Cameroon-USA trade link:

Cameroonian investors told to take advantage of AGOA

By Rachel NtubeNgwese in Yaounde

16 years after Cameroon signed the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. AGOA, USA-based Cameroonian investors have observed that Cameroon is still not making the most of the advantages afforded by the convention. This group of investors under the canopy of the James F. Epo law office and with support from the American embassy in Yaounde, assembled local investors from the different sectors of the economy to drill them on ways to better exploit business opportunities with partners from United States.

                 During a seminar organized under the auspices of the minister of small and medium size enterprises, Cameroon business men were presented with some of the loopholes which make their business proposals not attractive enough to partners and how they can better take advantage of the large American market through networking.

                Guided by the theme of the seminar: “Due diligence on how to do business with American investors”, participants were schooled on modern business rules within the framework of the fast growing numeric economic society.

                 The respect of standards, procedures and most importantly sanitary and environmental laws are some of the key points they say Cameroonians who wish to partner with American investors need to take special note of. 

                Noting that the AGOA convention has enabled Cameroon to export some over 600 different agricultural products to the USA tax free, US-based Cameroonians however regret that the quality and more importantly the quantity needed to satisfy the huge American market is still largely inadequate.

                They urged Cameroonians who want to export to the US to improve on the packaging system, master the public governance and taxation system.