Cameroon is, going by the latest estimates, home to over 29 million people. A large and fast-growing economy. It is rapidly changing its economy from mostly based on small farming to an advanced economy.
As such, it is expected that there is a great demand for different types of imports. Looking at the general imports is not as useful, as a lot of the sectors for imports are just too diverse. Zooming in into the details, we can see that a large part of the imports are Scrap Vessels, Rice, and Medicine.
Cameroon is one of the largest importers of scrap vessels – presumably for dismantling or repair, and the largest importer is their neighbour Nigeria.
The major import of Rice – a staple food in the region – is mostly supplied by Thailand.
The medicine imports mostly come from France – a long-standing trade partner, China and India.
From the smaller but important imports, we have cars that are mostly imported from Europe and the US. While tractors and motorcycles arrive from China.
The imports arrive from different countries. China is the largest importer of mixed goods.
Most of the trade with Nigeria is in the Scrap vessels market.
France and Belgium import diverse products, mostly due to their language.
Exports are essential to offset the large demand for imports. Cameroon has a large imbalance. In 2019, Cameroon exported $5.21 billion of goods and services and imported $6.07 billion, resulting in a negative trade balance of $86 million, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology statistics. According to OEC, Cameroon Exported $3.69 billion in 2020 and imported $6.73 billion.
By far the largest Export is Crude Petroleum and Petroleum gas, followed by Cocoa in the form of beans, butter and paste. When it comes to materials, Wood, gold and Aluminium are important. And Bananas take a large chunk of exported foodstuff.
Looking at the counties Cameroon is trading with, Cameroon has a strong trading partner for gold in the UAE. A monopoly that should perhaps be taken on. Wood is mostly exported to China, with processed wood – that should reach greater added value – finding their market in Europe. That is also the main market for Bananas, Cocoa. The last important export is Aluminium, exported mostly to Europe.