Cameroon’s business environment currently sits at a crossroads, according to the World Bank’s Business Ready 2025 (B-READY) report. Placing in the fifth quintile globally, with an overall score of 58.75, the country exhibits a complex landscape in which legal potential often outpaces practical support.
This new assessment framework, which has replaced the traditional Doing Business rankings, evaluates 101 economies across three critical pillars: the quality of their regulatory frameworks, the availability of public services, and the operational efficiency experienced by firms on the ground. For Cameroon, these results highlight a nation that has established a functional legal basis for commerce but continues to struggle with the digital and physical infrastructure necessary to propel the private sector forward.
The country’s regulatory framework, which earned a score of 58.75, reflects a relatively stable foundation of laws governing business entry, labour, and dispute resolution. While this score is below the global average of 66.32, it suggests that Cameroon has made strides in drafting the rules of the game.
However, the report underscores a common trend in developing economies: it is far easier to reform laws on paper than it is to build the institutional systems required to implement them. This disconnect is most visible in the realm of public services, where Cameroon recorded its lowest score of 36.30. This significant lag behind the global average of 53.97 points indicates a “service gap” in critical areas, including digital tax filing, licensing platforms, and efficient border infrastructure.
Despite these hurdles, there is a silver lining in the country’s operational efficiency, which scored 56.63. This metric is particularly telling as it measures the real-world experience of business owners—specifically, how long it takes to comply with regulations in practice. That this score exceeds the public services rating suggests a degree of resilience in the day-to-day functioning of government agencies, showing a narrower efficiency gap than many peer economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nevertheless, the pressure to improve is mounting; with a rapidly growing youth population, Cameroon faces an urgent need for private-sector job creation that can only be sustained through more robust and accessible public support systems.
Ultimately, Cameroon’s performance mirrors a broader regional pattern in which high-income nations dominate the top tiers, while African economies grapple with the transition to modernised service delivery. As the country looks toward the future, the path to a more competitive ranking lies in narrowing the divide between its laws and its services.
This shift toward digital modernisation and better implementation is essential not just for a higher score but for fostering an environment where entrepreneurship can thrive. Much like the $2 billion fibre optic initiatives seen in neighbouring Nigeria, Cameroon’s journey toward “Business Readiness” will likely depend on how well it can bridge the digital divide and provide the infrastructure its businesses need to scale.
Mercy Fosoh
