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Country Commercial Guides for FY 2000: Cameroon Report prepared by U.S. Embassy Yaounde, released July 1999

CHAPTER VII:   INVESTMENT CLIMATE

A.   OPENNESS TO FOREIGN INVESTMENT

The GRC has outlined several reasons why international corporations and individuals should consider investing in Cameroon. These include: (1) stability in a sea of political turmoil; 2) geo-strategic position entry for Central Africa with a massive Nigerian market next door, 3) highly skilled human resources and an abundance of unskilled workers, 4) abundant natural resources, 5) dynamism of the commercial sector with many small and medium enterprises and industries, 6) tax and customs advantages; 7) freedom of transfer of profits. Cameroon has taken numerous initiatives to attract foreign investors to the country, and GRC policies, as defined by law, meet most of the requirements for an open, liberal investment climate.

The major law governing investments in Cameroon is the investment code enacted in 1990 and currently pending revision for further liberalization. This investment code is very attractive on paper, but its application is perverted by arbitrariness in the application of laws and government controls. The code has made investing in the country simpler and established some attractive financial incentives in exchange for minimal eligibility/performance requirements. The code seeks to attract productive investments through incentives that are identical for both foreign and domestic investors. It provides 14 basic guarantees to investors, including property ownership, ability to repatriate capital and income, prior compensation in case of expropriation, freedom of movement within Cameroon and free egress for personnel.

General benefits of the investment code are available to all new and existing enterprises in Cameroon which process goods for export or use inputs from the local or regional markets of CEMAC. In addition to these general benefits, firms may qualify for one of five special investment formulae which offer more advantages. The five are (1) the Basic Regime; (2) the Small and Medium-Size Enterprise Regime; (3) the Strategic Enterprise Regime; (4) the Reinvestment Regime and (5) the Free Zone Regime. The code sets out in detail the specific criteria a firm must meet to qualify for each regime as well as the benefits accorded thereunder.

The law has established an Investment Code Management Unit (ICMU) within the Ministry for Industrial and Commercial Development (MINDIC). The ICMU is located in Douala, the economic capital. ICMU is a "one-stop-shop" for investment approval and dispute resolution. Efforts to further streamline the process and to transform ICMU into a virtual investment promotion agency are now underway. Foreign investment is not screened, and foreign equity ownership is subject to limitation only in the Small and Medium Size Enterprise Regime (see Section V below.). Programs financed jointly by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the Government are open to unrestricted competition. Formerly a country with numerous state-owned monopolies, Cameroon is in the midst of a privatization process which will eliminate all public sector monopolies before the year 2000 except for aluminum. Foreign firms may not invest directly in ventures defined as "strategic" by the Government of Cameroon, but they may provide equipment and services to the parastatals that have jurisdiction over such activity. The GRC has revised and rationalized exploration codes for the hydrocarbons and forestry sectors. It is also presently developing a code for industrial mining exploitation which is expected to be completed by the end of 1999 and utilized to invite investors into the mining sector.

Despite Cameroon's attractive investment code and the favorable laws for private enterprise few foreign investors have initiated operations in the country. Domestic investors remain somewhat restrained in their investment plans despite the exuberance brought on by the Chad/Cameroon pipeline project.

B.   RIGHT TO PRIVATE OWNERSHIP AND ESTABLISHMENT

The right of private ownership is recognized in Cameroon, but is limited in practice by a dysfunctional judiciary, inadequate definitions of property rights and widespread inconsistencies in government decision making. Foreign and domestic individuals and firms are legally entitled to establish and own firms, engage in remunerative activities, and establish, acquire and dispose of interests in business enterprises. The law also permits investors to dispose of their property via sale, transfer or physical repatriation of moveable property.

C.   PROTECTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

Secured interests in property are recognized and basically enforced. The concept of mortgage (or "hypothèque" in French) exists in Cameroonian law and the title or "titre foncier" is the legal instrument for registering such security interests. Foreign and domestic investors are provided with guarantees that substantially comply with international norms. Cameroonian law does not discriminate, and both foreign and domestic firms compete under the same rules. In practice, however, Cameroonian courts and administrative agencies grant preferential treatment to domestic firms and have sometimes been accused of corrupt practices.

