Economic operators in the Littoral and South West regions edified on the advantages of the law.
Economic operators in Cameroon will soon reap the complete fruit of their labour. The good news is contained in the 2013 Law fixing the incentive of private investors in Cameroon. Since most African counties including Cameroon are yet to be referred to as an industrial country, the Cameroon Head of State promulgated the incentive law in 2013 which clearly spell out the advantages economic operators wishing to create industries and those already operating will benefit.
The law that has five chapters and 35 articles, stipulate that investors wishing to create industries in Cameroon will not pay the usual 10 per cent or more as taxes, but will pay nothing for five years upon importing material. It also states that when the companies are competent enough to go to the exportation phase, they will pay just 5 per cent while companies that have been operating for six to 10 years, will equally pay just 5 per cent during importation. Besides the fiscal and customs exonerations, investors will also benefit from some administrative and financial incentives such as visa facilitation, creation of a one stop shop to ease investment process and the opening of company’s account without complications.
Edifying investors on the law last week in Douala, the Inspector general in the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Martin Yankwa, disclosed that no country in the world develops without industrialisation. “It is time to transform our primary product,” he said. He added that when raw material transformed in to finish product amount to 25 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, the country will be termed an industrial country. According to the incentive law, investors will transform 40 per cent of raw material in the agricultural and forestry sectors, and 15 per cent in the mining sector. Since the law that has to take Cameroon to emergence was promulgated, in the presence of the Regional Delegate of Mines, Dimbele Jean Marie Sodea, the Inspector General said between 2014 and 2015, some 50 investors have signed conventions with the State to create 550 billion worth investment that will generate some 16,000 jobs.
