Cameroon Land of Refuge and Investment
Foreigners from the five continents residing in Cameroon cut across the socio-economic and professional backgrounds.
Statistics from the 2005 population census in Cameroon indicate that there were 271,815 foreigners residing in the country by then, 151,802 of them male and 120,013 female. The figure is widely believed to be below the real number of foreigners living in Cameroon. This is largely because of the country’s porous vast borders that permit people from West and Central Africa countries to flow in without passing through diplomatic representations and consequently live without resident permits that make them to be registered as foreigners.
The influx of foreigners to Cameroon can be understood considering that the country is a land of peace in the turbulent Central African Sub-region, strategically located in the Gulf of Guinea and endowed with huge natural resources. The results of the 2005 population census further specified that 53.7 percent of the 271,815 foreigners in Cameroon are from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), 36.5 percent from the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC), 3.3 percent from other countries of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), 1.0 percent from other African countries. As at 2005, there were 0.5 percent of foreigners from American countries, 3.8 percent from European countries and 1.1 percent from Asian countries.
The number of foreigners in Cameroon is greatly swelled by refugees who stand at 101,269, sources from the Cameroon office of the UN High Commission for Refugees disclosed. The majority of the refugees are from conflict-ridden Chad, the Central African Republic and Nigeria and are mostly spread over sites in the East, Adamawa and North Regions of Cameroon. The country also counts 12,764 urban refugees and 1,312 asylum seekers. Most of the urban refugees come from Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia. Foreigners from the different African countries are almost specialized in different sectors of activities. Nigerians for instance, dominate the motor spare parts business, Rwandans and Burundians shop keepers , people from Niger, Chad and Mali serving as security guards in enterprises and private homes as well as the shoe- mending business. Cameroon’s universities, higher institutions of learning and specialised military and security institutions admit students from different countries of the Central African Sub-region and other African countries.
Foreigners from Europe, Asia and America mostly work in their respective countries’ diplomatic missions, United Nations Organisation Systems, international organizations, multinational corporations, Non-governmental Organisations as well as being consultants with the government of Cameroon. Chinese, Lebanese and citizens of other countries from the Middle East also do business. The are Chinese equally outstanding in the public works sector.
Emmanuel KENDEMEH