Cameroon is the headquarters for the 14-nation West African intellectual property organization, Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI). OAPI is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization. In cooperation with member states, OAPI offers registration for patents and trademarks. Patents in Cameroon have an initial validity of ten years. They can be renewed every five years upon submission of proof that the patent was used in at least one of the 14 member countries of the OAPI. In the absence of use, compulsory licensing is possible after three years. Trademark protection is initially valid for 20 years with renewal possibilities every 10 years. Trademark enforcement in Cameroon is weak due to the small size of the domestic market and the costs of enforcement.

Cameroon is also a party to the Paris Convention on Industrial Property and the Universal Copyright Convention. A licensed copyright company, the Societe civile nationale des droits d'auteurs (SOCINADA), registers copyrights for all types of publications, including music, books and periodicals, paintings, theatrical productions, etc. Officially, SOCINADA cooperates with copyright protection agencies in other countries. Steps to implement the World Trade Organization's TRIPS agreement are being undertaken through an Inter-ministerial Technical Committee.

D.   ADEQUACY OF LAWS AND REGULATION GOVERNING COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS

While, on paper, Cameroonian law is complete and adequate in regards to commercial transactions, few foreign investors have started new operation in the country because current practice does not always permit fair implementation of its laws. Under the current judicial system, local and foreign investors, including some U.S. firms, have found it complicated and costly to enforce contract rights, protect property rights, obtain a fair and expeditious hearing before the courts or defend themselves against frivolous lawsuits. However, the recently implemented "Organisation pour l'Harmonisation du Droit des Affaires en Afrique" (OHADA) treaty offers some hope for more objectivity in the judiciary. The GRC has not signed the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery.

Cameroon has a special preference agreement with France, which has only recently been implemented. The convention, also applicable in the other former French colonies in Africa, accords several advantages to French companies which maintain branches or agents in Cameroon. Among the advantages are exemption from the 15 percent special tax applicable to other enterprises operating in Cameroon and the right to deduct "technical assistance" charges from the company's tax bill.

E.   FOREIGN TRADE ZONES/FREE PORTS

Cameroon has no Foreign Trade Zones or Free Ports at this time; however, it does have an Industrial Free Zone (IFZ) Regime which is applicable to all locations through "industrial park" or "single-factory" zones. This was created in 1990 to promote internationally competitive export industries. It creates conditions for the IFZ investor to operate virtually outside of the jurisdiction of the country's established legal and regulatory systems. The only eligibility requirements to qualify for IFZ status are production of goods or services at least 80 percent of which are export-bound and which do not have deleterious effects on the environment. The National Office for Industrial Free Zones (NOIFZ) is the non-profit regulatory body established to oversee and administer Cameroon's IFZ program. IFZ firms receive a 10-year exemption from taxes and are subject only to a flat tax of 15 percent on corporate profits beginning in the eleventh year. They have a right to tax-free repatriation of all funds earned and invested in Cameroon, and are exempt from foreign exchange regulations. They are exempt also from existing and future customs duties and taxes including those on locally purchased production inputs. The operation of the NOIFZ has been suspended. The GRC has discontinued granting authorizations to investors seeking the Free Zone regime. Licensing, which was suspended in 1996, is still awaiting an audit of past operations. Some foreign investors have had difficulties in the past with the free zone regulations.

F.   MAJOR TAXATION ISSUES AFFECTING U.S. BUSINESS

In 1994 Cameroon implemented a new Regional Reform Program which included tax reform. The new code reduced the number of taxes applied to imports from over seven to four and reduced the overall rate from a maximum 200 percent to a maximum of 70 percent on luxury goods and a minimum of five percent on necessities. Since the beginning of 1999, only the TVA is collected on intra-regional goods. Foreign investors are required to pay customs duties as well as income, turnover and business taxes.

G.   PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS/INCENTIVES

Cameroon's 1990 investment code establishes requirements for at least 35 percent Cameroonian equity ownership for enterprises under the Small and Medium-Size Enterprise (SME) regime. Even in such instances, foreign investors are not required to reduce their shares over time. Under the investment code, an Industrial Free Zone (IFZ) investor can operate virtually outside of the jurisdiction of the country's established legal and regulatory systems; there are no requirements for technology transfer, no requirements to locate in specific geographical areas and foreign exchange privileges are not rationed. Investors can transfer dividends, return of capital, interest and capital on foreign debt, lease payments, royalties and management fees, returns on liquidation, etc. The Ministry of Finance routinely authorizes such business remittances and foreign investors may seek local financing for investment purposes.

