NEWSLETTER 22 AUGUST – 04 SEPTEMBER 2016

Pre-shipment Inspection: Private Sector Want Conformity to Local

Realities

Inspection of goods entering the country began on August 31, 2016.

Inspection companies in the private sector are worried that certain verification

requirements within the Conformity Assessment Programme, PECAE, do not

consider local realities such as the state of roads. They propose modification of

certain requirements in order to better protect citizens from the importation of

substandard and counterfeit products and to ensure that products within the local

market are those of good quality.

The proposal was put forth by representatives of private local inspection companies

during sensitisation sessions in Douala, on August 25, 2016 organised by one of

Cameroon’s business cartel “Entreprises du Cameroun” (ECAM) with the assistance

of the Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) at the Cameroon Chamber of

Commerce. Lloyd’s Administrative and Financial Manager, Kelly Komga, argued

that a car that has been used in Europe with five more years remaining for it to be put

off the road cannot be road-worthy for up to five years in Cameroon. She explained

that the state of local roads are not as good as those in Europe, so such a car should

be given two years, for example, to be put off the road in Cameroon.

As inspection proper began on August 31, 2016, private inspection companies called

on government and its partners such as the SGS and Intertek, which were awarded a

mandate by ANOR as one of the service providers to carry out this pre-shipment

inspection to reconsider the existing requirements.

The sensitisation was in line with the country’s steady commitment to have goods

imported to Cameroon comply with the requirements of the Standards and Quality

Agency, ANOR. Inspection ensures proper identification of goods prior to shipment

with specific regard to their quality, quantity, tariff classification, import eligibility

and the provision of valuation information for customs purposes.

Source: Cameroon Tribune www.cameroon-tribune.cm

Cameroonian Public Debt Is Estimated at XAF 4,754 Billion at July

2016 End, Being 27.3% of GDP

On 30 August 2016 in Yaoundé, during a ceremony to table and adopt texts governing the

operation of the National Public Debt Committee, the Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane

Mey, disclosed that the Cameroonian public debt is at XAF 4754 billion at the end of July

2016. This represents only 27.3% of the country's GDP and is thus well below the accepted

norm of 70% in the CEMAC area.

In spite of these figures which seem to comfort local public authorities, Cameroon has been

facing criticism for several months from Bretton Woods institutions. If in its different reports

the IMF denounces a rapid indebtedness of the country (after the 2006 HIPC initiative),

especially at non concessional interest rates; the World Bank has, in a report dated April

2016, already classed Cameroon among the Sub-Saharan African countries considered a high

risk of debt distress.

Last August 30, the Minister Ousmane Mey pleaded for greater caution in the matter of

public indebtedness and efficient and effective management of borrowed funds, taking into

account the numerous infrastructure projects currently in progress or planned in the country,

which always require significant funding.

As a reminder, the National Public Debt Committee was created by Prime Ministerial decree

of 4 August 2008. Chaired by the Minister of Finance, the mission of this body is to co-

ordinate, monitor the implementation of the national policy of public indebtedness and

management of the public debt, ensure its coherence with development objectives and the

capacity of the State.

Source: Business in Cameroon www.businessincameroon.com

Cameroon: Tertiary Sector Contributed To Economy by 2.3 Points in 2015

The National Institute of Statistics (INS) shows that the evolution of economic activity was

driven by the service sector (trade, administration, transport, financial activities ...) which

contributed 2.3 points to national growth that stood at 5.8%.

However, INS emphasizes the dynamism of the primary and secondary sectors. Indeed, the

development of primary sector activities, for example, is estimated at 5.3% in 2015 against

4.7% in 2014. This increase contributed 1.1 points to GDP growth. This sector benefited from

an upturn thanks to the "industrial agriculture and export" branch characterized by higher

cocoa production rose from 209,905 tons in 2014 to 232,000 tons the following year. Another

major factor is buoyant world prices, for both cocoa and coffee. This was a motivator for

industry players.

The secondary sector has speeded up with an 8.6% growth rate against 6.8% in 2014. The

evolution of that sector was driven by the "mining" branch that contributed 1.1 points to

GDP. Other manufacturing industries contributed 1.8 points, construction 1.4 points,

agribusiness 0.7 points and "electricity, gas and water" branch 0.2 point.

Source: Adapted from the article “Cameroun : l’activité économique a été portée en 2015 par le secteur tertiaire

à hauteur de 2,3 points”, Agence Ecofin www.agenceecofin.com

Cameroon: Credit Communautaire d’Afrique Keeps Moving to Bank

Status

Credit Communautaire d’Afrique (CCA), a category II microfinance institution (MFI)

operating in Cameroon, continues its transformation into a commercial bank, we learned from

a source involved in the process who requested anonymity. "A senior official was recruited

within the structure. In terms of human resources, there is a skills reorganization atmosphere

and they always await the decision of the Banking Commission of Central Africa," the source

said.

The development of the microfinance institution is quite remarkable. Its real estate assets

have grown rapidly and today some analysts feel that this is the problem. When property

values of a financial institution reaches a certain size, we must ensure that this aggregate

value does not have a big gap with capital, because the question then is to know what this

institution funded this real estate development with. "We can legitimately fear that this has

been done with the deposits of savers, which would then become a risk in terms of ratio", a

finance expert says.

It is not clear whether CCA is facing this kind of challenge. Behind the scenes, we learn that

buildings do not belong to it directly, but rather to a real estate company. But the latter is

itself a shareholder of the institution.

In early February 2016, it was reported that the investment firm AfricInvest was considering

investing in CCA. In 2014, this MFI was claiming 359,000 customers.

Source: adapted from the article “Au Cameroun, le Crédit Communautaire d'Afrique poursuit son projet de

mutation en banque ”, Investir au Cameroun www.investiraucameroun.com

Markets as at August 04, 2016

Against XAF (Indicative only)

XAF

USD 587.9069

EUR 655.8689

GBP 781.5634

Source: Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/markets/currencies