to discuss certain matters of general interest, including expression of views concerning political transition.  There were reports individuals who criticized the government privately or in public faced reprisals.Violence and Harassment:  Police, gendarmes, and other government agents arrested, detained, physically attacked, and intimidated journalists.  Journalists practiced self-censorship, refraining from subjects that could be perceived as critical of the government due to harassment and intimidation by the government or by those acting with impunity due to the state’s failure to investigate or prosecute attacks on journalists.  Journalists and publishers reported cases of telephone harassment and intimidation.The mutilated body of journalist Arsene Salomon Mbami Zogo, popularly known as Martinez Zogo, was found on January 22 in a Yaoundé suburb.  Zogo had been missing since January 17, when witnesses reported his abduction by unknown assailants near a gendarmerie station.  Zogo had reported on sensitive topics and populist themes, such as corruption by government officials and their allies.  Witness accounts pointed to signs of torture, including burn marks and severed fingers.  In a January 22 release, Minister of Communication and government spokesperson René Emmanuel Sadi confirmed Zogo’s body displayed signs of torture.  He condemned the killing and announced an investigation was underway to find the perpetrators.  The government detained several suspects for the killing, including Maxime Eko Eko, head of the General Directorate of External Research, and Justin Danwe, operations director of the same entity.  In December, authorities arrested an additional suspect, Stephan Savom, Mayor of Bibey in the Central Region.  At year’s end, the suspects remained in detention as the government continued its investigation.In March, the divisional officer of Nkongsamba’s 2nd district, Youfedi Hamid, issued a message to security forces requesting they prevent four journalists (Riphin Ngoppe, publisher of La Voix du Moungo, Nana Serge of Tribune Libre, Hen Château of LTM, and Franck Lionel Diffo of DBS TV) from covering events taking place in his constituency until further notice.  During March 12 senatorial elections, Hamid ordered Ngoppe to leave a polling station during ballot counting, thus preventing him from reporting on the voting process.  Hamid used allegations the journalist had harassed civil servants in August 2022 to justify his exclusion.Censorship or Content Restrictions for Members of the Press and Other Media, including Online Media:  By law the Ministry of Communication required editors to submit two signed copies of their newspapers within two hours of publication, although the government did not enforce, and publishers did not comply with, this requirement.  The Ministry of Communication had supervisory authority over media outlets and accredited audiovisual media organizations; the central government also accredited print media.  Journalists and media outlets reported practicing self-censorship, especially if the nominally independent media regulator, the National Communication Council (NCC), had suspended them previously.  Authorities threatened journalists, and the NCC suspended journalists and publishers based on public complaints and for content deemed at odds with government policy.  During the year, the NCC sanctioned media professionals from seven outlets, with penalties ranging from a total ban of the outlet to three months’ suspension from the practice of journalism.  Prominent among the sanctions were one-month bans for English-language newspaper The Post and its editor after an employee mistakenly released an image of a draft front page that contained the headline “66% of Cameroonians want a military coup – Afrobarometer Survey,” even though the front page in question was never actually published or disseminated to the public.Libel/Slander Laws:  Libel, slander, defamation, and blasphemy were treated as criminal offenses.  The law authorized the government to initiate a criminal suit when the president or other senior government officials were the alleged victims.  These laws placed the burden of proof on the defendant, and crimes were punishable by prison terms and substantial fines.  Ordinary citizens could also file libel or slander suits, but the law was often applied selectively and with deference to senior government officials and well-connected individuals.  There were no known cases prosecuted under libel, slander, or blasphemy laws during the year.National Security:  Authorities often cited laws against terrorism or protecting national security to threaten critics of the government.  Several journalists remained in detention on terrorism charges, including Kingsley Njoka, who, after reporting on the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest, was accused of terrorism (“complicity with an armed gang”) and held in pretrial detention for more than two years before appearing before a military tribunal in late 2022.  In January, a judge presiding over his case ordered a retrial before a new panel.  Njoka remained in detention at year’s end.Nongovernmental Impact:  There were several reported cases of armed separatist groups in the Southwest and Northwest Regions explicitly inhibiting freedom of expression, including for the press.  In addition, concern for personal security and restrictions on movement imposed by armed separatists contributed to further limit freedom of expression for media members.																Internet Freedom						The government did not restrict or disrupt internet access or censor online content.																										b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association										Although the law provided for the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, the government often restricted these rights.																Freedom of Peaceful Assembly						The law required organizers of public meetings, demonstrations, and processions to notify officials in advance but did not require prior government approval for public gatherings, nor did it authorize the government to suppress public gatherings it had not approved in advance.  Nevertheless, officials frequently claimed the law implicitly allowed the government to grant or deny permission for public gatherings.  The government often granted permits for gatherings on a selective basis and used force to suppress gatherings for which it had not issued permits.Authorities typically cited security concerns as the basis for deciding to block gatherings.  On January 30, opposition politician Cabral Libii informed authorities in Yaoundé of a planned public meeting to protest the killing of journalist Martinez Zogo.  On January 31, authorities asked Libii to suspend the meeting due to a claimed vagueness of purpose and the risk it could lead to violence.  According to the CHRC, Libii’s judicial appeal of the government decision was rejected.According to media sources and Libii’s public statements, in March the Ministry of Territorial Administration twice denied Libii authorization to hold a separate public protest against electricity cuts.  In the first instance, the government asserted that holding it on the proposed March 12 date (the same day as senatorial elections) would constitute political activities on election day in contravention of the law.  Libii rescheduled his planned event for a week later, which the ministry then denied on the grounds that the organizers would be unable to control the crowd.In contrast with previous years, authorities allowed the opposition party MRC to hold public meetings during the year, although often not in the venues chosen by party leaders.						Freedom of Association						The law permitted the Ministry of Territorial Administration, on the recommendation of local officials, to suspend the activities of an association for three months on grounds the association was disrupting public order.  The minister could also dissolve an association if it was deemed a threat to state security.  National associations could acquire legal status by declaring themselves in writing to the ministry, but the ministry was explicitly required to register foreign associations.  The president was required to accredit religious groups upon the recommendation of the minister of territorial administration.  The law imposed substantial fines for individuals who formed and operated any such association without ministry approval.  The law prohibited organizations that advocated goals contrary to the constitution, laws, and morality, as well as those that aimed to challenge the security, territorial integrity, national unity, national integration, or republican form of the state.Conditions for recognition of political parties, NGOs including human rights groups, and associations were complicated, involved long delays, and were unevenly enforced.  This resulted in associations operating in legal uncertainty with their activities tolerated but not formally approved (see section 5).On July 12, the Ministry of Territorial Administration issued a ban on the activities of the Evangelical Church of Cameroon.  The written ban cited as reasons, among other things, the threat of serious disturbance to public order.  On August 19, the ban was lifted, and regular worship services resumed.																										c. Freedom of Religion										See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report  https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.																																				d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country										Although the constitution and law provided for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, at times the government and nonstate armed groups restricted these freedoms.In-country Movement:  Using minor infractions as a pretext, police, gendarmes, and custom officers reportedly extorted bribes and harassed travelers at roadblocks and checkpoints in cities and on highways.  Police frequently stopped travelers to check identification documents, including national identity cards, passports, residence permits, vehicle registrations, customs status, and tax receipts as security and immigration control measures.  NGOs reported problems in accessing vulnerable communities as a result.As in the previous year, armed separatists restricted the movements of persons and goods in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, sometimes in a deliberate attempt to harass and intimidate the local population.  Separatists often used weekly lockdowns referred to as “ghost towns” to enforce restrictions on movement, in which the armed separatists demanded all businesses, schools, and places of worship close, and residents stay home.  Violent crime, including kidnapping by terrorists, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, assault, and carjacking were major impediments to in-country movement in the three northern regions as well as in part of the East Region.Separatists continued to enforce a lockdown of the Northwest and Southwest Regions on Mondays as well as on numerous public holidays and days of public events.  During the lockdown periods, all vehicles were banned from the roads in these regions.  Separatists warned that any person or group of persons contravening the ban would be punished.																																				e. Protection of Refugees										The government generally cooperated with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, returning refugees, or asylum seekers, as well as other persons of concern.Access to Asylum:  The law provided for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the government had a system for providing protection to refugees, but implementation of this system was weak.  UNHCR continued to provide documentation and assistance to the refugee population, although local authorities did not always recognize the documents as official, which prevented refugees from traveling and engaging in employment activities.Freedom of Movement:  The government generally did not provide identity documents in a timely manner to refugees and other persons in need of primary documentation, and UNHCR-issued cards were often insufficient to permit refugees to travel freely and integrate socioeconomically.  To help address the situation, a government pilot program issued national biometric identification cards to 6,000 of an estimated 200,000 refugees from the Central African Republic in the East Region.Employment:  Although there were no credible reports the government restricted refugees’ ability to work after their refugee status was official, government delay in the provision of identity documents was a problem as refugees without such documents faced significant obstacles to employment in the formal sector.Durable Solutions:  There was no evidence the government accepted refugees for resettlement or offered naturalization to refugees residing in its territory.  The government assisted in the voluntary return of persons to Nigeria and the Central African Republic.Temporary Protection:  The government continued to provide temporary and unofficial protection to individuals who might not qualify as refugees, extending this protection to hundreds of individuals, including persons who had fled violence in the Central African Republic.  Due to their unofficial status and inability to access services or support, many of these individuals were subject to harassment and other abuses by employers in the informal sector.																																				f. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)										According to June UNHCR estimates, there were 1,066,254 IDPs.  Reports indicated IDP girls were particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation.For further information about IDPs in the country, please see the materials of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center:   https://www.internal-displacement.org&nbsp;.																																					Section 3.													 Freedom to Participate in the Political Process												    																						The law provided citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage.																										Elections and Political Participation										Abuses or Irregularities in Recent Elections:  National elections, last conducted in March 12 indirect polling for senate seats, were reported to be generally fair and free of major irregularities.Political Parties and Political Participation:  At year’s end, the country had approximately 330 registered political parties.  The ruling party remained dominant at every level of government due to restrictions on opposition political parties, gerrymandering, unbalanced media coverage, the use of state funds to promote party campaigns, interference with the right of opposition parties to register as candidates and to organize during electoral campaigns, and undue influence of traditional rulers.  Traditional rulers who refused to associate with the government were either removed or threatened with the loss of all income.  Membership in the ruling party conferred significant advantages, including in the allocation of key jobs in state-owned entities and the civil service.Human rights organizations and opposition political groups asserted the processes of drawing up voter districts and distributing parliamentary and municipal councilor seats were unfair.  They complained that small districts considered ruling party strongholds were allocated a disproportionate number of seats compared with more populous districts where the opposition was expected to poll strongly.  Managers of state-owned companies and other high-level government officials reportedly used government resources to campaign for candidates sponsored by the ruling party.Participation of Women and Marginalized or Vulnerable Groups:  Societal stigma and the criminalization of same-sex sexual conduct deterred members of the LGBTQI+ community from full participation in the political process, such as running for elected office.  Leaders of the Indigenous Mbororo people expressed concern their political rights were marginalized, noting no political party included a member of the Mbororo as a candidate in the March senate elections.  They also pointed out no member of their community was among the 30 senators appointed by the president.  Persons with disabilities experienced discrimination in the selection of political party candidates (see section 6, Indigenous Peoples, and also Persons with Disabilities).																																					Section 4.													 Corruption in Government												    																						The law provided criminal penalties for corruption by officials, but the government did not implement the law effectively.  There were numerous reports of government corruption.Corruption:  The government encouraged reporting of corruption by exempting whistleblowers from criminal prosecution.  The National Anti-Corruption Agency (CONAC), the National Financial Investigation Agency, the Ministry in Charge of Supreme State Audit, and the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court had roles in fighting corruption.  CONAC, the leading anti-corruption agency, was constrained by an absence of any legislative or presidential mandate.  There were reports senior officials sentenced to prison were not always required to forfeit their ill-gotten gains.As in the previous year, there were new allegations of corruption involving public officials.  The Special Criminal Court (TCS) prosecuted corruption cases.  On January 31, the TCS delivered its verdict in the embezzlement case of former Minister of Defense Alain Edgar Mebe Ngo’o and four codefendants, finding Mebe Ngo’o guilty of offenses including overbilling of contracts for military equipment worth almost $40 million.  His wife, Bernadette Mebe Ngo’o, was found guilty of complicity in the embezzlement of $8.3 million in public funds.  The TCS sentenced Mebe Ngo’o to 30 years’ imprisonment and his wife to 10 years.  Other accomplices in the case were also found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from nine to 25 years.  In addition to these sentences, the TCS ordered asset forfeitures, civil damages, and fines.On June 14, the TCS sentenced former Camwater Managing Director Jean William Sollo to 15 years in prison, the second person convicted in a case alleging the embezzlement of $220,000 and misappropriation of additional public funds.For additional information concerning corruption in the country, please see the Department of State’s Investment Climate Statement for the country, and the Department of State’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, which includes information on financial crimes.																											Section 5.													 Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights												    																						Several domestic and international human rights groups monitored and investigated human rights conditions and cases and published their findings.  Government officials were rarely cooperative or responsive to their views.  Government officials impeded many local human rights NGOs by harassing their members, limiting access to prisoners, and refusing to share information.  Authorities took no action to investigate or prevent such occurrences.Retribution against Human Rights Defenders:  Some organizations continued to face difficulties renewing their accreditations following a 2021 directive by the Ministry of Territorial Administration that threatened to suspend groups that did not seek reauthorization within one month.  This negatively impacted the operations of the NGO Un Monde Avenir, which could no longer open a bank account or continue to receive funding from longstanding partners.  Although activists and human rights defenders reported threats to their personal safety due to their work, these reports could not be corroborated or linked specifically to the government.Government Human Rights Bodies:  The CHRC was established in 2019 to promote and protect human rights and prevent torture in detention facilities.  The CHRC was nominally independent, although it relied on the government for funding and access to government ministries to conduct investigations.  The CHRC coordinated actions with NGOs, participated in inquiry commissions, provided training on human rights for government officials, and issued statements on human rights matters.  It also operated a hotline that allowed for anonymous reports of human rights abuses, including cases of torture.  The CHRC did not have the authority, however, to initiate legal proceedings or otherwise hold human rights abusers accountable, which limited its effectiveness.																											Section 6.													 Discrimination and Societal Abuses												    																																																Women										Rape and Domestic Violence:  The law criminalized rape but did not specify whether it applied to both women and men.  The law did not address spousal rape.  Penalties for conviction ranged from five to 10 years’ imprisonment.  The law was not enforced effectively, and police and courts rarely investigated or prosecuted rape cases, especially since survivors often did not report them.  Members of the Cameroonian Bar Association attributed a lack of enforcement of gender-based violence laws in part to the expense and limited availability of rape kits and emergency medical care, which they claimed made it difficult to prosecute cases.The law did not specifically prohibit domestic violence, although assault was prohibited and punishable by imprisonment and fines.  Reports suggested domestic violence was a major problem.  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported 39 percent of women experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner at some time in their life.The government provided support to survivors of sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence, including legal support, general clinical care offered in health facilities, and collection of data.  Many of the prevention and basic support programs for survivors of gender-based violence were implemented by community-based organizations.Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C):  The law prohibited FGM/C.  Offenders were subject to prison sentences of 10 to 20 years, or imprisonment for life if the offender habitually carried out this practice for commercial purposes or if the practice caused death.  Authorities enforced the law when complainants pursued cases; however, judicial delays and societal stigma discouraged many women from filing complaints, and successful prosecutions were extremely rare.Other Forms of Gender-based Violence or Harassment:  Widows were sometimes forcibly married to one of their deceased husband’s relatives, especially in rural communities, to secure continued use of property left by the deceased husband, including the marital home.  The practice of widow rites, by which widows were subject to certain trials such as bathing in public or movement restrictions, was prevalent in rural communities in the West Region.  Anecdotal reports suggested breast ironing, the process of forcibly flattening emerging breasts in pubescent girls, continued to exist in some rural communities.Sexual harassment remained widespread.  There were no known reports during the year that anyone was fined or imprisoned for sexual harassment, in part due to survivor reluctance to file official complaints due to the risk of reprisal or stigmatization.Media reported multiple cases of femicide.  Authorities reportedly investigated at least some of the cases and detained suspects.Discrimination:  The constitution and law provided women and men the same legal status and rights, but the government often did not enforce the law.  Although local government officials claimed women had access to land in their constituencies, the overall sociocultural practice of denying women the right to own land, especially through inheritance, was prevalent in most regions.  There were legal restrictions to women’s employment in some occupations and industries.  Within the private sector, fewer women occupied positions of responsibility than men.Reproductive Rights:  There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities.In most parts of the country, prenatal clinics monitored and assisted women through pregnancy and childbirth.  