The investment code has general employment requirements relative to the amount of invested capital. It also links benefits and incentives to the volume of exported goods and to the use of inputs purchased from the local or CEMAC markets. Each of the five special regimes of the code has its own specific eligibility and performance requirements and accompanying benefits. Such benefits vary in duration from three to twelve years depending on the regime and on whether the investment is classified "start-up" or "operational." Quantitative restrictions on imports, non-tariff protection, and many import licensing requirements were lifted when the new tariff code was enacted in January, 1994 to conform to central African regional customs regulations. In addition, many other price controls were abolished in 1998 and now remain only on "strategic" goods and services such as electricity, water, public transportation (road/rail), telecommunications, cooking gas, pharmaceuticals, school books, and port-side activities (stevedoring, etc.)

The procedures for enforcement of performance requirements of the investment code are not clearly defined. The Government has not made any public statements concerning performance requirements. Foreign participation in government financed and/or subsidized research and development programs is restricted to programs which are beyond the technical capacity of Cameroonian firms. Visa, residence and work permit requirements do not particularly inhibit foreign investors.

H.   TRANSPARENCY OF THE REGULATORY SYSTEM

Cameroon's regulatory environment has improved during the past years as numerous sectoral reforms have been made. Most export licensing requirements were removed in 1994 when the Government liberalized the coffee and cocoa markets. The role of the newly established Coffee and Cocoa Board replacing the National Produce Marketing Board has been limited to providing international market price information to farmers and exporters. Liberal regulatory and profit sharing regimes governing petroleum exploration and production are in place and have stimulated a revival of the development of marginal fields and of exploration and production in new fields. The still to be implemented 1994 forestry code makes incremental progress toward a more rational and managed exploitation of Cameroon's rich forest resources. By the year 2000, all timber cut in Cameroon should, by law, be processed in-country before export. The export price for processed wood has increased by 230 percent, while that for cut logs has risen only 20 percent. Since less than half of the Cameroonian wood has traditionally been processed in-country, the new codes should increase revenue in this sector.

Under pressure from international financial institutions, a decree in 1997 established a joint government/private sector competitiveness committee to identify the main obstacles to competitiveness, propose measures aimed at reducing the costs of transactions and to monitor, in the interest of the parties, the implementation of decisions taken. The World Bank insisted that the work of the committee result in adoption of a revised law on competition. The new and more liberal labor code, passed in 1992, relaxed conditions for wage-setting, hiring and firing, making it easier for the employer to do business. The improved regulatory environment did not, however, produce the desired results due to limited resources, inadequate control and enforcement and corrupt practices.

I.   CORRUPTION

Like in most developing countries, corruption is endemic in Cameroon. The GRC launched several public campaigns in 1998 to combat corruption and promote good governance. The public viewed these campaigns with skepticism. The GRC did not follow through with any significant arrests or sanctions against corrupt officials. A dysfunctional judicial system severely disrupts development of Cameroon's economy and society. Persons accused of corruption by the local press are seldom called to account before the courts.

On the positive side, recipients of GRC payments are no longer routinely obliged to relinquish 30 percent of the sum to the civil servants who process their vouchers, although some still attempt to apply the measure. Corruption at customs reportedly diminished after February 1996 when a private company, Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), was given an exclusive contract to verify and assess customs duties due for FOB imports valued over USD 3,333. However, it appears that corruption at customs has continued, changing only its form.

J.   LABOR

Cameroon's labor-management relations are governed by the labor code enacted in 1992. The code restores collective bargaining and employee-employer primacy in the negotiation of wages; eliminates fixed zonal wage scales; abolishes employment by level of education; eliminates government control over layoffs and firings; and reduces government involvement in the management of labor unions. The code, however, does not apply to civil servants, employees of the penal system, or workers responsible for national security. Its implementing decrees were completed in 1993, but remain open to legal interpretation. Labor disputes are still common. Cameroon is a party to the ILO Convention on the protection of labor rights, but government adherence to some of its provisions was seriously questioned in April 1994 when the administration interfered in the functioning of the Confederation of Cameroon Trade Unions (CSTC) through the illegal ousting of its elected Secretary General. After the democratically elected leader was restored to his post by an extraordinary CSTC congress, the government supported the founding of a competing Confederation of Free Cameroonian Trade Unions (USLC), headed by a former CSTC vice president. Both organizations appear to be either dominated or thoroughly intimidated by the government. CSTC is now rife with internal divisions and has become a specter of its former self. The ILO notes that the Government has failed since 1991 to recognize the National Union of Teachers of Higher Education. The CSTC is a member of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

