CMR's trade with NGA suffers a deficit

Between 2011 and 2014, Nigeria’s exports to Cameroon has increased by 36%, while that of Cameroon to Nigeria, over the same period, stood at 24%.

This was revealed during a preparatory meeting for the establishment of a platform between economic operators of the two countries in Douala on 28th January 2015.

Originally this trade deficit on the Cameroonian side, based on the argument of the officials of the Chamber of Commerce of Cameroon, was due to the rigidity of standards on certain products imposed on the borders of Nigeria.

Other issues discussed on this platform were measures to boost trade between the economic powers of the African continent and the movement within the frameworks of the economy of the CEMAC zone. Cameroonian economic operators expressed their desire to see such standards being revised.

Although commodity objects of standards whose stiffness is disparaged have not been identified, it could be noted that Nigeria exported to Cameroon products such as cosmetics, textile, spare parts for vehicles, electronic equipment, household equipment. At the same time, Cameroon Nigeria exports consist of food, cotton, rubber.

But according to many experts, the formal evaluation of the exchanges between the two countries is still not balanced, since it does not take into account informal trade and the phenomenon of smuggling, which are rampant along the 1,400 km border shared by Cameroon and Nigeria.