Women also had access to emergency care, including services for the management of complications arising from abortion, even though abortion was generally not permitted.  The Ministry of Public Health offered counseling services to women during prenatal visits, promoting the concept of responsible parenthood and encouraging couples to use contraception to space the timing of their children.  Many women, however, lacked the means to manage their reproductive health, and societal pressures continued to reinforce taboos on discussing reproductive health within certain communities.  Women’s dependence on receiving spousal consent continued to be a barrier in contraception decisions.The government did not readily provide emergency contraception or postexposure prophylaxis to survivors of sexual violence.  The United Nations Population Fund provided a kit with emergency contraception to some clinical sites as part of clinical care for gender-based violence survivors.According to a 2017 World Health Organization report, the most recent available data, the maternal mortality rate was 529 deaths per 100,000 live births.  Factors that contributed to the high rate included distance to health facilities in rural areas, poverty, and security crises in the Northwest, Southwest, and Far North Regions.Menstruation and limited access to sanitary products affected girls’ access to education.  Pregnancy and motherhood often impeded adolescent girls’ access to education, and a 2022 study Teenage Childbearing and School Dropout in a Sample of 18,791 Single Mothers in Cameroon showed that 41.6 percent of those surveyed had dropped out of school because of pregnancy.  As a measure to encourage pregnant girls to remain in school, the Ministry of Secondary Education allowed pregnant students to continue with school until the 26th week of pregnancy, after which they could request to be placed on maternity leave.																																				Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination										The constitution stated the government should protect “minorities and preserve the rights of indigenous populations in accordance with the law,” but it did not identify specific groups that qualified as minorities or Indigenous populations.  The laws and regulations on decentralization and elections also protected the rights of minorities by requiring that lists of electoral candidates reflect the sociological landscape of constituencies, or that the office of president of a regional council or city mayor be held by a native of the constituency.  The government made efforts to enforce these provisions, but discrimination and violence persisted, including employment discrimination based on ethnicity.While there were no reliable reports of governmental violence or discrimination against members of racial, ethnic, or national minorities, there were reports of societal violence along ethnic lines during the year, although it was not always clear whether ethnicity was the primary reason for the violence.In February, after Sultan Mouhammad Nabil Mforifoum Mbombo, the traditional leader of the Bamoun community, was accused of insulting the traditional leader of the Tikar community, His Majesty Soulé Ngamon III, members of the Tikar community engaged in acts of vandalism targeting Bamoun property and businesses.On May 24, a communal clash erupted in Sangmelima in the South Region, involving the native Bulu and nonnative Bamoun communities from the West Region.  Armed with clubs and machetes, dozens of Bulu youth ransacked Bamoun homes, injuring dozens of individuals and destroying shops.  Media reports suggested the riot was triggered when a Bamoun trader threatened a Bulu youth.  The young man eventually died, and allegations regarding the cause of his death caused the unrest.																																				Indigenous Peoples										The Indigenous Baka people, including the Bakola and Bagyeli, resided primarily in (and were the earliest known inhabitants of) the forested areas of the South and East Regions.  The government did not effectively protect their civil or political rights.  Logging companies continued to destroy their forested land without compensation.  Other ethnic groups often treated the Baka as inferior and sometimes subjected them to unfair and exploitative labor practices.  The government continued long-standing efforts to provide birth certificates and national identity cards to Baka.  Nonetheless, most Baka did not have these documents, and efforts to reach them were impeded by the difficulty in reaching homes deep in the forest.There were reports from NGOs that the Indigenous Mbororo people, nomadic pastoralists living mostly in the North, East, Adamawa, and Northwest Regions, continued to be subject to harassment, sometimes with the complicity of administrative or judicial authorities.  Mbororo leaders expressed concern their political rights were marginalized.Amnesty International and the Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association reported in June and September respectively that the conflict in the Northwest Region had brought to the fore simmering tensions between armed separatist groups and the local Mbororo population.  The Mbororo, many of whom were Muslim and clashed with the dominant Christian population concerning land disputes, were excluded and marginalized prior to the crisis in the Northwest.  The conflict only exacerbated their status, with armed separatists suspecting Mbororo of collaborating with the government due to a history of Mbororo voting for the ruling party.  As a result, some Mbororo joined armed vigilante groups that reportedly clashed with separatist armed groups viewed as targeting Mbororo.																																				Children										Birth Registration:  Many births went unregistered because children were not always born in health facilities.  Children without birth certificates were unable to register for official examinations to enter secondary school or secure other legally required identity documents.Education:  A 2019 UN report, the most recent available data, highlighted gender disparity in education, particularly in secondary education.  According to the report, the literacy rate in 2019 was lower for women and girls (86 percent) than for men and boys (97 percent).Child Abuse:  The law prohibited various forms of child abuse, including but not limited to assault, indecency, kidnapping, forced labor, rape, sexual harassment, and situations where one parent refused to disclose the identity of the other parent to the child.  Despite these legal provisions, authorities did not enforce the law effectively, and child abuse remained a problem.  Children continued to receive corporal punishment both within families and at school.Child, Early, and Forced Marriage:  The minimum legal age for marriage was 18, but the law was not enforced effectively.  UNICEF’s 2018 child marriage data revealed 31 percent of women between ages 20 to 24 were married before age 18 and 11 percent were married before age 15.  Early and forced marriages, as well as abusive “temporal marriages,” were more prevalent in the northern part of the country and some parts of the West Region, especially in the Noun Division.Sexual Exploitation of Children:  The law prohibited the commercial sexual exploitation of children and the sale, offering, grooming, or procuring of children for sex trafficking and practices related to child pornography.  The country’s legal framework required a demonstration of force, fraud, or coercion to constitute a child sex trafficking offense and therefore did not criminalize all forms of child sex trafficking.  Authorities enforced laws against child pornography, but other laws against the sexual exploitation of children were not effectively enforced.According to anecdotal reports, traffickers exploited children younger than age 18 in sex trafficking, although no statistics were available.  Anecdotal reports suggested the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest Regions had contributed to a dramatic increase in child sex trafficking and an increased number of early pregnancies, especially in areas with IDPs.  Reports identified the Bonaberi neighborhood in Douala as a hub for the sexual exploitation of underage IDP girls.  The law did not set a minimum age for consensual sex.Infanticide, Including Infanticide of Children with Disabilities:  The law prohibited the practice, and the government generally enforced the law effectively.  There were isolated media reports of the practice.  For example, media reported that on April 9 in Bafoussam in the West Region, Raissa Makoua gave birth to a baby and left the newborn in a septic tank.  The child was rescued by first responders.  Makoua was arrested and detained on April 11, and authorities reportedly opened an investigation.  The were no known developments at year’s end.																																				Antisemitism										The Jewish population was very small, and there were no known reports of antisemitic incidents.																																				Trafficking in Persons										See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at  https://www.state.gov/trafficking in-persons-report/.																																				Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics										Criminalization:  Consensual same-sex sexual activity between adults was illegal and punishable with imprisonment from six months to five years plus a fine.  The government enforced the law.  Police often detained LGBTQI+ individuals based solely on their perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, including individuals who had sought police assistance after being the victims of violent crimes.According to LGBTQI+ rights organizations, in January Maya Brenda was arrested and detained in Douala after being accused by the mother of a child, age 17, of having an inappropriate relationship with her daughter.  Brenda was convicted of attempted corruption of a child and sentenced to five years in prison.Sale Garba was arbitrarily detained at a Douala police station in January before being transferred to the central prison on February 9.  While in police station custody, Garba was not allowed to take his HIV medication for two days.  He was accused of having a romantic and sexual relationship with a child age 17.  The child and his father petitioned a court to be removed from the case, but the investigating magistrate instead issued a warrant detaining Garba for a six-month renewable period.  A human rights NGO reported a trial judge ordered his release on bail in October, but Garba remained detained because he lacked the resources to post bail.On May 9, the Littoral Region Court of Appeals in Douala affirmed a 2021 trial court verdict that sentenced two transgender women to five years in prison and fines, citing legal provisions that prohibited same-sex sexual relations.  Gendarmes arrested the two in Douala in 2021 and charged them with “attempted homosexuality,” public indecency, and nonpossession of national identity cards.  The defendants were released in July 2022 pending their appeal, and they were not reincarcerated after the ruling.Violence and Harassment:  LGBTQI+ human rights organizations continued to report arbitrary arrests of LGBTQI+ persons.  LGBTQI+ individuals faced significant stigma and violence from their families, communities, and the government, including police.  Security forces sometimes harassed, detained, and assaulted persons based on their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, including individuals found with condoms and lubricants.The LGBTQI+ rights NGO Colibri reported between January and March, it identified 129 cases of nonstate actor violence and harassment, including withholding of paychecks, psychological abuse, family rejection, and physical violence in the form of battery, assault, and rape.  In one case, an LGBTQI+ individual was reportedly encouraged by his family to commit suicide, although he did not do so.  In a video obtained by human rights activists through social media, a member of the LGBTQI+ community was shown cowering in the corner of a small room while unknown persons off-camera hurled blocks of concrete at him.  The activists reported the incident took place in January.In January, NGO Humanity First Cameroon reported an attack on a gay man after he agreed to meet a man who claimed to be a contact from an LGBTQI+ group on a mobile messaging platform.  When he arrived, he was attacked by the man and three others who robbed him, stripped him, and made him admit to being gay on video, which was then disseminated to his family and friends.Discrimination:  The constitution prohibited discrimination and prescribed equal rights for all citizens; however, the law did not explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics.  The law did not specifically recognize LGBTQI+ individuals, couples, or their families.  LGBTQI+ persons faced significant societal discrimination, including in employment.  Risk of exposure affected individuals’ willingness to access health services related to HIV and AIDS.Availability of Legal Gender Recognition:  Legal gender recognition was not available.Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices:  The law did not specifically address these practices.  Anecdotal reports indicated some members of the LGBTQI+ community were survivors of “corrective rape,” forced marriage, and forced pregnancies to compel them to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.  Family members of LGBTQI+ individuals also reportedly enlisted traditional healers and psychologists to coerce LGBTQI+ individuals into abandoning their sexual orientation.There were no reports of medically unnecessary and irreversible “normalization” surgeries performed on children or on nonconsenting adult intersex persons.Restrictions of Freedom of Expression, Association, or Peaceful Assembly:  Although the law did not specifically prohibit their registration, LGBTQI+ organizations were not permitted to register officially as such and thus registered either as general human rights organizations or as health-focused organizations.  Many LGBTQI+ organizations reported that operating health programs, particularly HIV prevention and treatment programs, shielded them from potential harassment or shutdown, although promoting advocacy for LGBTQI+ persons was their primary mission.																																				Persons with Disabilities										Persons with disabilities were not able to access education, employment, health services, public buildings, and transportation on an equal basis with others.  The law provided protection to persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental disabilities, including access to education and vocational training, employment, health services, information and cultural activities, communications, buildings, sports and leisure, transportation, housing, and other state services.  The government did not enforce these provisions effectively.  Some infrastructure projects were constructed to provide accessibility to persons with mobility impediments.  The government did not always provide information and communication on disability concerns in formats that were accessible to persons with disabilities.There were no reports of police or other government officials inciting, perpetrating, or condoning violence against persons with disabilities.  A study during the year by a consortium of health practitioners found that children with disabilities were at a particularly elevated risk of abuse.  The study found that physical abuse, most commonly in the form of corporal punishment or excessive labor, was the most frequent form of abuse.  Persons with disabilities faced discrimination in employment and occupation.Under the law, public education was free for persons with disabilities and children born of parents with disabilities, and some children with disabilities attended school with peers without disabilities.  NGOs reported many parents of children with disabilities did not send their children to school.  The government introduced inclusive education in many schools and reviewed the curriculum of teacher training colleges to include training in inclusive education skills.  Other children with disabilities continued to attend separate schools, such as the Bulu Blind Center in Buea and the Yaoundé Special School for Hearing-Impaired Children.Government inaction limited the rights of persons with disabilities to participate in civic life, including lack of access to polling sites.																																				Other Societal Violence or Discrimination										According to the Association of Women Albinos of Cameroon, persons with albinism faced ostracism within their communities, including the abandonment of babies and children with albinism.  The problem was particularly acute in the Far North Region.  Persons with albinism also faced obstacles accessing adequate health services despite high rates of skin cancer and vision problems.  Persons with albinism faced discrimination in employment and occupation.Persons with HIV often suffered social discrimination and were isolated from their families and society, in part due to a lack of education regarding the disease.  As in the previous year, while no specific cases of discrimination in employment were available for citation, anecdotal reports indicated some discrimination occurred with respect to HIV status, especially in the private sector.																																					Section 7.													 Worker Rights												    																																																a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining										The law provided for the rights of workers to form and join independent unions, bargain collectively, and conduct strikes, but with significant restrictions.  The right did not apply to defined groups of workers, including defense and national security personnel, prison administration civil servants, and judicial and legal personnel.  The law also prohibited antiunion discrimination and required the reinstatement of workers fired for union activity.  Statutory limitations and other practices substantially restricted these rights.  The law did not permit the creation of a union that included both public- and private-sector workers or the creation of a union that included different sectors, even if closely related.  The law required that unions register with the government, have a minimum of 20 members, and formalize the union by submitting a constitution and bylaws.  Founding members were also required to have clean police records.  Those who formed a union and carried out union activities without registration were subject to fines.  Unions were prohibited from carrying out any activity that was not related to the study, defense, development, and protection of the interests of workers.More than 100 trade unions and 12 trade union confederations were in operation, including one public-sector confederation.  Trade unions or associations of public servants were not permitted to join a foreign occupational or labor organization without prior authorization from the minister of territorial administration, who was responsible for “supervising public freedoms.”The constitution and law provided for collective bargaining between workers and management as well as between labor federations and business associations in each sector of the economy.  The law did not obligate employers to bargain.  The law did not apply to the agricultural or informal sectors, which included most of the workforce.Legal strikes or lockouts could be called only after conciliation and arbitration procedures were exhausted.  Workers who ignored procedures to conduct a strike were subject to dismissal or fines.  Free industrial zones were subject to labor laws, but there were several exceptions limiting worker rights.  Within free industrial zones, employers had the right to determine salaries according to productivity, which could bypass minimum wage requirements, to negotiate work contracts free of labor law regulations, and to issue work permits for foreign workers without the normally lengthy government oversight process.  Laws intended to target terrorists could impose harsh legal penalties on legitimate trade union activity.The government and employers did not effectively enforce the applicable laws on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.  Penalties for violations were rarely applied against violators and were not commensurate with those for comparable violations.  Administrative and judicial procedures were infrequent and subject to lengthy delays and appeals.Many employers continued to use subcontractors to avoid hiring workers with collective bargaining rights.  Major companies, including quasi state-run and state-operated companies, reportedly engaged in the practice, according to workers from Energy of Cameroon, the water supply company Camerounaise des Eaux, cement manufacturer Cimencam, Guinness, Aluminum Smelter, Cameroon Oil Transportation Company, Ecobank, and many others.  Subcontracting reportedly involved all categories of personnel, from the lowest to senior levels.  As a result, workers with equal expertise and experience did not always enjoy similar protections when working for the same business, and subcontracted personnel typically lacked a legal basis to file complaints.Several strikes were announced.  Some were called off after successful negotiations, others were carried out peacefully, and others faced some degree of repression.Health personnel working in various facilities, including the Yaoundé Emergency Center, began a strike on May 22, protesting what they referred to as nine years of poor working conditions, including missing salaries and bonuses and a lack of adequate equipment.  On June 5, workers escalated their protest by marching to the Ministry of Public Health.  Security forces dispersed them with tear gas and batons, arrested some of the protesters, and took them to unknown destinations.  According to the CHRC, the arrested protesters were not mistreated and were released the same day.  Workers resumed duties after the government agreed to establish an interministerial committee to examine their grievances.  As of November, there were no indications the workers and their employers had secured an agreement.																																				b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor										See the Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report at  https://www.state.gov/trafficking in-persons-report/.																																				c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment										See the Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at  https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings&nbsp;																																				d. Discrimination (see section 6)																																														e. Acceptable Conditions of Work										Wage and Hour Laws:  On March 21, the government increased the minimum guaranteed wage and established three distinct minimum wages for different categories of labor.  The minimum wage in all sectors was greater than the World Bank’s poverty line.  Premium pay for overtime ranged from 120 to 150 percent of the hourly rate, depending on the amount of overtime and whether it was weekend or late-night overtime.  Despite the minimum wage law, employers often negotiated lower wages with workers, in part due to an extremely high rate of underemployment in the country.  Salaries lower than the minimum wage remained prevalent in the public works sector, where many positions required unskilled labor, as well as in domestic work, where women refugees were particularly vulnerable to unfair labor practices.The law established a standard workweek of 40 hours in public and private nonagricultural firms and a total of 2,400 hours per year, with a maximum limit of 48 hours per week in agricultural and related activities.  There were exceptions for guards and firefighters (56 hours per week), service-sector staff (45 hours per week), and household and restaurant staff (54 hours per week).  The law mandated at least 24 consecutive hours of rest weekly.Occupational Safety and Health:  The government set appropriate occupational safety and health (OSH) standards in the workplace.  The minister of labor and social security established a list of occupational diseases in consultation with the National Commission on Industrial Hygiene and Safety.  Ministry inspectors and occupational health physicians were responsible for monitoring OSH standards.Wage, Hour, and OSH Enforcement:  The Ministry of Labor and Social Security was responsible for enforcement of the minimum wage, overtime, and OSH laws but did not do so effectively.  Labor inspectors were permitted to conduct unannounced inspections and attempted to do so when they had derogatory information regarding a business.  Unannounced visits were sometimes thwarted due to a lack of political will in some sectors, like mining, the target business’s lack of cooperation, and, in some instances, physical threats from business employees.  Penalties for violations of the law were not commensurate with those for comparable crimes, such as negligence.  Penalties were rarely applied against violators.  Unconfirmed but credible reports suggested some businesses did not provide health services to their employees, as required by law but rarely enforced.  The government more than doubled the total number of labor inspectors during the year, but the number was still insufficient, and the ministry lacked the resources for a comprehensive inspection program.  During the year, the state-owned National Mining Corporation implemented a public awareness campaign to reduce child labor in mines.The International Labor Organization reported informal workers made up 90 percent of the labor force in the country.  The government did not enforce labor laws and regulations in the informal sector.																																				    							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- FY 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Refugees in Cameroon and Chad Bureau of Population, Refugees, and MigrationBasic InformationFunding Opportunity Number: DFOP0009913Assistance Listings (CFDA) number: 19.517 &#8211; Overseas Refugee Assistance Programs for AfricaAnnouncement issuance date: Wednesday, March 20, 2024Announcement type: Cooperative AgreementProposal application submission deadline: Monday, April 29, 2024 at 11:59:59 p.m. EDT (23:59:59). Proposals submitted after this deadline will not be considered.Anticipated timeframe to award for selected proposals: Pending the availability of funds, PRM anticipates, but makes no guarantee, that awards will be made less than five months from the proposal submission deadline.