The 1992 code provides a legal framework for the emergence of a flexible and efficient labor market, in theory, but such a market has not yet been allowed to operate. Cameroon has a high literacy rate and offers a relatively well-educated labor force, yet unemployment has been estimated at between 30 and 35 percent in the two major cities of Douala and Yaounde. There is a large surplus of unskilled and non-technical labor. Due to inadequate mechanical and technical training, some industries have experienced difficulties in recruiting skilled labor on the domestic market. The free movement of goods and people, envisaged in the nascent Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), is expected to address this problem, in theory, though cross-border labor movement as a practical matter will probably remain limited.

K.   EFFICIENT CAPITAL MARKETS AND PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS

Interest rates are set by the regional central bank (BEAC), which is closely monitored and regulated by the French Government. Foreign investors are able to obtain credit on the local market, but usually borrow offshore due to high domestic interest rates. Cameroon's legal and regulatory systems are inefficient and often arbitrary, and the GRC has not yet established a regulatory system to protect and encourage high-risk portfolio investments. Cameroonian partners of foreign firms have occasionally attempted to take over the operations of local companies via court action or through harassment and intimidation by government officials.

Cameroon has no securities market or bond market. However, at a meeting in Douala this year, a decision was reached to create a regional securities exchange, such as the one recently established in Abidjan. One stumbling block, however, is its location; Douala and Libreville both wish to host the new stock exchange, targeted to become operational in November 2000. Banque Nationale de Paris has been mandated to draw up a model for a small screen based securities market for the Central African franc zone.

On the heels of this development, the Minister of Economy and Finance has announced a plan to totally restructure the financial and banking sector by forming a national commission under his oversight. He would create a national securities market using the current national investment office (SNI), the national loan recovery agency (SRC) and the debt redemption sinking fund (CAA) as pillars. Advisors on the exchange market are the Societe de Bourse de Paris, Citibank and the International Finance Corporation.

Mergers and take-overs are currently undertaken discreetly through negotiations. In Cameroon's ongoing privatization program, only 13 enterprises of 33 to be privatized by the end of 1999 remain to be sold or liquidated. The more than six privatization laws have been described as some of the most complete on the books, but criticized for the heavily bureaucratic process they put in place.

Restructuring of the financial system began in 1986 and is now considered nearly complete. At the end of February 1999, Cameroon banking system network was composed of nine functioning commercial banks with sixty branches. Commercial banks constitute the largest part of the financial sector with total assets of CFA francs 526 billion (approximately USD 911.6 million) at the end of June 1997. The three institutions that dominate the sector represent more than 60 percent of total bank assets. The ratio of provision for doubtful loans is low and much of the total asset base of the banks is estimated as non-performing. In order to further secure the banking system, a sub regional deposit guarantee fund covering all CEMAC countries, FEGADAC, was created. Cameroon took part in its creation by a Presidential decree signed on April 20, 1999. Private firms are free to associate with any partner they choose and in whatever percentage participation they negotiate with such partners. Companies are also free to organize into industry associations.

L.   CONVERSION AND TRANSFER POLICIES

The Communaute Financiere Africaine (CFA) franc is the currency denomination which Cameroon shares with fourteen other African member states of the CFA franc zone. This currency continues to be pegged to the French franc, ensured by the French Treasury, and remains readily convertible. In 1994, the exchange rate parity was reduced by 50 percent to a fixed parity of 100 CFA francs to one French franc. Since late 1993, Central African CFA banknotes are no longer accepted in the eight countries that use the currency of the West African CFA. The decline in the value of the French franc and continued decline in the value of the Euro (created in January 1999) relative to the dollar have helped maintain the gains in competitiveness realized since the devaluation, not withstanding the devaluation of South-East Asian currencies. Some speculation surrounds the creation of the Euro and the question of whether the CFA will be able to adjust to the stringent requirements of that currency over time.

