UK Trade Mission Explores Investment Avenues

By Victorine BIY, Cameroon Tribune
The delegation held talks with officials of the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development in Yaounde on December 8; 2015.
A trade mission from the United Kingdom is sojourning in Cameroon, in response to the Prime Minister’s appeal last year in London during the Cameroon Trade Forum to business persons to; “come to Cameroon,
create businesses, make money and …….”. Over 25 business persons are part of the UK three-day trade mission that seeks to explore more investment avenues in the country.
The delegation met with Cameroonian business people in Yaounde yesterday December 8, 2015, at a ceremony where it was revealed that joint ventures between the two countries hit FCFA 47.74 billion in Cameroonian exports and FCFA 56.7 billion in imports from the UK between 2010 and 2014. The Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Yaouba Abdoulaye, told the UK investors that Cameroon’s economy was absorbing growth shocks in spite of the shaky international context. From 2010 to 2014, growth was evaluated at 4.7 per cent, he said. With a market of over 20 million consumers, Cameroon should be a fertile ground for UK investors, he pointed out.
The British High Commissioner to Cameroon, His Excellency Brian Olley, said free trade and a healthy economy were prerequisites for success by any country. Success in improving livelihoods, health, education, living conditions, job opportunities and good governance were important Brian Olley noted. The British diplomat said being realistic in business proposals was good, but coming with funding was better. The trade mission pledged UK finance support and is looking at huge business-to-business opportunities. Brian Olley challenged them not to focus on what they cannot find at the moment but to find ways of providing it.
Investors in the sectors of oil and gas, mining, construction, agriculture and the capital market find Cameroon good business risk, with Rebecca Isaacs of the Developing Markets Associates, organiser of the trade mission saying, “The Cameroon government is engaged and opened to discussions with investors.”