- Online Press Briefing with Ian J. McCary, Deputy Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS BRUSSELS HUBMODERATOR:  Good afternoon from the State Department’s Brussels Media Hub. I would like to welcome everyone joining us for today’s virtual press briefing.  Today we’re very honored to be joined by Ian J. McCary, the deputy special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.Finally, a quick reminder that today’s briefing with the deputy special envoy is on the record. And with that, let’s get started.  Deputy Special Envoy McCary, thanks so much for joining us this evening and I’ll turn it over to you for opening remarks.MR MCCARY:  Thank you very much, John, and thank you to our colleagues in the press corps for your interest. We just wrapped up a meeting today of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, political director-level meeting, which is a meeting that we have once a year.  The meeting was hosted this year by the Italian foreign ministry and we had over 40 delegations present today.Our coalition reflects a counterterrorism context that increasingly demands civilian-led solutions and the development of lines of effort outside of Syria.  Our coalition is regionalizing its efforts to move effectively counter Daesh affiliates active in Africa and in the Central Asia region.Successfully achieving these objectives includes increased coalition engagement with Sub-Saharan African states, and today we had with us representatives of Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, and Senegal, as well as non-member states from Central Asia, including Uzbekistan.  All of these states sent delegations to participate with us in this event today.Italy has played an outstanding leadership role within the Global Coalition to defeat ISIS, including by hosting this meeting today and by serving as the co-chair of the coalition’s Africa Focus Group and also the coalition’s Counter-ISIS Finance Group.  And I think we ended today with a very successful meeting and we have released a co-chair statement that you’ll be interested in reviewing.  And I’d be glad to field any questions that you may have.MODERATOR:  Thank you, Deputy Special Envoy. We’ll go first to a submitted question from Gabriele Steinhauser from The Wall Street Journal in South Africa: “How is the departure of French troops from Niger affecting the war against ISIS and terrorism more broadly in the Sahel?”MR MCCARY:  Well, I do think we regret the developments in Niger over the past few months.  Niger had been a premier counterterrorism partner for the United States and other countries with the Global Coalition.  We had extraordinary cooperation with them, and I think we’re making a lot of progress in defeating ISIS elements, ISIS affiliates, and other violent extremist groups in that region.And we do regret the developments and the coup that led to the removal of President Bazoum, and we’re hoping and working closely with our partners and with ECOWAS and other regional partners and international partners to achieve a political solution there so that we can get back to the sort of counterterrorism cooperation that we enjoyed before.MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir. We’ll actually go to a live question now.  Pearl Matibe. Pearl, you have the mike.  Pearl, go ahead, if you can unmute yourself.QUESTION:  Yes, thank you so much, John. Good morning, Mr. McCary. It’s good to talk to you again. I’m glad to see that there was a good contingent of African states at your meeting.  Could you speak a little bit about Nigeria’s role?  Any successes or challenges that you see in succeeding in your efforts?MR MCCARY:  Well, Nigeria is – was present in our meeting today, and of course, Nigeria, as the chair of ECOWAS, plays an extremely important role in regional security.  We have very good counterterrorism cooperation with Nigeria, and I expect that will continue going forward.  Nigeria has been a member of the global coalition for many years, and obviously, given their geography, the resources that they have, and their – the challenges that they face, we’re going to continue to engage closely with Nigeria.  Clearly that’s a very important element of the solution there.MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  We’ll go to the next question – actually another live question – from Diyar Kurda.  Diyar, please go ahead.QUESTION:  Thank you, John. Hi, Ian.  I have two questions, one question about what’s the level of Turkish drone attacks’ impact on your operations and local partner in northeast Syria, and what engagements you have with Türkiye on that.And the second question, if you could speak about your assistance and engagement with KRI Peshmerga forces in this fight against ISIS.  How do you see the return of Peshmerga minister to his office, as he was resigned for a long time ago?  Thank you.MR MCCARY:  Well, I would say Türkiye is a very important member of the Global Coalition, and they were represented at – they sent several senior officials to the meeting today, and Türkiye is extremely active in the Global Coalition.  In fact, they co-chair our – they co-chair our Foreign Terrorist Fighter Working Group and hosted an important meeting of the working group that took place in Istanbul at the end of October.  We have very close engagement and communication with our Turkish counterparts on all issues, and there are areas – there’s a great deal of overlap and common ground with our Turkish partners, and there are some areas of disagreement as well, but we’re determined to continue to develop our counterterrorism cooperation with the Turkish government.MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir. We’ll go to submitted questions now.  From Joseph Haboush from Al Arabiya English in the U.S.:  “With almost 80 attacks since October 17th, do you believe the current U.S. approach has deterred malign actors or states, including Iran, which the U.S. has attributed these attacks to, from not negatively impacting Washington’s fight against ISIS?”MR MCCARY:  Yeah. Well, as Joseph mentioned, we’ve been outspoken in our attribution of those attacks and our rejection of the very unconstructive role or malign role that Iran and its proxies have been playing in northeast Syria, as well as in other parts of the Middle East.  But we are also absolutely determined that we will not be deterred in conducting our Defeat ISIS operations in northeast Syria.  We are applying the resources and implementing the tactics necessary both to defend our forces against any such attacks and to continue our campaign against the remnants of ISIS/Daesh in that region.MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  We’ll go to another live question now: Soran Khateri. Soran, please go ahead.QUESTION:  Hello, sir. Do you hear me?MODERATOR:  Yes, we hear you. Go ahead.QUESTION:  So, in recent days, local reports suggest that there has been rising activity of ISIS in both Syria and Iraq.  Do you believe that it’s somehow related to the Gaza war first, and second, the attacks by Iran-aligned proxies against U.S. forces in both of the country – I mean, Syria and Iraq?MR MCCARY:  Yes. Well, let me first say that we have an extraordinary partnership with the Iraqi Security Forces, and we have a lot of confidence in their capability – their capabilities to defend Iraqi sovereignty and defend their people against any threats from remnants of Daesh in Iraq.  And we’re also continuing unabated or undeterred our operations to defeat Daesh elements that may remain in northeast Syria.We do believe that Daesh is seeking opportunities to exploit the violence between the conflict between Israel and Hamas for its own purposes.  But again, we’re determined that we’re going to remain steadfast in our operations to defeat Daesh.MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  We’ll go to another live question – Michael Hernandez.  Michael, I believe you have your hand up.  Michael, if you can unmute, otherwise we’ll go to – oh, go ahead.QUESTION:  Can you hear me now?MODERATOR:  Yeah, go ahead.QUESTION: Okay, great. Thank you, Ambassador, for doing this.  I wanted to follow up on an earlier answer you provided to us, saying that you are determined to continue to develop our counterterrorism cooperation with the Turkish government.  I wanted to see if you could outline any verticals or areas in which you are trying to do just that.  Thank you.MR MCCARY:  Well, like I said, the Turkish Government is one of the co-chairs of the coalition’s Foreign Terrorist Fighter Working Group, and they hosted a very productive meeting at the end of October in which we took stock of our ongoing efforts to disrupt and intercept terrorist movements, including potential movements of Daesh affiliates into or out of Afghanistan.  And we have a dialogue with Türkiye, conducting – about other theaters in which we’re confronting Daesh, including in Africa.  Türkiye also has a great deal of interest in what’s happening there, in Sub-Saharan Africa.And we’re also – with regard to combatting the threat from the so-called Daesh-Khorasan, we have a – we’re working closely with our Turkish partners to take – make the best use of their very good relationship with Central Asian states and tightening cooperation among coalition partners to help build capacity of Central Asian states as they take measures and we work with them to build their capacity to contain and defeat so-called Daesh-Khorasan.QUESTION:  Thank you, Ambassador.MR MCCARY:  Thank you.MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir. Pearl Matibe, you have your hand up again.  Do you have a follow-up question or &#8212;QUESTION:  John, yes, I do. Thank you so much. The information being shared is actually very valuable.  Mr. McCary, you mentioned earlier that the Global Coalition is regionalizing your efforts.  I wonder if you could just kind of break that down a little bit. How will this be operationalized?  What does that look like?  Are you institutionalizing anything?  And I know – maybe if you could make a comment on the Country Reports on Terrorism that were just released last Thursday, I’d appreciate that too if you could tack that on, if you have enough time.  Thank you so much.MR MCCARY:  Well, thank you, Pearl. In terms of the regionalization, what we mean by that is that obviously when the coalition started, all of the focus was on defeating the so-called territorial caliphate which Daesh had created in northeast Syria and Iraq, and all of the attention was on that particular theater.  And the threat has evolved significantly.  The challenges in northeast Syria in particular and also in Iraq persist, but they’re of a very different nature than they were back in 2014 to 2019, roughly, period.And then we have worked over the past few years to increase the coalition’s focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and also Central Asia.  And with regard to Africa, we had a very successful meeting of the coalition’s Africa Focus Group in Niamey, Niger, back in March.  And that was a very productive meeting at which we developed the four-point action plan in which we’re – the four pillars of which being capacity building, counterpropaganda, counterterror finance, and countering malign influences and the disinformation associated with some of the malign actors in Sub-Saharan Africa.But we also decided, as we reflected on the results of the meeting in Niamey, that the challenges in – on the African continent alone are so dispersed geographically that it made sense to break the problem apart and deal with it more piece by piece.  And consequently, we decided to have a meeting in Cotonou, Benin, which we had on the 15th of November, in which we focused exclusively on the nature of the threat and on the needs of our partners, our counterterrorism partners, in the coastal West African states and the Sahel.And I think we’re going to have follow-on meetings, perhaps in other parts of Africa where we also bring coalition attention to other parts of the African continent.  And also, of course, there’s a lot of follow-up to do in West Africa and the Sahel following up on our meeting in Cotonou.  So that’s just an example of what we mean by regionalization.And likewise, we’ve tightened our focus on the threat from so-called Daesh-Khorasan or ISIS-Khorasan.  And as I mentioned, Türkiye hosted a very productive meeting in late October in Istanbul, in which the Foreign Terrorist Fighter Working Group focused on the ongoing challenges of disrupting terrorist movements and dealing with the displaced people who need to be repatriated in northeast Syria, and also talked a great deal about the nature of the threat and steps we can take to counter and undermine and ultimately defeat so-called ISIS-Khorasan.MODERATOR: Thank you, sir, for those remarks.  Unfortunately, we have run out of time.  Thank you to everyone who has joined us.  And special thanks to the Deputy Special Envoy Ian McCary for joining the call as well.  Deputy Special Envoy, can I turn it back to you for any final thoughts, if you have any?MR MCCARY:  Well, now, thank you, John. I appreciate the interest from our colleagues in the press.  And we’d be happy to field more questions or do more tailored interviews as colleagues might be interested in.  I think we’re going to, in 2024, continue to increase our efforts.  And a takeaway from the meeting today is that there – in spite of all of the many other challenges that are crowding the global agenda today, there’s still a very strong international will not to be distracted in our efforts to defeat ISIS and to continue to refine our tactics and deploy whatever tools we need to deploy to ensure that Daesh can’t threaten international security in the future.MODERATOR: Thank you, sir, for those final thoughts. Shortly we will send the audio recording of the briefing to all the participating journalists (inaudible) transcript as it is available.  Thanks again for your participation.  We hope you can join us again for another press briefing in the near future.  This ends today’s briefing.# # #
- Cameroon HomeReportsBureau of CounterterrorismCountry Reports on Terrorism 2022&#8230;Cameroon				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							Country Reports on Terrorism 2022: Cameroon																																					Bureau of Counterterrorism																																																																																																				 In this section																																												Cameroon																																												Cameroon				Overview:  Government of Cameroon (GRC) military commanders described the situation in the Far North (FN) Region as relatively calm, compared with 2020 and 2021, during a security briefing in October reported by the media.  However, the Armed Conflict Location &amp; Event Data Project indicated that Boko Haram and ISIS affiliates were involved in an estimated 425 terrorist attacks in 2022, compared with about 350 in 2021, representing a 21 percent increase.  NGOs working in the region also reported a comparable number of terrorist incidents in 2022, and anecdotal reporting from civilians indicated continued significant terrorist activity in the FN Region.  The GRC continued to not distinguish between Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa (ISIS-WA), attributing all terrorist attacks to Boko Haram.  Yet both organizations conducted attacks, according to multiple credible sources.According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, attacks took place mainly in Mayo-Sava, Mayo-Tsanaga, and Logone-et-Chari Divisions.  According to media, security officers described assaults as uncoordinated and predatory, maintaining that criminal behavior more than ideology drove the attacks.  ISIS-WA maintained a strong presence in Lake Chad and regularly attacked villagers in Logone-et-Chari.  The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that as of August there had been an annual increase of 2 percent in the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), bringing the total in the FN Region to more than 385,000 — with 88 percent of internal displacements attributed to terrorist activity.In May, residents of Tourou, Mayo-Tsanaga, protested at the FN governor’s office about the frequent attacks, claiming the violence forced them to spend their nights in the hills, leading many to abandon their villages.  They blamed the attacks on a reduced military presence in the FN and the dismantling of border security posts, which facilitated the entry of terrorists from Nigeria.  Media outlets claimed vigilance committee members continued to abandon their roles owing to lack of governmental support.Hundreds of ex-combatants continued to join the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Transit center in Meri, FN, where living conditions remained poor.  Despite the center’s growing numbers, the government offered little vocational training and did not initiate formal reintegration.  Some residents reported they had been at the center for more than three years.Countering terrorist threats remained a top security priority for the GRC, which continued to work with the United States to improve the capacity of its security forces.  The GRC maintained cooperation with the international community on counterterrorism initiatives; through the Multinational Joint Task Force, the army implemented “Operation Lake Sanity” from March to June, resulting in the killing of 800 terrorists.  Cameroon remained a member of the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.2022 Terrorist Incidents:  Incidents included raids in search of supplies, ambushes, indiscriminate killings, targeted murders, beheadings, abductions, arsons, and lootings against civilians and security personnel.  A representative sample follows:On February 23, Boko Haram terrorists killed three civilians during a raid in Koza.On May 30, Boko Haram terrorists from Nigeria set fire to a military post in Hitawa, Tourou, and killed three soldiers and four civilians.On July 2, ISIS-WA terrorists burned down a hospital in Mada, killing one security guard.On August 22, ISIS-WA terrorists kidnapped 20 fishermen in Hile-Alifa, Logone-et-Chari.On October 10, Boko Haram terrorists killed four civilians during a siege of Mokolo.Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security:  Representatives from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the Ministry of Defense (MOD), the Ministry of External Relations, and the National Magistrate School drafted a revision of the 2014 antiterrorism law, which was submitted to MOJ and MOD leadership for consideration.  Among other changes, the revision proposed a narrower definition of terrorism acts.Countering Financing of Terrorism:  Cameroon is a member of the Task Force on Money Laundering in Central Africa (GABAC).  Its Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the National Agency for Financial Investigation, is a member of the Egmont Group.  In March, Cameroon completed its GABAC mutual evaluation, which noted that while the country has a good understanding of the high money laundering and terrorist financing risks it was facing, it lacked an authority responsible for coordinating national Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism policies.Countering Violent Extremism:  In July, FN Governor Midjiyawa Barkary launched a $2.5 million project financed by WHO and the IOM to promote peace and counter violent extremism.  The project built the capacity of 15 health committees that support dialogue within communities and coordinate vocational training programs, economic reinforcement, and capacity building for vulnerable groups, ex-combatants, IDPs, local authorities, and staff at DDR centers.The National Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Committee approved a five-year strategy focused on gender-based violence, stigmatization, and women’s needs to promote women’s engagement in the DDR process.The government adopted a $10 million budget to implement the Lake Chad Region Recovery and Development Project (PROLAC) in areas affected by terrorism.  PROLAC constructed boreholes, provided improved seedlings and logistical support to farmers, and established national identification cards for 5,000 people in Logone-et-Chari.Military engineers used funding from the French Development Agency to construct 150 classrooms in 46 localities affected by terrorism in the FN.  The project aimed to facilitate the return and reinsertion of IDPs to their original communities.The Inclusive Economic and Social Recovery Program for Lake Chad (RESILAC) continued to reinforce resilience and promote social cohesion by creating employment and supporting apprenticeships and entrepreneurship for communities affected by terrorism.  RESILAC’s first phase, which ended in 2022, benefited 32,965 people within Dargala, Koza, Mindif, and Mora in the FN.During a three-day workshop organized in August by Plan International, 50 youth leaders identified strategies and actions to promote peaceful coexistence within communities.  The training was part of the Lake Chad Regional Stabilization Strategy, which intends to build resilience in zones where youths are vulnerable to ISIS-WA and Boko Haram.In February and March, the Commonwealth Countering Violent Extremism Unit organized a series of workshops in Yaoundé.  The sessions focused on the role of government in CVE, explored the relationship between gender and violent extremism, and provided capacity building on prevention through education.International and Regional Cooperation:  Cameroon continued its counterterrorism cooperation with the international community, contributing significantly to operations of the Multinational Joint Task Force.																												    							