The regional central bank (BEAC) no longer allows the purchase of CFA notes abroad; travelers from Cameroon are allowed to carry a maximum of 20,000 CFA francs out of the country without prior authorization. Travelers' checks can be drawn on any available foreign currency, but the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MINEFI) authorizes such purchases. No ceilings have yet been placed on how much foreign currency can be purchased per trip. The authorization of MINEFI is required for foreign exchange business transfers. These authorizations are routinely granted if they conform to the specified incentives of the investment and fiscal codes. Dividends, return of capital, interest and principal on foreign debt, lease payments, royalties and management fees, returns on liquidation, etc., can all be remitted abroad. It takes an average of 12 days to obtain a foreign exchange transfer authorization.

M.   EXPROPRIATION AND COMPENSATION

Foreign and domestic investors are provided extensive legal guarantees that substantially comply with international norms, including full and prior compensation, in the event of expropriation in the public interest. There are no confiscatory tax regimes or laws that could be considered detrimental to American or other investments. Undeveloped land is more at risk for local expropriation than developed property; Cameroonian law does not require local ownership of land.

N.   DISPUTE SETTLEMENT INCLUDING ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN ARBITRAL AWARDS

The Cameroon investment code provides for dispute resolution. At the time of incorporation or application for investment code benefits, a firm may opt for one of the various procedures to settle future conflicts. A limited number of investment disputes has come to the attention of the U.S. Embassy. In one instance, a three year long dispute was complicated by competition from a French firm which holds a virtual monopoly of the relevant market and which convinced local authorities to assist in hampering the American competition. More typically, an unscrupulous Cameroonian partner may either take over the shares of the foreign partner or simply seize control of the joint venture through unorthodox methods. Local business practice includes routinely exerting, or attempting to exert, pressure on the courts which may sometimes be swayed by local financial largess or political status. Foreign companies sometimes claim that judgments against them are obtained fraudulently or as the result of frivolous lawsuits.

In the past, Cameroon's judicial system has been considerably influenced by the Executive Branch which oversees its operations including determining salaries and benefits. Foreign investors, including some U.S. firms, have found it difficult to obtain enforcement of their legal rights, including contract and property claims, through the Cameroonian judicial system. However, this may change once the 1996 constitution establishing the judiciary as an independent branch of government has been implemented. The execution of judgments is slow and fraught with administrative and legal bottlenecks. The IMF and the World Bank, through their Structural Adjustment oversight, are trying to assist Cameroon in reforming its judicial system.

Cameroon's bankruptcy law is an integral part of its commercial law. In case of bankruptcy, creditors are not covered except by way of negotiable or enforceable guarantee instruments held by the creditor. Cameroon accepts binding international arbitration of investment disputes between foreign investors and the state, is a member of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and is a signatory to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. In May 1997, the Council of Business Managers and Professional Associations (GICAM), an association of 140 enterprises and 15 professional associations representing 70 percent of all formal sector business activity in the country, voted to constitute its own Arbitration Center to which business cases can be submitted. On 1 January 1998, the treaty on the Organisation pour l'Harmonisation du Droit des Affaires en Afrique (OHADA) between the 15 states of the CFA franc zone plus Guinea entered into force. The treaty is designed to promote the development of an African economic community, the institution of a common business policy and the guarantee of judicial security and compatibility within that community. Through its regional judiciary in Abidjan, objectivity should be reinforced as the treaty is implemented with the assistance of the Council of French Investors in Africa (CIAN).

O.   POLITICAL VIOLENCE

There have only been a few incidents of politically-motivated civil disturbance or violence during the past few years. Most of those have been a direct result of the GRC's poor human rights record, when government and security officials have committed numerous serious abuses. The threat of political violence continues to be a possibility in Cameroon, but is not likely to target foreign firms or projects. A complicating factor is the existence of a nascent English-speaking separatist movement. Cameroon's border problems with neighboring Nigeria continue over the disputed Bakassi Peninsula. However, political tensions have decreased due to increased contact between high-level politicians of the two countries. The armies of both countries remain mobilized in this region. On rare occasions tensions break out into firefights which cause deaths and injuries.

