Cameroon has signed a cooperation agreement with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council at the 5th Commonwealth Trade and Investment Summit in London, establishing a regional investment hub covering Cameroon, Gabon, Togo and Sierra Leone. Minister Delegate for Cooperation with the Commonwealth Felix Mbayu and CWEIC Chairman Lord Jonathan Peter Marland signed the deal on the sidelines of the April 20-21 2026 summit, granting legal status to a CWEIC regional office mandated to support trade expansion and investment mobilization across the four countries.
The summit brought together public and private sector representatives from across the Commonwealth’s 56 member states to address trade challenges and unlock opportunities for sustainable growth. During a plenary session titled “Invest in Cameroon”, Mbayu positioned the country as a strategic economic bridge between West and Central Africa, highlighting its access to the Nigerian market, Atlantic trade routes, and key logistics corridors linking the ports of Douala and Kribi to landlocked markets such as Chad and the Central African Republic. He outlined Cameroon’s ambition to shift from a commodity-dependent economy towards industrialization and diversified value chains under the National Development Strategy, NDS30, noting current growth of 3.5 per cent with potential to reach seven per cent.
“Cameroon offers investors skills, connectivity, human capital and sectoral diversity. There are promising prospects in strategic areas like agro-industry and food processing, energy and industrial production, mining and digital technology as well as services,” Mbayu said.
He added that the government’s objective is to build resilient value chains and position Cameroon as both an industrial platform and a regional hub serving Africa and the wider Commonwealth, and argued that shifting towards pluri-regional frameworks such as the Commonwealth and the African Continental Free Trade Area would enable fragmented markets to integrate and drive higher trade volumes.
In a panel discussion, Minister of Economy Paul Tasong reinforced the country’s investment case, assuring that the Cameroonian economy is strong, resilient, and credible with a very conducive investment environment.
“We are committed to ensuring that investors find both stability and opportunity in our market. This framework supports long-term growth and industrial transformation,” Tasong said.
Speakers at the opening plenary, including Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and other senior officials, emphasized the need to convert global trade disruptions into opportunities through strengthened cooperation. The agreement establishing the CWEIC regional hub, officials said, marks a step towards institutionalizing investment promotion across multiple Central and West African markets.
Mercy Fosoh