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- Cameroon HomeReportsBureau of Economic and Business Affairs2023 Investment Climate Statements&#8230;Cameroon				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Investment Climate Statements: Cameroon																																																																																												 In this section										/																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																																													EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																															1. Openness To, and Restrictions Upon, Foreign Investment																																																									Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment																																																																											Other Investment Policy Reviews																																																																											Business Facilitation																																																																											Outward Investment																																																																																	2. Bilateral Investment and Taxation Treaties																															3. Legal Regime																																																									Transparency of the Regulatory System																																																																											International Regulatory Considerations																																																																											Legal System and Judicial Independence																																																																											Laws and Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment																																																																											Competition and Antitrust Laws																																																																											Expropriation and Compensation																																																																											Dispute Settlement																																																																			ICSID Convention and New York Convention  																																																								Investor-State Dispute Settlement  																																																								International Commercial Arbitration and Foreign Courts  																																																																																																																		Bankruptcy Regulations																																																																																	4. Industrial Policies																																																									Investment Incentives																																																																											Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation																																																																											Performance and Data Localization Requirements																																																																																	5. Protection of Property Rights																																																									Real Property																																																																											Intellectual Property Rights																																																																																	6. Financial Sector																																																									Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment																																																																											Money and Banking System																																																																											Foreign Exchange and Remittances																																																																			Foreign Exchange																																																								Remittance Policies																																																																																																																		Sovereign Wealth Funds																																																																																	7. State-Owned Enterprises																																																									Privatization Program																																																																																	8. Responsible Business Conduct																																																									Additional Resources																																																																											Climate Issues																																																																																	9. Corruption																																																									Resources to Report Corruption   																																																																																	10. Political and Security Environment																															11. Labor Policies and Practices																															12. U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Other Investment Insurance or Development Finance Programs																															13. Foreign Direct Investment Statistics																															14. Contact for More Information																																																					EXECUTIVE SUMMARY				Cameroon, the largest economy in the Central African Economic and Monetary Union (CEMAC), continues to recover from external economic shocks. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Cameroon’s real GDP growth to reach 4.6 percent in 2023, up from 3.4 percent in 2022, supported by higher oil prices and non-oil production. The current account deficit is expected to deepen to 3 percent in 2023 against 1.6 percent in 2022. Headline inflation is projected to reach 5.9 percent at end the of 2023, up from 5.3 percent in 2022. The overall fiscal deficit improved from 2.3 percent of GDP in 2022 to around 1.3 percent in 2023 reflecting higher oil revenues, while the non-oil primary deficit is estimated to improve from 4.5 percent of GDP in 2022 to 2.4 percent in 2023, mainly due to the phasing out of fuel subsidies.Cameroon’s current National Development Strategy (NDS30) sets out to create an enabling environment for public-private partnerships which can spur job growth. The strategy also focuses on boosting local production, developing, infrastructure and leveraging technology for growth and employment.Cameroon’s economy has faced major external shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, that have disrupted food commodity and fuel supplies, and placed upward pressure on prices. While some of the adverse effects of exogenous shocks are being weathered with support from the IMF’s three-year $689.5 million hybrid Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements, the upward pressure on fuel prices nonetheless forced the government to ease its fuel subsidies policy. This led to a rise in official fuel prices at the pumping stations. In January 2023, the IMF Executive Board completed the third review of the ECF-EFF program and approved a new disbursement of $73 million.Cameroon’s 2023 budget totals $10.1 billion, an increase of 4 percent from the 2022 mid-term revised budget, largely funded by tax increases for businesses and households even as the cost of living for Cameroonians soars. The 2023 budget aligns with the National Development Strategy and the IMF program and sets a target to contain the budget deficit.Cameroon maintains strong competitive advantages due to bilingualism in French and English, relative political stability, a diversified economy, and its location as a gateway to landlocked countries in the Central African region. It offers immense investment potential in infrastructure, agriculture and extractive industries, consumer markets, and modern communication technology (for example, internet broadband, fiber optic cable, and data centers). However, Cameroon’s telecommunication infrastructure needs significant investment for upgrade, as network outages are frequent. More investment opportunities exist in the financial sector as only 15 percent of Cameroonians have access to formal banking services. Governance challenges and administrative bottlenecks remain major setbacks to Cameroon’s investment climate.Table 1: Key Metrics and RankingsMeasureYearIndex/RankWebsite AddressTI Corruption Perceptions Index2022142 of 180http://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overviewGlobal Innovation Index2022121 of 132https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/analysis-indicatorU.S. FDI in partner country ($M USD, historical stock positions)2021-4.0 millionhttps://apps.bea.gov/international/factsheetWorld Bank GNI per capita20211590http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD																																					1. Openness To, and Restrictions Upon, Foreign Investment						    																																																Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment										Cameroon has placed the creation of a conducive business environment for attracting FDI at the heart of its development strategy, and views FDI as a means to mobilize financing for its National Development Strategy and generate technology spillovers necessary for the nation’s industrialization and economic development. Law N° 2013/004 of April 18, 2013, established incentives for private investment in Cameroon. However, business associations assert that the law pits new entrants against already established businesses. They cite a 10-year tax waiver only applicable to new businesses and overly general incentives rather than targeting specific sectors. Moreover, the law does not facilitate technology transfer clauses, which is an objective of the National Development Strategy.Decree No. 2005-310 of September 1, 2005, created an  Investment Promotion Agency  (CIPA), which became effective in 2010 following appointment of its executives. CIPA fosters an enabling environment for investments in Cameroon by: (i) promoting Cameroon&#8217;s brand image abroad; (ii) participating in the improvement of the Cameroon investment environment; (iii) proposing measures likely to attract investors to Cameroon as well as those likely to improve the implementation of the investment and other sectoral codes; and (iv) hosting a database of projects available to investors. CIPA also enters into joint ventures and public-private partnerships with other government and private entities, as necessary, with the objective of improving the business environment. CIPA offers investment incentives covering existing and emerging economic sectors. The agency also serves as a one-stop-shop, facilitating business through the assistance it provides to foreign and domestic investors. It processes application files for approval in compliance with its investment charter and assists in the alignment of projects with the general tax code. It can support potential foreign investors for visa applications. CIPA also monitors the implementation of commitments made by approved companies.The government maintains dialogue with business associations such as the Groupement Inter-Patronal du Cameroun (GICAM), Enterprise Cameroun (ECAM) (GICAM and ECAM merged with in March 2022 to create a larger association) and Mouvement des Enterprise du Cameroon (MECAM)through the Cameroon Business Forum, which is sponsored by the World Bank. The government convenes the Cameroon Business Forum annually for an inclusive dialogue in key sectors of the economy and makes recommendations to improve the business landscape. The government also maintains dialogue with syndicates in all the sectors to find common ground on specific issues that would otherwise disrupt normal economic activity.Limits on Foreign Control and Right to Private Ownership and EstablishmentApart from the national defense and security areas, there are no sector-specific restrictions, limitations, or requirements applied to foreign ownership and control. Despite an active government presence in most sectors of the economy, private entities – both domestic and foreign – can create and own businesses that engage in all forms of legal remunerative activities. They can also enter joint ventures and public-private partnerships with the government.Law N°2002/004 of April 19, 2002, on the Charter of Investments in the Republic of Cameroon, guarantees to any individual or corporate entity with established economic activity or wishing to establish an economic activity in Cameroon the freedom to repatriate foreign capital invested and profits made by the exploitation, as well as repatriation of salary savings made by expatriate staff. The same law, however, requires that foreign exchange and capital transfers be done in respect of the rules of the Central African Economic and Monetary Union (CEMAC), which places restrictions on the repatriation of foreign capital. Regulation N°02/18/CEMAC/CAMU/CM of December 2l, 2018, regulating foreign exchange in the CEMAC region, specifies that the import, issuance, advertisement, and sale of foreign currency for amounts exceeding CFAF 50 million are subject to BEAC authorization. Although there is no specific clause that prohibits transactions of any amount, the system of authorizations and associated foreign exchange controls indirectly affects cross-border transaction amounts.Cameroon has no laws or regulations that expressly prohibit investment, equity caps, mandatory domestic joint venture partners, licensing restrictions, or mandatory intellectual property/technology transfer requirements. Cameroon has a screening process, which is applicable to all domestic and foreign investments.  This screening process ensures that investors meet the criteria, such as employment and export quantities, to qualify for private investment incentives.																																				Other Investment Policy Reviews										The IMF completed the  Third Review  of its three-year, $689.5 million hybrid Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility arrangement in February 2023 and approved a further disbursement of $73.3 million. While macroeconomic performance is satisfactory, and efforts to promote good governance and transparency are advancing, progress on structural reforms is slow.In December 2022, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) released the report of the Cameroon Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) that examines opportunities and constraints and makes recommendations that could increase private investment, contribute to growth, and support better living conditions for Cameroonians. The CPSD recommends the undertaking of reforms in energy, state-owned enterprise governance, and public-private partnership sectors. The CPSD maintains these reforms would increase private investments and improve access to essential physical and digital infrastructure. The CPSD also highlights the benefits of diversification and suggests a focus on select value chains such as cocoa and cereals. Concerning the urban economy, the report suggests enhancing investments in education, housing infrastructure, and retail, where demand is high. The full report can be read  here .GICAM, Cameroon’s largest private business association, noted that to significantly improve the business environment and impact the development of investments the government should focus reforms in four main areas: (i) real estate/land tenure management; (ii) energy development, especially green energy; (iii) telecommunications enhancement, and (iv) review of the tax base &#8211; using income/profit as tax base instead of turnover.In a December 2022  report , the Nkafu Policy Institute, a Cameroonian think tank, examined the economic impacts of the 2023 fiscal measures that increased taxes and stamp duties. In its 2023 budget, the government of Cameroon significantly reduced fuel subsidies and increased stamp duties on administrative procedures; this was followed in February 2023 by a 24% average fuel price increase. The report notes that these measures would affect the competitiveness of the economy by: (i) increasing the prices of the consumer goods due to increased transport fares; and (ii) tightening of conditions for running and formalizing businesses or accessing land. These measures would slow down the efficient operation of transport networks, the development of the private sector and, by extension, economic growth.																																				Business Facilitation										In Cameroon, anyone, national or foreign, is free to start and run a business. Entrepreneurs obtain a unique tax identification number issued by the Directorate General of Taxation, known as a Unique Identification Number (UIN).While official business services are available, most companies including those from the United States operating in, or attempting to enter, the Cameroonian market have a local presence as operating a business requires frequent face-to-face interactions with public servants.Government procurement is a long and arduous process in Cameroon, and understanding and enforcing legal agreements is painstaking work. In 2018, the government created an online procurement management system,  Cameroon On-Line E-Procurement System  (COLEPS). The e-procurement portal is an electronic procurement management tool for companies. It is part of the electronic management of purchases which includes actions for both upstream &#8211; selecting suppliers (e-sourcing), and downstream &#8211; placing and monitoring orders. Orders are placed electronically in catalogues. The online platform is now operational. Procurement related laws, decrees, orders, and other regulatory materials are available on this platform. The system now has information on procurement programming, involving, among others, budgeted projects, tender notices, and biddings. However, current laws does not compel use of the system to manage procurements and it is not widely used by government offices.According to the World Bank, it takes 14 procedures and 82 days to establish a foreign-owned limited liability company in Douala, Cameroon’s largest city and economic capital. This process is longer and more complex than regional and global averages. For foreign investors, a declaration of foreign investment to the Ministry of Finance is mandatory 30 days prior to the beginning of operations. In addition, if the company wants to engage in international trade, registration in the importers’ file is required to obtain an automated customs systems number (Système Douanier Automatisé, or “sydonia”). This number facilitates the entry and exit of goods produced by the company. The authentication of the parent company’s documentation abroad is required only to establish a subsidiary. Foreign-owned resident companies that wish to maintain foreign currency bank accounts must obtain prior approval. The Minister of Finance issues such authorization, which is subject to approval from the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) as per Section 24 of the exchange control regulations. This approval takes on average 38 days to obtain. There is a minimum paid-in capital requirement of CFA 1,000,000 (~$1,800) for establishing LLCs.In Cameroon, business registration is most often manual, although the Ministry of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises launched an electronic registration portal designed to automate the process at  https://cameroun.eregistrations.org/ . Due to internet access challenges, the website is not always operational. To manually register, entrepreneurs must go to a Ministry of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises regional center for the creation of enterprises, which can complete the registration procedure within one week.In addition, to facilitate cross-border investments, a single window (one-stop shop) for foreign trade transactions ( GUCE ) has been established. Through this window, all cross-border transactions are registered in an online form and information is sent to all participating parties including technical ministries. Each transaction has a unique payment, a unique form for entering data, and a system for informing participating parties. The system is still being deployed and has yet to become fully operational.																																				Outward Investment										The Cameroonian government does not promote or incentivize outward investment, nor does it restrict domestic investors from investing abroad.																																												2. Bilateral Investment and Taxation Treaties						    																						Cameroon has 18 bilateral investment treaties in force, which can be found  here . Cameroon signed a bilateral investment treaty with the United States in 1986, which entered into force in 1989. Most recently, Cameroon signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Kingdom in 2021. Cameroon signed an interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union which entered into force in August 2014. In August 2016, the President of Cameroon signed the implementing decree which allows for its effective implementation toward a progressive elimination of customs duties by 80 percent for European products over a period of 15 years.Cameroon ratified the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in 2020. The  AfCFTA  is expected to enable the creation of a continent-wide free trade area with the potential to unite Africa’s 1.2 billion people in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc and foster economic growth and development through trade creation, structural transformation, productive employment and poverty reduction.Cameroon does not have a Bilateral Tax Treaty with the United States; it has tax treaties with Canada, France, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and other CEMAC members: Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Chad, and Central African Republic. Cameroon is a member of the OECD Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and a party to the OECD Inclusive Framework Two-Pillar Solution to Global Tax Challenges, including a global minimum corporate tax.In one of Cameroon’s most extensive tax incentive programs ever enacted to promote private investments, the 2023 Finance Law offers all companies investing in agriculture (including stock breeding and fisheries) tax exemptions at both the investment and operational phases of their businesses. At the investment phase, companies benefit from several tax exemptions, including on wages paid to employees, the acquisition of farm inputs, fees on loan agreements, and land acquisition. At the operational phase, waivers are provided for business and income taxes for the first five years of operation. After five years of operation, the business tax waiver is maintained, while a flat rate of 0.5 percent is levied on income, plus a 10 percent increase for the additional income tax. The 2023 finance law can be found  here .																																		