P.   BILATERAL INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS

Cameroon has bilateral investment and/or commercial agreements with the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Similar agreements also exist with other countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. The bilateral investment agreement between Cameroon and the United States was ratified in 1986 and entered into force in 1989. While the original timeframe for the agreement was 10 years, it is expected that it will be renewed without any difficulties. The U.S. invoked the BIT in one case in 1997 and Cameroon has ostensibly acquiesced in the case through non-implementation of legislation contrary to the treaty.

Q.   OPIC AND OTHER INVESTMENT INSURANCE PROGRAMS

The U.S. Government signed an investment guarantee agreement with Cameroon in 1967. OPIC has been receptive to American firms seeking war, expropriation and inconvertibility insurance and has guaranteed several ventures in Cameroon. OPIC is currently assessing the recent record and appears ready to underwrite viable projects in the future. The Cameroon investment code guarantees protection from non-commercial risk as per the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) Treaty with Cameroon.

R.   CAPITAL OUTFLOW POLICY

Cameroon does not encourage the export of capital and does not have a policy on Cameroonian investments in foreign countries. Most Cameroonian capital abroad is presumably in European financial institutions and/or real estate.

A second devaluation of the 14 country CFA franc has been dismissed as unlikely until the introduction of the Euro hard currencies by EU and IFI observers. The IMF has written "given its high dependence on the production and export of a limited number of primary commodities, whose world prices are expressed in U.S. dollars, and the modest size of intra-zone trade, the CFA franc zone would remain substantially more vulnerable to exogenous shocks than the EMU countries. But the linking of the CFA franc to the euro offers the CFA franc countries the opportunity to intensify their adjustment efforts, as well as to step up their initiative to enhance regional economic integration."

S.   MAJOR FOREIGN INVESTORS

Direct foreign investment (DFI) plays a key role in the Cameroonian economy. However, neither the GRC nor the moribund Chamber of Commerce has compiled a comprehensive list of foreign investments in Cameroon or estimates of current values. Flow data on DFI, disaggregated by country, is not available and there are no statistics on Cameroon's direct investment abroad. France is overwhelmingly the most important foreign investor in terms of the total capital in Cameroonian enterprises and percent of the total stock of foreign investment. Cameroon's Prime Minister led a trade mission, composed of many ministers and several prominent Cameroonian business personalities, to France in April 1998 and subsequently to Switzerland. This search for foreign investment has apparently resulted in a number of joint venture and foreign investment projects including the construction of three hotels in Douala and Yaounde. The Committee of French Investors in Africa (CIAN) was instrumental in organizing an April 1998 investment seminar devoted solely to Cameroon and is reportedly favorable to the possibility of joint ventures with U.S. investors who might not have the long standing operational expertise that French investors historically have.

The Commonwealth Development Corporation has a 36,104,000 pounds sterling investment in Cameroon in the CDC, HEVECAM, Printpak, SNEC, and SOCATRAL enterprises. It maintains a dialogue with the GRC in view to participating in privatization for debt so as to reactivate its investment program. China has concluded an agreement to construct a tractor assembly plant in the south and has signed a convention that will lead to the implantation of a tire retreading plant. The GRC is anxious to strengthen commercial relations with the U.S. and has invited several American trade missions to the country. U.S. direct foreign investment in Cameroon is significant through five major U.S. petroleum industry companies and a company that produces oral care/hygiene products for the local as well as regional market of Central Africa from its Cameroon plant. Others include fruit production enterprises, communications companies and fertilizer and insecticide producers. Several dozen U.S. companies are currently represented in Cameroon either directly or through agents or distributors. Construction of the multinational Chad/Cameroon pipeline will require a total investment of about 1.5 billion USD in Cameroon alone, bringing total U.S. pipeline investment in Cameroon to one of the largest in the country.

T.   HOST COUNTRY CONTACT INFORMATION FOR INVESTMENT-RELATED INQUIRIES

The Investment Code Management Unit (ICMU) was established in 1991 to assist foreign and domestic investors in starting businesses in Cameroon. It provides investment authorization and a variety of other services through a network of official correspondents in all relevant Ministries. Contact Ms. Marthe Angeline Minja, Director, ICMU, P.O. Box 15438, Douala, Tel: 237-42-59-46/43-31-11, Fax: 237-43-30-07.