Reform the judiciary to attract investors.

Fashioned as National Development Strategy 2020-2030, NSD30, it is a reference framework that enunciates the country's domestic and international economic, social and environmental commitments.

It was crafted based on lessons learned in the implementation of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper, GESP, slated to end in 2030, “with a view to achieving the objectives of Vision 2035 that aims to make Cameroon an emerging and democratic country united in its diversity.” 

It requires the participation of the private sector, especially foreign investors for whom the government has provided several incentives, including tax free for up to ten years in “risky” North West and South West Regions.

It is to persuade foreign partners from the United Kingdom that the workaholic Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, led a delegation to London, last week, where for two days, they held meetings with investors and financial institutions to source for long-term capital to finance projects under the ambitious National Development Strategy, NDS30.

Energy, infrastructure, mining, agro-industry, manufacturing, digital sector, urban development and water are among the sectors presented to investors.

At the Marlborough House event, Cameroon showcased the economic potentials of the sectors during the "Market Sounding Road Show,” organised in partnership with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council. 

Cameroon aims to find more private and institutional capital, estimated at between   88,000 and 89,000 billion FCFA, with 45% expected to come from development partners and the private sector.

The country is also banking on sustainable finance from specifically green, social, and sustainability-linked bonds, as well as carbon finance.

At the opening of the proceedings, Finance Minister, Louis Paul Motaze, emphasised the need to prioritise sustainable financing costs, guarantees, blended finance, and risk-sharing, rather than simply relying more heavily on debt.

Development partners and the private sector are expected to provide a substantial share of the financing, increasing the need to mobilise capital beyond traditional public borrowing.

The London marketing trip came at a time government is seeking to diversify the way it finances development projects while keeping debt at sustainable levels.

Figures presented by the government put nominal gross domestic product at 34,474 billion FCFA in 2025, with real economic growth of 3.5%, while the public debt remained below the 70% convergence ceiling set for members of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC.

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, using its own debt perimeter, estimated government debt at about 40% of GDP in 2025 and projected economic growth of 3.3% in 2026, which makes the national estimates on the high side.

From both perspectives however, the statistics make the country’s economic outlook promising.

Cameroon, by government’s evaluation, also has the potential to produce more than 12 gigawatts of hydropower and 406.3 billion FCFA in climate-sensitive expenditure in the 2026 budget. 

The country adopted a Sustainable Financing Framework in 2025 to mobilise green, social and sustainability financing and is also exploring carbon-finance mechanisms.

With the seemingly statistical attractive lure, the CPDM regime aims to transform economic potential into bankable projects capable of offering long-term investment and accelerating Cameroon's economic transformation through development finance.

The IMF has however recommended fiscal discipline, stronger revenue mobilisation and reforms to improve public investment management and support stronger medium-term growth.

There is a crucial issue, which is often ignored but is determinant in influencing foreign investors. It is the judiciary system.

Will a foreign investor have justice in case of litigation in Cameroon?

It is how that question is answered that determines whether the investment climate is attractive or not, irrespective of whatever incentives may be dangled in front of foreign investors.

It is no secret that some cases in Cameroon last in courts for over five years, with a notorious one in Limbe, which had more than 40 adjournments and untold cost to litigants. 

Cameroon National Anti-Corruption Commission, CONAC, also reported that the country’s “public service and judiciary remain heavily impacted by corruption.”

The latest World Justice Project Rule of Law ranks Cameroon 134th out of 142 countries globally. 

In the Sub-Saharan Africa, it is at the uncomfortable bottom rank of 33 out of 34 countries, with war-ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo being the last.

Such a poor result point to persistent challenges with executive overreach, limited judicial independence, and restricted access to timely justice, which scare foreign investors in a world where they are being wooed by many other developing and even developed countries.

That explains why Cameroon should beef up its numerous incentives with the urgent reform of its judiciary to be seen to be fully independent and delivering justice without delay or suspicion of corruption, if the country has to succeed in its Agenda 2030 to end just four years from now.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3911 of Wednesday September 16, 2026