3. Legal Regime						    																																																Transparency of the Regulatory System										Cameroon’s laws are consistent with international business and legal norms. Cameroon’s legal architecture is made up of national, regional CEMAC, and supra-national regulations, most of which are applicable to domestic and foreign businesses. Weak implementation and investigative capacity, a lack of understanding of international business practices, and corruption in the judiciary limit the effectiveness of the rule of law. In many circumstances, judicial loopholes persist, leading to arbitrary interpretations of the texts.Some government ministries, though not all, consult with public and private sector organizations through targeted outreach with stakeholders, such as business associations or other groups. There is no formal process for such consultations. Ministries do not report the results of consultations, but there is no evidence that such processes disadvantage U.S. or other foreign investors.Cameroon’s National Assembly and Senate pass laws. The Executive proposes bills and then executes laws. Though there is technically a separation of powers, the Presidency is the supreme rule-making and regulatory authority. Decentralized institutions in the regions and municipalities have little additional regulatory authority. Draft bills and regulations are not made available for public comment. The website for the Office of the Prime Minister (www.spm.gov.cm) contains PDF versions of most new regulatory actions published in the Cameroon Tribune, the country’s newspaper of record.Ministries and regulatory agencies do not have a list of anticipated regulatory changes or proposals intended to be adopted/implemented within a specified period. Ministries do not have a legal obligation to publish the text of proposed regulations before their enactment. There is no period set by law for the text of the proposed regulations to be publicly available. There is no specialized government body tasked with reviewing and monitoring regulatory impact assessments conducted by other individual agencies or government bodies.Cameroon has administrative courts that specialize in the application and enforcement of public laws. From a strictly legal perspective, the Supreme Court has oversight on enforcement mechanisms, but a lack of separation of powers prevents the judiciary from independently carrying out its responsibilities. There have been no new regulatory or enforcement reforms announced since the 2022 Investment Climate Statement.Cameroon does not meet the minimum standards of fiscal transparency. This is partly because many of the state-owned enterprises do not have public accounts. Companies that are listed or aspire to be listed on the Central African Stock Exchange (CASE) have more stringent transparency requirements. There are only four publicly listed companies on the CASE. All four use the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) accounting system, which does not align completely with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Cameroon is a member of CEMAC and is thus subject to its regulations, though implementation remains weak. CEMAC’s central bank, the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), controls monetary policy and is the de facto finance sector regulator, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance.The National Institute of Statistics (INS) conducts surveys and produces statistics, which are meant to inform policy decisions. Some of these statistics are cited in government documents when ministries are drafting legislative proposals or during parliamentary debates. Quantitative analysis conducted by the INS has often been used by multilateral lenders such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank. However, empirical evaluation and data-driven assessments of the impact of new and existing regulations are limited.Similarly, public comments are not the main drivers of regulations. However, some consultations take place for the national budget, which is produced each year, but there is little oversight to ensure adherence to the document.The government does not require companies to have environmental, social, or governance disclosures.																																				International Regulatory Considerations										Cameroon is a CEMAC member state. CEMAC regulations supersede those of individual members, though areas such as the free movement of people, goods, and services are not respected by some states. Recent reforms by CEMAC’s central bank, BEAC, have met stiff resistance and delays in their application by individual member states, including Cameroon.The government requires use of OHADA accounting standards, which are used by 14 African nations. No other norms or standards are referenced in the country’s regulatory system.Cameroon joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) on December 13, 1995, and was previously a member of the General Agreement on Taxes and Trade. Cameroon did not notify all draft technical regulations to the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) in 2020 and submitted eight notifications between 1995 and 2020.																																				Legal System and Judicial Independence										The Cameroonian legal system is a legacy of French (Civil Law), German (Codified Laws), English (Common Law), and domestic national customs, which vary for each ethnic group. The government wants to harmonize these different legal traditions to equip Cameroon with laws that are applicable across the country and to reduce the need to navigate different legal opinions. This project, however, is being met with stiff resistance from English-speaking lawyers, who believe that the initiative will undermine the English system to which they are accustomed.In terms of standards, Cameroon’s commercial legal system follows the OHADA rules, which are neither completely aligned with IFRS standards nor with GAAP principles.  Enforcement is weak, partly because of lack of capacity. There are not enough specialized judges in the commercial and economic fields. Consequently, poor enforcement of laws and accounting standards tend to create confusion for foreign investors. Despite efforts to align OHADA standards to international norms, government accounting regulations remain obsolete in the context of rapid developments in international finance and capital markets. To circumvent the problem, U.S. enterprises and investors often maintain two sets of accounting records, one in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or suitable international standards, and another set to address the OHADA standards and government reporting requirements.Arbitration is becoming the solution of choice to solve business disputes in Cameroon.  Since OHADA is a supra-national law, Cameroon is bound by its decisions. In OHADA, regulations and enforcement of actions are appealable, and they can also be adjudicated in the national court system. In Cameroon, businesses mostly use the GICAM and Abidjan Arbitration Councils.																																				Laws and Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment										Foreign direct investments are governed by Law No. 2013/004 of April 18, 2013, which defines incentives for private investment in Cameroon, while proposing generic and special incentives and affirming the government’s responsibilities towards private investors.  The law applies to both domestic and foreign investors.  Additional laws and regulations that refer to specific economic sectors are available on the website of the Ministry of Finance ( http://www.minfi.gov.cm/index.php/en/documents ).The  2023 finance law  is the newest legal instrument on public finance to have been published in the past year. The 2023 finance law reduced fuel subsidies, increased stamp duties, provided tax waivers for agricultural investments, while maintaining some existing exonerations, notably on value-added taxes and life insurance savings.																																				Competition and Antitrust Laws										The National Competition Commission handles anti-competition and anti-trust disputes. In some cases, the regulator of a specific economic sector can play the anti-trust role. State-owned enterprises tend to have quasi-monopoly or monopsony status in their markets.																																				Expropriation and Compensation										Decree N°.85-9 of July 4, 1985, and the subsequent implementation of Decree N°.87-1872 of December 16, 1987, outline the procedures governing expropriation for public purposes and conditions for compensation. Some of the provisions of these legal texts were repealed by Instruction N°005/I/Y.25/MINDAF/D220 of December 29, 2005. Essentially, for the public interest, the state may expropriate privately-owned land, with compensation based on the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 of Decree N°.87-1872 of December 16, 1987, above. The laws also explain the formalities to be observed within the context of the procedure, both at the central and local levels.In recent years, the government of Cameroon has expropriated large infrastructure road and hydroelectric dam projects. The government has a compensation process in place to meet the losses of those affected by such decisions.Compensation for expropriation generally follows a due process, albeit with prolonged delays. There are no cases of indirect expropriation, confiscatory tax regimes, or regulatory actions that deprive investors of substantial economic benefits from their investments. However, serious allegations of corruption have plagued compensation procedures over the last decade. These incidents, often carried out by civil servants, have undermined trust in the process.																																				Dispute Settlement																										ICSID Convention and New York Convention  						Cameroon ratified the “International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes” (ICSID) Convention on January 3, 1967, and the New York Convention on February 19, 1988. There is no specific domestic legislation providing for enforcement under the 1958 New York Convention or for the enforcement of awards under the ICSID Convention.						Investor-State Dispute Settlement  						The  OHADA  signatory nations adopted a uniform act on arbitration (the Uniform Act) on March 11, 1999. The Uniform Act sets out basic rules applicable to any arbitration, where the seat of arbitration is in an OHADA member state. The Uniform Act is based on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) as a model. It supersedes member states’ national laws on arbitration. Cameroon’s arbitration law is contained in its code of civil and commercial procedure in the third volume, Articles 576 to 601.Cameroon has a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with the United States. There have been no claims under the BIT since it came into force in 1989. While there have been disputes between Cameroonian partners and U.S. companies, few have risen to the level of requiring arbitration.Local courts may recognize foreign arbitral awards issued against the government, but such awards might not be enforced, or implemented with significant delays, due to political influence and corruption. Several such awards against state-owned companies have not been enforced. In general, foreign investors complain more about administrative harassment or bottlenecks, and less about extrajudicial actions.						International Commercial Arbitration and Foreign Courts  						The  OHADA  system serves both as domestic and primary reference legislation for alternative dispute resolution. GICAM has an arbitration center based in Douala. In principle, local courts have the power to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards issued against the government. OHADA standards prevail over domestic laws. An international arbitration award can prevail especially if operating through the OHADA framework. The Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) enforced under OHADA is both an arbitration institution and a judicial court, with jurisdiction overall OHADA states.Judicial processes are bureaucratic, expensive, and lengthy. This is true even for domestic and state-owned companies, and more so for their foreign competitors, which suffer the effect of the weaknesses of the legal system and are not guaranteed fair treatment in case of dispute.																										Bankruptcy Regulations										Bankruptcy collection procedures and measures of execution are governed by the  OHADA Insolvency Law , which establishes the right of creditors, the equity of shareholders, and other types of liabilities. Bankruptcy is not criminalized unless it can be proven that it is a deliberate collusion to avoid taxes or mislead investors. In bankruptcy situations, it takes 2.8 years on average and costs 33.5 percent of the debtor’s estate, with the most likely outcome being that the company will be sold piecemeal. The average recovery rate is 15.8 cents on the dollar.																																												4. Industrial Policies						    																																																Investment Incentives										Cameroon’s investment incentives remain in place. The 2013 investment law lists several types of investment incentives for investors and specifies the conditions that they must meet to benefit from those incentives. This law specifies incentives available to Cameroonian and foreign corporate entities, whether established in Cameroon, conducting business therein, or holding shares in Cameroonian companies, to encourage private investment and boost national production. For example, during the establishment phase (which cannot exceed five years), the code provides for exemptions from VAT and duties on key services/assets (including an exemption from stamp duties on the lease of immovable property). During the operation phase (which cannot exceed 10 years), further exemptions from, or reductions of, other taxes (including a corporate tax), duties (such as a stamp duty on loans), and other fees are granted. Overall, the law seeks to facilitate, promote, and attract productive investment to develop activities geared towards strong, sustainable, and shared economic growth as well as job creation. In a context where businesses must navigate between national and regional incentives, U.S. companies and investors would be well-advised to seek local and regional expertise if they plan to operate in the CEMAC region.Common incentives are granted to investors during the establishment and operation phases. During the operation phase, which may not exceed 10 years, the investor may enjoy exemptions from or reductions of payment of several taxes, duties, and other fees including corporate tax, tax on profit, and stamp duties on loans. In addition, any investor may benefit from a tax credit provided he or she meets one of the following criteria: (1) employs at least five graduates each year, (2) combats pollution, or (3) develops public interest activities in rural areas.BEAC foreign exchange regulations govern how investors in Cameroon open foreign currency accounts and carry out transactions on such accounts. The regulations also stipulate how funds are transferred abroad. Notwithstanding BEAC regulations, the investor shall enjoy the following benefits during establishment phase, which may not exceed five years, with effect from the date of issuance of the approval:Exemption from stamp duty on establishment or capital increase;Exemption from stamp duty if immovable property used exclusively for professional purposes and that is part of an integral part of the investment program;Exemption from transfer taxes on the acquisition of immovable property, land, and buildings essential for the implementation of the investment program;Exemption from stamp duties on contracts for the supply of equipment and construction of buildings and installations that are essential for the implementation of their investment program;Full deduction of technical assistance fees in proportion to the amount of the investment made, calculated on the basis of the total amount of the investment;Exemption from VAT on the provision of services related to the execution of the project and obtained from abroad;Exemption from stamp duty on concession contracts;Exemption from business license tax;Exemption from taxes and duties on all equipment and materials related to the investment program;Exemption from VAT on the importation of equipment and materials;Immediate removal of equipment and material related investment program during clearance operations;The right to freely keep abroad dividends and proceeds of any kind from capital invested, as well as proceeds from the liquidation or sale of their assets;The right to directly pay abroad non-resident suppliers of goods and services essential for conduct of business; and,Free transfer of dividends and proceeds from the sale of shares in case of disinvestment.With respect to foreign staff employed by the investor and resident in Cameroon, they shall enjoy free conversion and free transfer to their country of origin of all or part of amounts due them, subject to prior payment of various taxes and social security contributions to which they are liable in compliance with the regulations in force. The Regulation N°02/18/CEMAC/CAMU/CM of December 21, 2023, requires the presentation of the relevant supporting documents. Finally, the government shall institute facilities necessary for the establishment of a specific visa and a reception counter at all airports throughout the national territory for investors, subject to their presentation of a formal invitation from the body in charge of investment promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises. There are additional incentives in priority economic sectors. In addition to the above-mentioned incentives, specific incentives may be provided to enterprises that carry out investments that contribute to the attainment of the following priority objectives:Development of agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and plant, animal or fishery product packaging activities;Development of tourism and leisure facilities, social economy, and handicrafts;Development of housing, including social housing;Promotion of agroindustry, manufacturing industries, industry, construction materials, iron and steel industry, construction, maritime and navigation activities;Development of energy and water supply; encouragement of regional development and decentralization;The fight against pollution and environmental protection;Promotion and transfer of innovative technologies and research and development;Promotion of exports; and,Promotion of employment and vocational training.The government does not offer incentives for businesses owned by underrepresented investors such as women.																																				Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation										Foreign Trade Zones (FTZ) are demarcated and fenced geographic areas, with controlled access, where some standard trade barriers, tariffs, quotas, or other bureaucratic requirements are lifted or lowered to attract investments. Cameroon passed a special law instituting FTZs in 1990. An Industrial Free Zone (IFZ) is a type of FTZ in Cameroon. Applications for an authorization to establish an IFZ are submitted to the National Office for Industrial Free Zones. The Minister of Mines, Industry, and Technological Development grants authorization to establish an IFZ. To qualify for industrial free zone status, a company must export 80 percent of its products. The status of FTZs has not changed since the last reporting period.  Additionally, Law No. 2013/11 of December16, 2013 defines an economic zone as an area made up of one or more geographical areas that are serviced, developed, and equipped with infrastructure, with a view to enabling the entities located there to produce goods and services in optimal conditions. Decree No. 2019/195 of April 17, 2019, also establishes the modalities for the creation and management of economic zones in Cameroon. The ports of Douala and Kribi have economic zones.The free trade zones are only for the use of companies that produce goods and provide services meant exclusively for export. There are many advantages for such companies , including: exemption from all licenses, authorization or quota limitation for both export and import, the possibility of being able to open a foreign currency account, no restrictions on sales operations, purchase of foreign currency, right to transfer profits abroad (25% has to be re-invested in Cameroon), tax and duty exemption for a period of 10 years from the beginning of operations and taxation at a general rate of 15% on profits starting the 11th year.																																				Performance and Data Localization Requirements										The government of Cameroon encourages investors to create jobs and employ local labor. There are no compulsory or legal requirements on senior management and boards of directors either, although local managers can facilitate the understanding of the domestic business environment. Prospective investors and their employees can travel to Cameroon on standard international visas. The fees may vary per country of application. Once they settle in Cameroon, they can apply for long-term residence permits. The government of Cameroon applies the visa reciprocity rules to a limited extent, but companies have in the past complained about the difficulty of obtaining work permits or the fact that work visas expire after six months and frequently are single entry. Applications for longer term work permits can be included in residency work permit applications, which involve more complicated application procedures.The government does not impose conditions on permission to invest in Cameroon. It gives incentives to investors to transform local raw materials, goods, and services in their production or their projects. There is no “forced localization” policy. Enforcement procedures for performance requirements are not yet standardized, but the government generally develops terms of reference on a case-by-case basis for contract performance. The government has not stated intentions to maintain, increase, or decrease performance requirements.Investment incentives, described above, are available to both domestic and foreign investors.  Foreign information technology providers are not required to turn over source code and/or provide access to encryption, but they can be required to provide them in cases of cybercrime under the national cybercrime law. The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of any measures designed to prevent or impede companies from freely transmitting customer or other business-related data outside of Cameroon.																																												5. Protection of Property Rights						    																																																Real Property										Property rights are recognized by law, but Cameroon’s weak judiciary makes enforcement sporadic. For mortgage transactions between two private parties, a proper contract is required for the agreement to be binding and enforceable in the courts. Liens must be recorded in the contract. A registry of land title exists in Cameroon. The land rights of indigenous peoples, tribes, and farmers are recognized in the Constitution. Existing legislation does not discriminate against foreign landowners.Records from the Ministry of State Property and Land Tenure indicate that land registration rates have not significantly increased since colonial times. Between 1884 and 2005, only 125,000 title deeds were issued.  On average, this represents approximately 1,000 titles per year, covering less than two percent of the land in Cameroon. In 2009, a study by the African Development Bank (AfDB) identified other distinctive patterns in land ownership. For example, formal land registration is more common in urban (60 percent) than in rural areas. According to the World Bank, the registration process can cost up to 13.7 percent of the property value.Land disputes are common among Cameroonian citizens. The disputes are generally caused by non-respect of commercial sales contracts or by informal sales of land. Illegal occupation of property is also common.																																				Intellectual Property Rights										The legal structure for intellectual property rights (IPR) and corresponding enforcement mechanisms are weak. IP infringement and theft are especially common in the media, pharmaceuticals, software, and print industries. To secure a trademark registration right, a Cameroonian attorney must prepare and file a trademark application with the African Organization for Intellectual Property (OAPI), which is headquartered in Yaoundé. The courts are responsible for enforcement.There were no new IPR-related laws or regulations enacted during the previous year. The government seizes and publicly burns counterfeit goods. These actions are not documented systematically, and no cumulative data exist on the seizures. Cameroon is not listed in the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Special 301 Report or the Notorious Markets List. For additional information about national laws and points of contact at local IP offices, please see WIPO’s country profiles at  http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/. 																																												