Min. Fast highlights growing invest't ties with CMR

Minister Fast with Louis-Paul Motazé, Secretary General, Office of the Prime Minister of Cameroon discuss investments and once in force, the Canada-Cameroon FIPA will offer greater protection for Canadian companies operating there.

September 18, 2014 – Toronto, Ontario – The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, met Louis-Paul Motazé, Secretary General, Office of the Prime Minister of Cameroon, on the margins of the Canada-Africa Business Summit, where Minister Fast delivered a keynote address.

The two ministers discussed growing investment ties between the two countries and the progress on their respective ratification processes to bring into force the Canada-Cameroon Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). When in force, the FIPA will promote two-way investment and offer greater protection to Canadian companies operating in Cameroon through reciprocal, legally binding provisions.

Canadian companies are already active in Cameroon. In 2012, Canadian mining assets in Cameroon were valued at $61.3 million. In its recently launched Global Markets Action Plan, Canada identified Cameroon as an emerging market with specific opportunities for Canadian businesses in sectors such as infrastructure and education, as well as mining, and oil and gas. Two-way merchandise trade between Canada and Cameroon was valued at nearly $53.5 million in 2013, an increase of 5.7 percent from the previous year.

As part of its plan to promote and protect Canadian investments abroad, Canada concluded, signed or brought into force FIPAs with 10 countries in 2013—a record for a single year. Seven of these were with African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia.

Canada has FIPAs in force with Benin, Egypt and Tanzania, and FIPA negotiations are under way with Ghana, Kenya and Tunisia. Canada currently has 27 FIPAs in force around the world.