4th Cameroon Investment Forum kicks off in Douala.

The event, that brings together investors from across the globe, will take place at Best Western Hotel in Douala. 

The forum, which will run till Friday April 19, is placed under the distinguished patronage of the Head of State, Paul Biya.

It will be holding under the theme: “Attracting productive investment in the agricultural and fisheries value chains to intensify the import-substitution drive in Cameroon: Focus on the rice, maize, fish, milk and oil palm sectors”. 

Global business moguls and investment movers and shakers are already said to be trooping into Douala for the strategic forum.

The 4th edition of the Cameroon Investment Forum will serve as a veritable avenue for the visiting investors to get insights into the country’s investment potentials and opportunities that make it an investment destination on the African continent. 

As revealed by the Acting General Manager of the Investment Promotion Agency, Boma Donatus, during a press briefing last February 16, the forum is a platform for investors and project promoters to interact and discuss business opportunities in Cameroon.

“…it will be a meeting place for opportunities and an excellent option for local and foreign investors, financial, economic and banking institution leaders, government authorities and development partners to share insights and experiences,” Boma had told reporters. 

Boma had said the forum “strives to identify business opportunities, enhance Cameroon's ability as an investment destination and an attractive productive investment to the country”.

The forum, he had added, shall also be an opportunity for investment stakeholders to organise sideline activities like trade missions and conferences.

Context of CIF 2023 

The first edition of the Cameroon Investment Forum was organised by IPA in 2015. The event holds every two years. 

After two consecutive editions in 2017 and 2019, the event witnessed a halt as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aside holding in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and an environment characterised by exogenous and endogenous crises, CIF 2023 will take place at a time government has adopted the National Development Strategy, NDS 2020-2030, with the strong desire to transform the economy and achieve endogenous, inclusive and sustainable development to make Cameroon a Newly Industrialised Country. 

It is also within the context of the import substitution strategy, undertaken by government, among its economic restructuring drive, aimed at increasing domestic value added, by promoting local production and processing of raw materials to reduce the trade deficit burdened by expensive imports, particularly in the consumer food products sector. 

IPA fostering debate on import substitution

Since 2017, the IPA has been instrumental in fostering public debate on implementing government’s import substitution policy. 

It was on this score that in 2019, the 3rd edition of the Cameroon Investment Forum focused on the theme: "Industrialisation through import substitution".

Thematic panel discussions during the 3rd edition of the forum highlighted the major investment sectors in the country, with emphasis on rice, maize and aquaculture sectors.

Such discussions, the IPA boss told reporters, will be continued in the 4th edition, with the introduction of two new sectors viz milk and oil palm. 

“Its primary objective is to attract direct investments towards development projects in critical areas of the value chains of the rice, maize, fish, milk and palm oil sectors, with the ultimate goal of reducing Cameroon's trade deficit,” Boma had stated. 

IPA’s strides recorded through forum 

The IPA, it should be said, has through the forum since 2017, identified 52 agropastoral projects for the investment market. 

The institution, after an intensive screening process, preselected 24 projects, out of which 17 bankable projects, worth 13.7 billion FCFA, were identified and selected for financing, to the tune of 8.9 billion FCFA. 

IPA plans to continue this process during the 4th session and mobilise quality and alternative financing partners who can provide the necessary funding for these projects. 

About CIF 2023 

The three-day forum will comprise seven major activities. It will include a solemn opening ceremony, a key note address from an internationally renowned personality, followed by a ministerial-level panel discussion on the central theme. 

The forum will also feature five thematic salons, relating to the rice, maize, fish milk, and palm oil sectors.  

It will also feature an Investment Market, which is a platform that connects promoters of investment projects with financiers and technical partners in view of contributing to a significant increase of the volume of projects financing. 

The forum will also feature exhibition, with “Sector Desks” of administrations and other structures working directly or indirectly to promote and attract investment to Cameroon as well as business meetings and a gala night dubbed: "Investors’ Night".

The aforementioned activities are set to take place on the event site, except for the Investment Market, “which will be hybrid, following arrangements to be specified in due course”. 

Expected outcome of CIF 2023

It is expected that participants, would, at the end of the forum, “have a holistic and relevant understanding of Cameroon's investment environment, the target sectors as a whole and the investment niches or opportunities found in the critical segments of their value chains”.

The forum also intends to “establish multifaceted partnerships between promoters of investment projects in the targeted sectors with financiers and technical partners”.