6. Financial Sector						    																																																Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment										The Cameroonian government is open to portfolio investment. With the encouragement of the IMF and BEAC, Cameroon and other members of the CEMAC region have designed policies that facilitate the free flow of financial resources into the product and factor markets.The Central African Regional Stock Exchange (BVMAC) is the result of the July 2019 fusion of the Douala Stock Exchange (DSX) with the Central African Regional Exchange. In its organization, the main parties are – (i) BEAC, the Central Bank of Central African States, which is the central depositor and settlement bank, (ii) COSUMAF (the Financial Markets Commission), based in Libreville, which is the central body of the financial market examines and approves investors, and (iii) Stock Exchange, which is the market enterprise, secondary market, and collects and carries out compensation, issues securities (state bonds).Restructuring/re-creation of BVMAC is in process, with the elaboration of new rules and regulations, and public consultations ongoing. With a  current market capitalization  of less than $16 million, BVMAC comprises 8,500 securities accounts, 150 participants, and carries out quotations three times a week. Regional foreign exchange (forex) controls significantly impact BVMAC’s operations. While the market has experienced profitability, it is difficult to invest the profits due to the forex controls. As such, a mechanism that allows foreign investors to use their forex to invest in the BVMAC would be beneficial to the regional financial market.The Financial Markets Commission of Cameroon merged operations with the Libreville-based Central African Financial Market Supervisory Board in February 2019. The merger has led to the establishment of a unique regional stock exchange called the Central African Stock Exchange (CASE). Cameroon’s financial sector is underdeveloped, and government policies have limited bearing on the free flow of financial resources into the product and factor markets. Foreign investors can get credit on the local market and the private sector has access to a variety of credit instruments. In 2016, Cameroon sought to encourage the development of capital markets through Law No 2016/010 of July 12, 2016, governing undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities in Cameroon.Cameroon is connected to the international banking payment system. The country is a CEMAC member, which maintains a central bank, BEAC. CEMAC’s central bank works with the IMF on monetary policies and public finance reform. BEAC respects IMF Article VIII by refraining from restrictions on payments and transfers for current international transactions. Despite generally respecting Article VIII, BEAC has instituted several restrictions on payments to boost foreign exchange reserves. Financial institutions and importers complain of a backlog of requests for foreign exchange. BEAC is currently negotiating with several international oil companies on repatriation of revenues before external payments. Investors should be aware that timely repatriation of profits may be a stumbling block.In 2020, with the support of the IMF, BEAC took steps to address the economic impact of COVID-19 in the region. The central bank eased monetary policy and introduced accommodative measures to ensure adequate liquidity in the banking system to supporting internal and external stability. Concomitantly, the regional banking sector controller (Commission Bancaire de l&#8217;Afrique Centrale or COBAC) eased prudential regulations to help banks delay pandemic-related losses.																																				Money and Banking System										Only 15 percent of Cameroonians have access to formal banking services. The Cameroonian government has often spoken of increasing access, but no coherent policy or action has been taken to alleviate the problem. Mobile money, introduced by local and international telecom providers, is the closest tool to banking services that most Cameroonians can access. In its 2022 finance law, the government introduced a tax on electronic payment transfers, including the ubiquitously used “Mobile Money.” This tax remains in place.The banking sector is generally healthy. Large, international commercial banks do most of the lending. One local bank, Afriland, operates in Cameroon and multiple other countries. Most smaller banks deal in small loans of short duration. Retail banking is not common. According to the World Bank, non-performing loans were 10.31 percent of total bank loans in 2016. The Cameroonian government does not keep statistics on non-performing assets. According to Cameroon’s National Credit Council, Afriland First Bank, Societe General Cameroun (SGC), Banque Internationale du Cameroun pour l’Epargne et le Credit (BICEC), and Societe Commerciale de Banque Cameroun (SCB) are the most important banks in the national banking system, accounting for 52 percent of the banking system’s total consolidated balance sheet, 54 percent of total loans, and 54 percent of customer deposits in 2020.Foreign banks can establish operations in Cameroon. Most notably, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank have operated in Cameroon for more than 20 years. They are subject to the same regulations as local banks. The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of any lost correspondent banking relationships within the past three years. In 2022, Standard Chartered Bank announced it would be exiting the Cameroonian market and four other African countries, however no timeline for the exit is known. There are no restrictions on foreigners establishing bank accounts, credit instruments, business financing, or other such transactions.The country has 412 registered microfinance institutions, 19 insurance companies, four electronic money institutions, and one Post Office bank. Two major money transfer operators are also present, essentially offering over-the-counter services. The Cameroonian market is at the startup stage for its digital financial system. This emerging market segment is currently provided by banks in partnership with telecom operators. According to a 2021 BEAC report on the state of electronic payments in the CEMAC zone, electronic money payments in the CEMAC region increased 21.8 percent from 2019 to 2020, totaling approximately $51 million in 2020 compared to $42 million in 2019. Cameroon represented the largest amount of electronic payment transfers, accounting for 73 percent of all CEMAC transactions and totaling over $20 million in 2020.Financial inclusion is low despite some progress brought about by mobile telephony. The World Bank estimates there were 25 million mobile cellular subscriptions in Cameroon in 2020. Putting aside the effect of multiple sim card ownership, the penetration rate in terms of unique subscribers was about 50 percent at the end of 2019, which puts Cameroon in the lower end in the Central African region.Local banks do not give enough credit and there are lengthy delays of up to 15 months in giving credit. Interest rates could be as high as 8.5 percent and taxes and commissions tack on another 35 percent approximately, forcing businesses to limit transaction volumes.The liquidity of the banking system is high, but most funding goes to the government, as local banks are reluctant to fund the local private sector even if they present collateral.																																				Foreign Exchange and Remittances																										Foreign Exchange						In December 2022, BEAC reported that net foreign assets increased by 20 percent, compared to 11 percent in 2021, following disbursements of Cameroon’s IMF hybrid credit facility. On March 1, 2019, CEMAC members through BEAC adopted a foreign exchange currency regulation, that requires domiciliation of accounts in local banks for individuals and businesses who wish to execute cross-border transactions of significant amounts. All sectors of the economy without exception are subject to the regulations. Given the importance of the oil sector in the economy of the region and the challenges in the implementation, BEAC had allowed for a moratorium on implementation which ended on December 31, 2022. In addition, the bank has tightened administrative procedures. Each request for a foreign exchange transaction requires a “dossier” that would include various documents. The documents required vary based on the type of transaction to demonstrate the “legitimacy” of the planned purchase in foreign exchange that BEAC would approve. The formal list of required documents from BEAC is long. On December 23, 2021, CEMAC member countries adopted Regulation N°01/CEMAC/UMAC/CM easing certain provisions of the foreign exchange regulations for the resident extractive companies. This regulation allows extractive companies to open and operate onshore and offshore accounts in foreign currencies inside and outside the CEMAC zone.Forex issues have been reported by the BVMAC as undermining foreign investments in the stock exchange. Local businesses that import and operate international businesses also face challenges with forex restrictions. Some use third parties to overcome forex limitations. Due to foreign exchange problems, most businesses are forced to reduce their quantities of imported goods.The IMF has stated that forex transactions of less than $1 million only require approval by local BEAC representatives in each country and should take place in a matter of days. Forex transactions exceeding $1 million require approval from BEAC headquarters in Yaoundé and should occur in less than 48 hours. Banks and other financial institutions complain that requests are often rejected on minor technical grounds. In practice, approved requests often take more than two weeks to process.Additionally, as of May 2020, BEAC requires international oil companies to repatriate 70 percent of proceeds from the sale of oil and gas and then apply to receive dollars or euros. In theory, funds associated with any form of investment can be freely converted into any world currency, but the current BEAC restrictions are causing currency conversion concerns at financial institutions and oil companies.The Central African CFA Franc is the currency of six independent states in Central Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. It is administered by BEAC and is currently pegged at roughly 662.64 CFA to one euro (April 13, 2023).						Remittance Policies						According to World Bank data, Cameroon received $430 million in remittances in 2021 and sent $40 million in 2021.Apart from the tightening of foreign exchange and remittance rules in 2019, the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of any recent changes or plans to change investment remittance policies that either tighten or relax access to foreign exchange for investment remittances. BEAC regulates remittance policies and banking transactions. Foreign investors can remit through convertible and negotiable instruments through legal channels recognized by BEAC, subject to the recent issues mentioned above.																										Sovereign Wealth Funds										Cameroon does not have a sovereign wealth fund.																																												7. State-Owned Enterprises						    																						SOEs play a large role in the Cameroonian economy and are present in all main sectors. According to the 2022 IMF  report , over 150 parastatal companies, including about 60 SOEs, deliver essential services such as energy, oil and gas, agriculture, finance, and transport. In total, Cameroon’s SOE assets amount to approximately $8 billion, which is about 20 percent of Cameroon’s GDP. SOEs employ around 40,000 people, about half of which in the agricultural sector. Many SOEs are so dominant in their markets that they act as de facto regulators, specifically in telecommunications and media.In 2017, the National Assembly voted into law a new regulation to govern SOEs. The stated objective was to improve the performance and the competitiveness of public companies, in line with the country’s development objectives. Some of the innovations of this law include the diversification of the investment universe of SOEs, modern control through reporting requirements, and compliance with modern governance principles. The new SOEs statutes are ongoing and the creation, organization, functioning, dissolution, and liquidation of SOEs are done in accordance with new regulations. SOEs competing in the domestic market receive non-market-based advantages from the Cameroonian government, including taxpayer subsidies. They also have a history of accumulating unpaid tax arrears while at the same time benefitting from preferential access to land and to public funds through state interventions.The Supreme Audit Chamber of Cameroon, a government entity, indicates in its annual reports that SOEs are not financially transparent. Only about 22 percent of these companies publish audited financial statements. Other reports have highlighted corruption cases involving managers of SOEs, inefficiencies, severe dysfunction, and opacity in the management of SOEs. These problems are exacerbated by the government’s non-imposition of any performance targets, productivity requirements, quality of service standards, or any significant budget constraints on SOEs. The governing boards and senior executive teams are political appointees and connected individuals. The SOEs have means to avoid tax burdens levied on private enterprises, receive specialized consideration for subsidies and enhanced operating budgets, and obtain generally preferential treatment from the government (including courts).A March 2022 IMF report noted that SOEs’ high debt and poor performance pose significant fiscal risks. According to the report, Cameroon’s SOEs are financed in many ways, including via direct subsidies for operations, capital subsidies for investments, and government guarantees for commercial loans. High and increasing debt and poor performance of SOEs pose significant direct fiscal and financial risks and represent a drag to economic growth. Additionally, the IMF found differential taxation across sectors and inefficient regulatory policies distort production and slow down economic growth, indirectly causing a loss of fiscal revenues. According to the IMF, several SOEs are heavily indebted and total SOE debt stood at 12.6 percent of GDP in 2020.																										Privatization Program										In general, privatization appears to be on hold. The government favors public-private partnerships or some variations of outsourcing of contractual management, with the state retaining some ownership of assets or of the SOE, rather than outright privatization. The state retains control of infrastructure, and there are no indications that this situation will change soon. There have been calls for the government to list part of its stakes in state-owned companies on the Central African Stock Exchange (CASE).Foreign investors can and do participate in the privatization programs. According to some analysts, of the 30 state-owned companies that were privatized before 2004, foreign bidders won the majority (22). For example, a British private equity firm owns the controlling share in ENEO, the country’s electricity monopoly. The public bidding on tender offers is transparent. They are advertised in the media, but the actual process of awarding contracts may still be tainted by corruption, particularly on large projects. The listing of public tenders in the Cameroon Tribune newspaper – the government-owned paper of record – and publication of which firms received the contract do not guarantee a fully transparent process of awards.																																												8. Responsible Business Conduct						    																						The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of a formal definition of responsible business conduct (RBC) within the Cameroonian government. It does not have a national ombudsman for stakeholders to get information or raise concerns about RBC. The government has not developed a national action plan on RBC nor does it factor RBC into its procurement decisions. The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is not aware of any recent high-profile instances of private sector impact on human rights. Cameroon does not have laws that regulate responsible business conduct. However, the government of Cameroon has enacted laws that cover issues related to what is locally considered corporate social responsibility. There are additional initiatives in the private sector to foster a corporate social responsibility culture.All major infrastructure projects in Cameroon are compelled to conduct an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) to establish the impact of projects on people and nature. Cameroon’s ESIA law strives to follow World Bank standards. An August 1996 master law related to environmental management prescribes an environmental impact assessment for all projects that can cause environmental degradation.The Cameroonian government struggles to enforce laws in relation to human rights, labor rights, consumer protection, and environmental protection. There is little corporate governance law in Cameroon, mostly since very few companies are open to portfolio investment. The Business Council for Good Governance, the American Chamber of Commerce, Rotary International, and Transparency International promote RBC in Cameroon, though their ability to monitor RBC is limited. The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of any government efforts to adhere to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Afflicted and High-Risk Areas. Cameroon participates in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Domestic transparency measures requiring the disclosure of payments made to governments are lacking.The economy of Cameroon is modernizing, but most sectors experience disruptions from informal activities. The informal sector provides crucial livelihoods to the most vulnerable in urban environments; however, labor conditions are generally precarious. In the agricultural sector, the government estimates that 70 percent of labor is informal with instances of child labor in subsistence agriculture. In other sectors, for example mining, allegations of human or labor rights abuses by Chinese mining companies have surfaced in the recent past. Indigenous forest communities also complain the government does not enforce logging concession laws.																										Additional Resources										Department of StateCountry Reports on Human Rights Practices ( https://www.state.gov/reports-bureau-of-democracy-human-rights-and-labor/country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/)Trafficking in Persons Report ( https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/)Guidance on Implementing the &#8220;UN Guiding Principles&#8221; for Transactions Linked to Foreign Government End-Users for Products or Services with Surveillance Capabilities ( https://www.state.gov/key-topics-bureau-of-democracy-human-rights-and-labor/due-diligence-guidance/)U.S. National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises ( https://www.state.gov/u-s-national-contact-point-for-the-oecd-guidelines-for-multinational-enterprises/)Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory ( https://www.state.gov/xinjiang-supply-chain-business-advisory/)Department of the TreasuryOFAC Recent Actions ( https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions )Department of LaborFindings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor Report ( https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings  )List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor ( https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods )Sweat &amp; Toil: Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking Around the World ( https://www.dol.gov/general/apps/ilab )Comply Chain ( https://www.dol.gov/ilab/complychain/ )																																				Climate Issues										Cameroon revised its nationally determined contributions in November 2021. Cameroon’s mitigation target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent by 2035. Mitigation targets are focused on forest management, energy, agriculture, and waste. Cameroon developed a National Adaptation Plan in 2015. Cameroon’s adaptation strategies include integrating adaptation planning into national sectoral strategies and policies, reducing the vulnerability of major economic sectors and agro-ecological zones to climate change, and raising awareness among the population. The U.S. Forest Service is building the capacity of government of Cameroon officials to collect, monitor, and analyze climate data in support of their national and international reporting needs. With U.S. government support, Cameroon published its first atlas of land coverage in 2021. Cameroon developed a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan in 2012 to integrate the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programs, and policies.Cameroon does not have policies to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but the government recognizes the huge role its forests, which are in the Congo Basin Forest region, play as a carbon sink and focuses mitigation targets on the forestry sector. Cameroon does not specify expectations on private sector contributions to achieving relevant climate targets. All infrastructure projects are compelled to conduct an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment to establish the impact of projects on people and nature. The National Development Strategy has integrated environmental protection into its objectives.There are no local Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) norms, so businesses and institutions align with global ESG norms and global climate adaptation and mitigation frameworks. The government through Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection (MINEPDED) is developing some directives, which are presented to businesses during seminars. There are no reports of enforcement of ESG norms.																																												9. Corruption						    																						Corruption is punishable under sections 134 and 134 (a) of the Pena1 Code of Cameroon. Despite these rules, corruption remains endemic in the country. In 2022, Cameroon ranked 142 of 180 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Anti-corruption laws are applicable to all citizens and institutions throughout the national territory. Article 66 of the constitution requires civil servants and elected officials to declare their assets and property at the beginning and at the end of their tenure of office, but it has never been enforced since the adoption of the constitution in 1996. Similarly, the Civil Service Statute contains provisions and the procedures to be followed in the event of a conflict of interest. These provisions are enshrined in Law No. 003/2006 of April 25, 2006, which also created the Commission for the declaration of property and assets. Other codes of conduct in different public institutions have created gift registers to prevent bribes, but they are not implemented. In terms of public contracts, Decree N° 2018/0001/PM of January 5, 2018, created a portal called Cameroon Online E-procurement System (Coleps) for the digitalization, including application processing, award, and monitoring and evaluation of all tenders. Since the launch of the portal, technical issues and disregard by civil servants have curbed its effectiveness, leading to the parallel continuation of the bribe-prone paper-based procurement system. U.S. firms indicate that corruption is most pervasive in government procurement, award of licenses or concessions, transfers, performance requirements, dispute settlement, regulatory system, customs, and taxation.Since its inception in 2006 (Presidential Decree No. 2006/088 of March 11, 2006), the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC) has encouraged private companies to establish internal codes of conduct and ethics committees to review practices. The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of how many companies have instituted either program. Bribery of government officials remains common. While some companies use internal controls to detect and prevent such bribery, the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of how widespread these internal controls are.Cameroon is signatory to the United Nations and the African Union anti-corruption initiatives, but the international initiatives have limited practical effects on the enforcement of laws in the country. The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of any NGO’s involvement in investigating corruption. The government prefers the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC) to investigate potential cases.																										