(Business in Cameroon) – The Ministry of External Relations has approved a first amendment to the public-private partnership (PPP) contract linking the State of Cameroon to the Ivorian group Impact Palmares R&D. Signed on April 1, 2022, the contract covers the design, financing, modernization, and digital transformation of Cameroon’s visa services. The amendment aims to align the original agreement with the country’s legal and regulatory framework, which has evolved over the past three years and “rendered certain clauses of the partnership obsolete,” said Minister of External Relations Lejeune Mbella Mbella.
According to the minister, the update was essential “to account for challenges that emerged during implementation, including new investments underway and the need to bring the fiscal and customs regime into compliance with current regulations, among others.” On the private side, Mbow Nassirou, project manager at Impact Palmares, said the amendment will “readjust several provisions in the original agreement. This amendment will allow us to advance the investments required of Impact Palmares under this project.”
No figures have been disclosed regarding the financial value of the amendment. The same confidentiality surrounded the initial contract in 2022, whose value remained undisclosed by both the government and the Ivorian company.
A PPP that boosts consular revenue
For this project, the State of Cameroon opted for a PPP model. “From the outset, the State saw a clear return on investment. Consular revenue increased by more than 300 %,” said Nassirou. Impact Palmares holds a 10-year concession to operate the platform for digitalizing Cameroon’s consular services, including visa processing.
Minister Mbella Mbella has highlighted the results achieved since the launch of the secure digital visa platform. As early as December 2024, he reported “an increase of around CFA29 billion in revenue mobilized between April 2023 and October 2024 due to the implementation of the e-visa system.”
More recently, during the government’s 2025 performance review before Parliament, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute reported that 411 439 paid visas had been issued as of September 30, 2025, generating CFA46.873 billion in revenue, in addition to 34 508 free visas. These volumes confirm the growing budget significance of consular revenue driven by digitalization.
Second phase: next-generation services and infrastructure
For the next stage of implementation, Giresse Justin Tella announced plans to “make second- and third-generation digital consular services fully operational in 2026.” This phase will expand and deepen the range of online services available to users and consular offices.
It also includes delivering “within the required time frame, the ultramodern innovation center within the Ministry of External Relations.” Completion of the center is scheduled for June 2026. The final component of the project involves completing rehabilitation work at the Consulate General of Cameroon in Paris, which is expected to become a showcase for the new digital organization of consular services.
Ludovic Amara