Resources to Report Corruption   										Rev. Dieudonné MASSI GAMSChairmanNational Anti-Corruption CommissionB.P. 33200 Yaoundé Cameroon(+237) 22 20 37 32www.conac-cameroun.net infos@conac-cameroun.net Transparency International CameroonNouvelle route Bastos, rue 1.839, BP: 4562 Yaoundé(+237) 22 68 23 30 ticameroon@yahoo.fr  https://ti-cameroun.org/ 																																												10. Political and Security Environment						    																						Cameroon faces several security challenges. Violence by non-state armed groups against security forces and the local population is in its seventh year in the primarily English-speaking Southwest and Northwest Regions. Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa continue to attack civilians and security forces in the Far North Region. In the Adamaoua and East Regions, there are periodic waves of kidnappings from cross-border criminal gangs, amidst the presence of refugees from the Central African Republic, a strengthening of military presence by the Cameroon government. Terrorists and separatists alike have targeted economic assets and public infrastructure to effect political change.In the Northwest and Southwest Regions, leaders of non-state armed groups have claimed responsibility on social media for the killing of government officials; arsons that destroyed hospitals, schools, bridges, and roads; and the seizure of state-run utilities. Non-state armed groups have also posted videos on social media of executions and beheadings of security officers while also claiming responsibility for multiple kidnappings for ransom of persons perceived to be against their cause. Human rights organizations and local citizens have accused soldiers and separatists of grave human rights abuses. In the Far North Region, Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa fighters have looted villages and cattle, kidnapped, and abused women. Consequently, several infrastructure projects have ground to a halt.																																		11. Labor Policies and Practices						    																						The unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in 2021 according to World Bank data, although over 90 percent of the labor force works in informal economic activities. Most of the youth who possess skills that could be used in the formal economy are under-employed in informal activities, where unskilled labor is prevalent, especially in the agricultural and service sectors, manufacturing, commerce, technical trades, and mid-management jobs. Under-employment hovers around 75 percent for youth under 30. According to GICAM, the main driver of the informal economy are high taxes and other administrative costs which exists despite announced waivers for new businesses. To encourage more informal economic actors to formalize their businesses, GICAM proposes the government institute tax breaks and organize informal economic operators into cooperatives.Other structural problems in the labor market include a chronic shortage of technical trade skills, for example for maintenance and repair of industrial machinery, in every sector of the economy. Truck and automotive maintenance are widely practiced in the informal sector, whilerudimentary or artisanal agriculture, fishing, and textile manufacturing make use mainly of unskilled labor.The government of Cameroon does not require foreign companies to hire Cameroonian nationals. Foreign nationals are required, however, to obtain work permits prior to formal employment. While foreign nationals are automatically issued work permits for companies of the Industrial Free Zones regime, their number may not exceed 20 percent of the total work force of a company after the fifth year of operation in Cameroon.Although union and contract agreements vary widely from sector to sector, in general, Cameroon functions as an &#8220;employment at will&#8221; economy, and labor laws differentiate between layoffs and firing. Layoffs are not caused by the fault of the employees and are often considered as alternative solutions to dismissing workers based on performance fault or economic grounds. There is no special treatment of labor in special economic zones, foreign trade zones, or free ports.While the Labor Code applies to enterprises of the Industrial Free Zone regime, some matters are governed by special provisions under the 1990 law establishing Industrial Free Zones. These include the employer&#8217;s right to determine salaries according to productivity, free negotiation of work contracts, and automatic issuance of work permits for foreign workers. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security monitors labor abuses, health and safety standards, and other related issues, but enforcement is poor. Labor laws are waived within the framework of Industrial Free Zones to attract or retain investment.There are independent labor unions and others affiliated with the government. Over 100 trade unions and 12 union confederations are active in the country. However, the labor union movement is highly fractured and somewhat ineffective in promoting workers&#8217; rights. Some union leaders accuse the government and company managers of promoting division within trade unions to weaken them, as well as protecting non-representative trade union leaders with whom they can negotiate more easily.Cameroon’s labor dispute resolution mechanisms are outlined in the labor code. The procedure differs depending on whether the dispute is individual or collective. Individual disputes fall under the jurisdiction of the civil court dealing with labor matters in the place of employment or residence of the worker. The legal procedure is initiated after the labor inspector fails to settle the dispute amicably out of the court system. Settlement of collective labor disputes is subject to conciliation and arbitration, and any strike or lock-out started after the procedures have been exhausted and have failed is deemed legitimate. While the conciliation procedure is conducted by the labor inspector, arbitration of any collective dispute that has not been settled by conciliation is handled by an arbitration board, chaired by the competent judicial officer of the competent court of appeal. Workers who ignore procedures to conduct a legal strike can be dismissed or fined.Strikes, which are often due to lack of payment by the employer, occur regularly and are often repressed by the police. This is equally true for strikes by public sector employees. The National Potable Water Employee Union launched a strike in February 2022, citing management concerns of the state-owned water utility, CAMWATER. The union also cited concern about the absence of a plan for the construction of new water infrastructure, and a maintenance and rehabilitation plan for existing networks. In response, the Minister of Energy and Water Resources, which supervises CAMWATER, engaged the union directly in negotiations. In another public sector strike, teachers launched a broad, nation-wide strike in February 2022 to demand better working conditions and compensation for unpaid wages and benefits, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The government called for dialogue and offered to pay a portion of the amount teachers demanded, a commitment not completely honored by the government.Cameroonian labor code lays down principles of labor laws regarding employment, dismissal, remedies for wrongful dismissal, compensation for industrial injuries, and trade unions. However, most jobs do not have binding contracts, and employers generally seem to have the upper hand in labor disputes. The lack of binding contracts is common even in modern, formal enterprises, and against the law. Because of this landscape, it is important for U.S. companies to ensure compliance with the local labor laws and to abide by international best practices. There were no new labor-related laws or regulations enacted during the last year. The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is unaware of any pending draft bills.																																		12. U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Other Investment Insurance or Development Finance Programs						    																						The Government of Cameroon and OPIC signed an Investment Guarantee in 1967. DFC has one on-going operational program, an ophthalmology hospital, in Cameroon.																																		13. Foreign Direct Investment Statistics						    																						Table 2: Key Macroeconomic Data, U.S. FDI in Host Country/EconomyHost Country Statistical source*USG or international statistical sourceUSG or International Source of Data:  BEA; IMF; Eurostat; UNCTAD, OtherEconomic DataYearAmountYearAmount Host Country Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ($M USD)2022$47 billion (estimated)2023$46 billionhttps://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPD@WEO/CMRForeign Direct InvestmentHost Country Statistical source*USG or international statistical sourceUSG or international Source of data:  BEA; IMF; Eurostat; UNCTAD, OtherU.S. FDI in partner country ($M USD, stock positions)N/AN/A2021$-4 millionBEA data available at https://apps.bea.gov/international/factsheet/Host country’s FDI in the United States ($M USD, stock positions)N/AN/AN/AN/ABEA data available at https://www.bea.gov/international/direct-investment-and-multinational-enterprises-comprehensive-dataTotal inbound stock of FDI as % host GDPN/AN/A202123.1%UNCTAD data available athttps://unctad.org/topic/investment/world-investment-reportTable 3: Sources and Destination of FDIData not available.																																		14. Contact for More Information						    																						U.S. Embassy Yaounde Political-Economic Section yaoundepolecon@state.gov 																										    							View report by:																				Albania											Algeria											Andorra											Angola											Antigua and Barbuda											Argentina											Armenia											Australia											Austria											The Bahamas											Azerbaijan											Bahrain											Bangladesh											Barbados											Belarus											Belgium											Belize											Benin											Bolivia											Bosnia and Herzegovina											Botswana											Brazil											Brunei											Bulgaria											Burkina Faso											Burma											Burundi											Cabo Verde											Cambodia											Cameroon											Canada											Chile											China											Colombia											Costa Rica											Côte d’Ivoire											Croatia											Cyprus											Czechia											Democratic Republic of the Congo											Denmark											Djibouti											Dominica											Dominican Republic											Ecuador											Egypt											El Salvador											Equatorial Guinea											Eritrea											Estonia											Eswatini											Ethiopia											Fiji											Finland											France and Monaco											The Gambia											Gabon											Georgia											Germany											Ghana											Greece											Grenada											Guatemala											Guinea											Guyana											Haiti											Honduras											Hong Kong											Hungary											Iceland											India											Indonesia											Iraq											Ireland											Israel											Italy											Jamaica											Japan											Jordan											Kazakhstan											Kenya											Kosovo											Kyrgyz Republic											Laos											Latvia											Lebanon											Lesotho											Liberia											Libya											Lithuania											Luxembourg											Macau											Madagascar											Malawi											Malaysia											Maldives											Mali											Malta											Marshall Islands											Mauritania											Mauritius											Mexico											Micronesia											Moldova											Mongolia											Montenegro											Morocco											Mozambique											Namibia											Nepal											Netherlands											New Zealand											Nicaragua											Niger											Nigeria											North Macedonia											Norway											Oman											Pakistan											Palau											Panama											Papua New Guinea											Paraguay											Philippines											Peru											Poland											Portugal											Qatar											Republic of the Congo											Romania											Rwanda											Saint Kitts and Nevis											Saint Lucia											Saint Vincent and the Grenadines											Samoa											Sao Tome and Principe											Saudi Arabia											Senegal											Serbia											Seychelles											Sierra Leone											Singapore											Slovakia											Slovenia											Somalia											South Africa											South Korea											South Sudan											Spain											Sri Lanka											Suriname											Sweden											Switzerland											Taiwan											Tajikistan											Tanzania											Thailand											Timor-Leste											Togo											Trinidad and Tobago											Tunisia											Türkiye											United Arab Emirates											Uganda											Ukraine											United Kingdom											Uruguay											Uzbekistan											Vietnam											West Bank and Gaza											Zambia											Zimbabwe															Build A Custom Report																						On This Page				search													>																										EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																1. Openness To, and Restrictions Upon, Foreign Investment																																							Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment																																																						Other Investment Policy Reviews																																																						Business Facilitation																																																						Outward Investment																																																			2. Bilateral Investment and Taxation Treaties																3. Legal Regime																																							Transparency of the Regulatory System																																																						International Regulatory Considerations																																																						Legal System and Judicial Independence																																																						Laws and Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment																																																						Competition and Antitrust Laws																																																						Expropriation and Compensation																																																						Dispute Settlement																																																				ICSID Convention and New York Convention  																																												Investor-State Dispute Settlement  																																												International Commercial Arbitration and Foreign Courts  																																																																																				Bankruptcy Regulations																																																			4. Industrial Policies																																							Investment Incentives																																																						Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation																																																						Performance and Data Localization Requirements																																																			5. Protection of Property Rights																																							Real Property																																																						Intellectual Property Rights																																																			6. Financial Sector																																							Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment																																																						Money and Banking System																																																						Foreign Exchange and Remittances																																																				Foreign Exchange																																												Remittance Policies																																																																																				Sovereign Wealth Funds																																																			7. State-Owned Enterprises																																							Privatization Program																																																			8. Responsible Business Conduct																																							Additional Resources																																																						Climate Issues																																																			9. Corruption																																							Resources to Report Corruption   																																																			10. Political and Security Environment																11. Labor Policies and Practices																12. U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Other Investment Insurance or Development Finance Programs																13. Foreign Direct Investment Statistics																14. Contact for More Information																						Tags																					Bureau of African Affairs																								Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs																								Cameroon
- Cameroon HomeReportsBureau of Economic and Business Affairs2023 Fiscal Transparency Report&#8230;Cameroon				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Fiscal Transparency Report: Cameroon 																																					Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs																																																																																																				 In this section																																												Government-by-Government Assessments: Cameroon 																																												Government-by-Government Assessments: Cameroon 				During the review period, the government made significant progress by reviewing its budget throughout the fiscal year.  The government  published its enacted budget and end-of-year report online within a reasonable period, but not its executive budget proposal. The budget provided a substantially full picture by including major sources of revenue and expenditure. Information on debt obligations was publicly available and updated quarterly, including for state-owned enterprises. Allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises were not identified in budget documents, and few state-owned enterprises produced financial statements. The government broke down expenditures to support executive offices. The government maintained off-budget accounts not subject to adequate audit or oversight. Information in the budget was considered generally reliable. The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence; however, it audited the entire annual executed budget and reports contained substantive findings. The government specified in law or regulation and appeared to follow in practice the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses. Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was publicly available.Cameroon’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:Making its executive budget proposal publicly available within a reasonable period;Including in budget documents allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises;Eliminating off-budget accounts or subjecting them to adequate audit and oversight; andEnsuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence.																												    							View report by:																				Afghanistan											Algeria											Angola											Azerbaijan											Bahrain											Bangladesh											Benin											Burma											Burundi											Cambodia											Cameroon											Central African Republic											Chad											China, People’s Republic of											Comoros											Congo, Democratic Republic of											Congo, Republic of the											Djibouti											Egypt											Equatorial Guinea											Eswatini											Ethiopia											Gabon											The Gambia											Guinea											Guinea-Bissau											Iraq											Laos											Lebanon											Lesotho											Liberia											Libya											Madagascar											Malawi											Mali											Maldives											Mauritania											Mongolia											Mozambique											Niger											Oman											Pakistan											Palestinian Authority											Papua New Guinea											Rwanda											Sao Tome and Principe											Saudi Arabia											Senegal											Sierra Leone											Somalia											South Africa											South Sudan											Sudan											Tajikistan											Tanzania											Turkmenistan											Ukraine											Uzbekistan											Vietnam											Yemen											Zambia											Zimbabwe																										On This Page				search													>																										Government-by-Government Assessments: Cameroon 																	Tags																					Bureau of African Affairs																								Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs																								Cameroon																								Division for International Finance and Development
- Cameroon HomeReportsOffice to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons2023 Trafficking in Persons Report&#8230;Cameroon				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Trafficking in Persons Report: Cameroon																																					Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons																																																																																																				 In this section										/																							CAMEROON (Tier 2)																																													CAMEROON (Tier 2)																															PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:																																																																																		PROSECUTION																																																																																		PROTECTION																																																																																		PREVENTION																																																																																		TRAFFICKING PROFILE:																																																																																																								CAMEROON (Tier 2)				The Government of Cameroon does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.  The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Cameroon was upgraded to Tier 2.  These efforts included identifying more trafficking victims and providing services to victims.  The government increased training for government officials on anti-trafficking law enforcement techniques and victim identification, and it increased international cooperation on cross-border trafficking investigations.  The government incorporated survivor input into the drafting process of a new NAP.  However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.  The government investigated fewer trafficking crimes and prosecuted and convicted fewer traffickers.  Protection services for victims remained limited.  The government did not amend its anti-trafficking law to remove the requirement of force, fraud, or coercion for child sex trafficking and to clearly distinguish between trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling crimes.  Despite serious and sustained concerns of official complicity in trafficking crimes, the government did not report any law enforcement action against allegedly complicit officials.																																					PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:						    																																															Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, including of complicit officials, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms.  Amend the anti-trafficking law to remove the requirement of force, fraud, or coercion for child sex trafficking offenses and to make a clear distinction between human trafficking and migrant smuggling.  Strengthen protection services for trafficking victims, including by providing specialized services to trafficking victims and providing funding or in-kind assistance to NGOs and international organizations providing services. Finalize an updated NAP and allocate resources devoted to its implementation.  Implement a systemic victim-witness assistance program to increase protective services for victims participating in the criminal justice process and prevent re-traumatization.  Train social workers, law enforcement, labor inspectors, and immigration officials on identifying trafficking cases, including the difference between human trafficking and migrant smuggling, as well as on victim identification and referral SOPs.  Further expand training for law enforcement and judicial officials on the anti-trafficking section of the penal code to increase the effectiveness of investigations and prosecutions.  Increase funding allocated for anti-trafficking activities, including inter-ministerial committee (IMC) operations.  Expand the investigation of labor recruiters and agencies suspected of fraudulent recruitment, including unlicensed recruiters and intermediaries, and hold persons complicit in trafficking criminally accountable.  Continue to develop a robust and comprehensive data collection system, disaggregating between sex and labor trafficking cases to capture government-wide anti-trafficking efforts.																																												PROSECUTION						    																																															The government made marginal anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.  The 2011 anti-trafficking law criminalized some forms of sex trafficking and all forms of labor trafficking.  Inconsistent with international law, Cameroon’s legal framework continued to require a demonstration of force, fraud, or coercion to constitute a child sex trafficking crime, and therefore did not criminalize all forms of child sex trafficking.  The law prescribed penalties of 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 to 1 million Central African francs (CFA) ($81 to $1,630), which were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to some forms of sex trafficking, commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.  If the trafficking crime involved a victim who was 15 years old or younger, the penalties increased to 15 to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 10 million CFA ($163 to $16,290).  The law prescribed separate penalties for debt bondage, which ranged from five to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 to 500,000 CFA ($16 to $815) and were also sufficiently stringent.  The law was published in French and English, the two official languages of the government.  The English version conflated trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling crimes by referring to trafficking in persons crimes, as defined under international law, as “slavery in persons,” while referring to smuggling-related offenses as “trafficking in persons.”  Increasing the potential for conflating migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, Article 342-1 of Cameroon’s 2016 Penal Code prohibited both “trafficking in persons” and “slavery in persons.”  Legislation drafted in 2012 to address victim and witness protection and correct inconsistencies with international law remained pending for the tenth consecutive year.Although law enforcement officials investigated and prosecuted trafficking crimes, the government did not maintain a centralized law enforcement data collection system on trafficking crimes, hindering its ability to disaggregate national human trafficking statistics, and likely resulting in underreported anti-trafficking statistics.  The government investigated 44 cases (four for sex trafficking, 30 for labor trafficking, and 10 for unspecified forms of trafficking) and continued investigations of two cases from the previous reporting period.  This compared with 93 cases investigated in 2021.  The government reported initiating prosecutions of 19 alleged traffickers (five for sex trafficking and 14 for unspecified forms of trafficking) and continued the prosecution of one case from the previous reporting period.  This compared with prosecuting 57 alleged traffickers in 2021.  Courts convicted three traffickers, including two traffickers sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 CFA ($815) each under Section 342 (1) of the Penal Code and one trafficker sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment under the penal code statutes for rape and aggravating circumstances (Sections 296 and 298).  This compared with 19 convictions under Section 342 (1) in 2021, with sentencing for all 12 convicted traffickers to prison time ranging from 18 months to 15 years.  The government continued to limit resources dedicated for anti-trafficking efforts because of the pandemic.  In addition, ongoing insecurity in the Far North Region, as well as armed violence in the Northwest and Southwest regions, continued to impede law enforcement’s ability to comprehensively investigate trafficking crimes.  Officials reported some potential cases did not move forward to prosecution because victims often chose not to participate in court proceedings due to the lack of available victim-witness assistance and fear of reprisal.  Due to the lack of protections and the protracted nature of criminal justice proceedings, some victims chose to settle potential trafficking cases outside the formal court system.The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes; however, corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action.  The government did not report efforts to investigate prior allegations of government security forces sexually exploiting women in the Southwest Region or forcibly recruiting community members in the Far North Region to stand watch against Boko Haram incursions.  In June 2021, the Department of State suspended for five years the A-3 visa sponsorship privileges afforded to Cameroon bilateral mission members because the government declined to waive diplomatic immunity for U.S.  criminal proceedings involving mistreatment of a domestic worker and has not initiated its own prosecution.  Between 2017 and 2019, a Cameroonian diplomat posted in the United States engaged in alleged criminal violations related to human trafficking.  Because of diplomatic immunity, the United States could not commence prosecution, and the Government of Cameroon declined to waive immunity to allow the case to proceed.  The government did not report taking any action to hold the diplomat accountable for the third consecutive year.  The diplomat left the United States in 2021.  Additionally, between 2015 and 2017, a Cameroonian diplomat posted in the United States allegedly engaged in visa fraud related to a minor domestic worker.  Because of diplomatic immunity, the United States could not commence prosecution, nor did the government report taking any action for the sixth consecutive year to hold the diplomat accountable.  The diplomat left the United States in 2018.The government, in partnership with civil society, trained more than 800 gendarmerie officers, security forces, magistrates, and lawyers on various topics, including anti-trafficking laws, trafficking investigations, and victim identification and referral.  Officials collaborated with the Governments of Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria on cross-border human trafficking investigations.																																												PROTECTION						    																																															The government slightly increased victim protection efforts.  Although the government did not maintain comprehensive statistics, officials reported identifying 12 confirmed trafficking victims and an additional 23 potential trafficking victims.  This compared with zero identified victims and 90 potential trafficking victims identified in 2021.  Of the 12 victims confirmed to be trafficking victims, traffickers exploited six in sex trafficking and six in labor trafficking; six were adult women, and six were children (four boys and two girls); nine were Cameroonian nationals, and three were foreign nationals from Vietnam.  The government intercepted the 23 potential victims from Chad at the airport; the Ministry of Social Affairs (MINAS) provided care for three months and, in partnership with an international organization, the government repatriated the potential victims back to Chad.  In addition to victims identified by the government, NGOs reported identifying and assisting at least 201 victims.  The government continued to implement its victim identification and referral SOPs, but it did not report whether the SOPs were consistently used.  The government reported proactively screening vulnerable populations, particularly migrant workers traveling through airports, for trafficking indicators and continued to maintain anti-trafficking units at Yaoundé and Douala’s international airports.The government reported providing assistance to 32 trafficking victims, including shelter, basic needs, psycho-social support, health care, and family reunification assistance, at six MINAS-run social centers in Yaoundé, Douala, and Betamba.  The government did not report how many potential victims received services in 2021.  MINAS had the authority to admit children subjected to abuse – including trafficking victims – to government institutions for vulnerable children, which offered shelter, food, medical as well as psychological care, education, vocational training, and family tracing.  The government continued to provide some support, including building costs, to NGO-funded centers that provided care to trafficking victims.  The government also provided subsidies to MINAS-partnered organizations that provided temporary shelter to trafficking survivors, children, and women.  In addition, MINAS provided consular and legal assistance to 1,500 Cameroonians, which may have included potential trafficking victims returning from Equatorial Guinea by providing travel documents and facilitating their return to their home communities.  Despite these available services, the government continued to lack sufficient resources to adequately protect trafficking victims.  The government initiated negotiations on bilateral labor agreements with Gulf states to facilitate the repatriation of Cameroonian trafficking victims exploited abroad.Due to the limited use of the victim identification procedures and understanding of the crime among officials, authorities may have detained or deported some unidentified victims.  The government did not have a formal policy to provide victim-witness assistance to victims participating in investigations and prosecutions and did not provide victim-witness assistance to any victims cooperating with trafficking investigations, despite reports indicating traffickers often threatened victims during trials.  Victims could obtain restitution from convicted traffickers through criminal proceedings or seek damages through civil suits; however, the government did not report whether courts awarded any restitution during the reporting period.  The government could grant temporary residency status to foreign victims who, if deported, may face hardship or retribution; however, it did not report providing this accommodation during the reporting period.																																												PREVENTION						    																																															The government increased prevention efforts.  The IMC continued to lead the government’s anti-trafficking efforts and convened at least twice during the reporting period.  In February 2023, the prime minister signed two separate orders to establish regional anti-trafficking committees in all 10 regions and develop a national platform to enhance coordination and improve information sharing among government ministries and civil society.  The government continued to implement its 2021-2024 NAP.  The government also began drafting an updated NAP, and the IMC sought input from local NGOs and trafficking survivors during the drafting process.  The IMC organized awareness-raising activities in schools for students, teachers, and administrative staff and reported providing in-kind and financial resources to NGO-run awareness campaigns.  MINAS continued to operate a trafficking-specific hotline; the government did not report if any victims were identified or if cases were referred to law enforcement.  The Cameroon Human Rights Commission and the gendarmerie also operated hotlines to report human rights violations and abuses, including human trafficking.The government did not effectively regulate foreign labor recruiters or report taking measures to hold fraudulent labor recruiters accountable.  The government did not report auditing any companies or private labor placement offices, compared with 60 audits that led to an unspecified number of suspensions and closures in the previous reporting period.  Observers reported Cameroonians frequently used unauthorized recruiters to seek employment abroad, which increased their vulnerability to trafficking.  The National Social Insurance Fund (NSIF) launched a national campaign to formally register domestic workers and identify situations of potential exploitation.  Through the program, NSIF conducted home visits to ensure registration of domestic workers for tax withholding and unemployment insurance to prevent non-payment of wages and reduce vulnerabilities to labor trafficking; however, authorities did not report identifying any potential cases of exploitation or efforts to hold employers with unregistered employees accountable.The government, in partnership with an international organization, started a pilot project issuing biometric identification cards to displaced persons, including refugee women from the Central African Republic (CAR) vulnerable to trafficking, in Lom-et-Djerem.  The lack of birth certificates increased the vulnerability of individuals to trafficking.  A previous report estimated at least 1.6 million children enrolled in schools did not have birth certificates.  An NGO attributed the lack of birth certificates to internal and external problems faced by the government such as poor record keeping, staff shortage, and the violence and insecurity in the Northwest and Southwest regions.  The government reported conducting three months of pre-deployment anti-trafficking training to its troops prior to their deployment as peacekeepers.  The government did not provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.  The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.																																												TRAFFICKING PROFILE:						    																																															As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Cameroon, and traffickers exploit victims from Cameroon abroad.  According to a 2022 government study, traffickers use the Gulf of Guinea to transport Cameroonian children to Côte d’Ivoire and exploit them in labor trafficking in cocoa farming.  Traffickers also bring Malian, Burkinabe, Beninese, or Togolese children to Cameroon via the Gulf of Guinea and exploit them in labor trafficking on farms in the North, West, and Northwest regions of Cameroon.  High unemployment rates and economic uncertainty continued to drive many, especially women, to contemplate economic migration under questionable circumstances, leaving them vulnerable to traffickers.  Government officials, NGO representatives, and media outlets report more than one million IDPs face an increased risk of human trafficking due to insecurity in some regions, a diminished police and judicial presence, and deteriorated economic and educational conditions.  The four years of intermittent school closures in the Northwest and Southwest regions have resulted in some parents sending their children to stay with intermediaries who, instead of providing education and safety, exploit the children in domestic servitude.Observers report vulnerable populations such as orphans, persons with disabilities, victims of GBV, and the marginalized Bororos minority community in Bali Nyonga remained at risk of trafficking.  Avenue Kennedy in Yaoundé remains a gathering point for children who use the streets as a source of livelihood; traffickers may exploit this population in human trafficking.  Child traffickers often use the promise of education or a better life in urban areas to convince rural parents to entrust their children to intermediaries who then exploit the children in sex or labor trafficking; parents may play an active role early in the process because of their desire to remove children from areas impacted by violence.  Criminals coerce women, IDPs, children experiencing homelessness, and orphans into sex and labor trafficking throughout the country.  Some labor recruiters lure children from economically disadvantaged families to cities with the prospect of employment and then exploit victims in sex or labor trafficking.  Traffickers exploit children in labor trafficking in domestic service, agriculture (onion, cotton, tea, and cocoa plantations), restaurants, street vending, and forced begging.  A 2022 government study reported criminals transport children through Cameroon en route to Gabon, where traffickers exploit them in domestic servitude.  Media reporting indicates labor trafficking in Cameroon’s fishing sector is widespread.Past research reports highlighted Kribi and Douala as two destinations for child sex trafficking, primarily perpetrated by nationals of Belgium, Chad, France, Germany, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Uganda.  Criminals exploited Cameroonians in sex and labor trafficking in the Bonaberi neighborhood in Douala – which hosts hundreds of IDPs.  Foreign business owners and herders force children from neighboring countries, including Benin, CAR, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria, to labor in spare parts shops or cattle grazing in northern Cameroon; many traffickers share the nationality of their victims.  Observers reported officials from the Republic of Türkiye and the People’s Republic of China in Cameroon may unwittingly facilitate transnational human trafficking by granting visas to Africans with little oversight.  Cameroonian banks may have assisted criminal networks involved in fraudulent recruitment by validating income and employment oversight requirements as well as opening “ghost” bank accounts for victims to demonstrate false income levels.International Organizations reported there were 1,013,568 IDPs in Cameroon as of March 2023, an increase from 933,000 reported in 2022.  In addition to IDPs, there were approximately 488,010 refugees and asylum seekers in the country as of April 2023.  Traffickers may exploit IDPs and refugees because of their economic instability and sometimes limited access to formal justice.  Boko Haram’s activities on the border with Nigeria continued to displace many of these refugees.  There continued to be reports of hereditary slavery in northern chiefdoms.Pandemic-related border closures from March 2020 to June 2021 likely reduced the scale of transnational exploitation, according to experts.  However, ongoing economic impacts of the pandemic, combined with ongoing violence in the Northwest and Southwest regions, contributed to a sharp increase in the number of victims exploited domestically.  Observers previously reported government security forces engaged in commercial sex with women in the Southwest Region divisions of Ndian, Buea, Ekona, and Muyuka, using food insecurity and their authority as leverage.  Observers reported Boko Haram continued to forcibly recruit and use child soldiers, including girls, in its attacks on civilian and military targets in the northern part of the country.  Some community neighborhood watch groups, known as vigilance committees, may also use and recruit children in operations against Boko Haram and other non-state armed groups.  Anglophone separatists recruited and used child soldiers in the Southwest and Northwest regions in combat roles and to gather intelligence, according to observers.Traffickers exploit Cameroonians from disadvantaged social strata, in particular from rural areas, in sex and labor trafficking in the Middle East (especially Kuwait and Lebanon), Thailand, Europe (including Switzerland and Cyprus), the United States, and other African countries (including Benin and Nigeria).  Most Cameroonians exploited abroad are between the ages of 20 and 38 and come from the Northwest, Southwest, Littoral, Center, South, and West regions.  Fraudulent labor brokers recruit some Cameroonian women for domestic work in the Middle East, where traffickers exploit them in sex trafficking or domestic servitude.  In past years, NGOs have reported Nigerians in the eastern states of Nigeria exploited Cameroonian refugees displaced by the crisis in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions in sex and labor trafficking.Trafficking networks generally include local community members, including religious leaders and trafficking victims who have become perpetrators.  These networks advertise jobs through the internet, as well as other media, and recruit and sell other Cameroonians directly to families in need of domestic workers.  Traffickers use the internet to recruit victims through fake websites, highlighting opportunities in trades such as the fashion industry, modeling, entertainment, education, and information technology.  Advocates report intermediaries often operate with discretion, directing victims to travel to the Middle East through neighboring countries, including Nigeria.  International organizations, NGOs, and migrants report Cameroonian trafficking networks in Morocco coerce women into sex trafficking.																																				    							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- Cameroon National Day Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of StateOn behalf of the United States of America, I send my warmest wishes to the people of Cameroon on the occasion of National Day on May 20. The United States and Cameroon cooperate in several areas to include health, regional security, humanitarian assistance, and environmental protection. The United States looks forward to continued partnership with Cameroon to advance peace and prosperity for all Cameroonians.
- Yaoundé, Cameroon: American School of Yaoundé: 2024 Special Needs Profile Office of Overseas Schools&nbsp;Download the Special Needs Profile (Yaoundé- 2024 Special Needs- Cameroon) for this school to learn more about their capability to support students with exceptionalities.&nbsp;The American School of Yaoundé (ASOY) The American School of Yaoundé (ASOY) is an independent English medium, non-profit, educational institution offering the PYP, MYP, and DP International Baccalaureate program from PK3 through grade 12. Admission to ASOY is open on a non-discriminatory basis to all students, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, religion, national origin, ethnic background, or philosophy. The mission of ASOY is that by offering an enriched American curriculum, in a challenging, secure, and diverse environment, the American School of Yaoundé seeks to ensure that all students achieve academic success, develop critical thinking skills, and become responsible and compassionate global citizens.This is intended to provide general information. Prospective users of the schools may wish to inquire further of A/OPR/OS or contact the school directly for more specific and up-to-the-minute information. Information and statistics are current as of December 2023 and provided by the school.NOTE: School situations can change quickly, particularly as schools face cutbacks to learning support programs due to the pandemic, unrest, and economic uncertainty. For the most current information, work with the REO and school. Information in this document was collected by the Department of State’s Office of Overseas Schools directly from the school in December 2023 and shows the availability of services rather than an assessment of the quality of the services. The profile is intended as a jumping off point for a conversation with the REO and school to understand the best fit for your child. Definitions may vary school to school.