On June 23, 2026, the president of the Groupement des Entreprises du Cameroun (GECAM) outlined the dire conditions that are severely hindering Cameroon’s economic progress.
According to the GECAM president, Cameroon’s economic growth rate declined to 3.1% in 2025, down from 3.5% in 2024. He emphasized that this pace is insufficient to achieve the nation’s ambitious emergence target set for 2035. For context, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to experience an average growth of 4.5%, while UEMOA countries are expected to reach 6.4%. In contrast, CEMAC, where Cameroon holds the largest economy, is only anticipated to grow by 2.6%.
This underperformance is largely attributable to a significant downturn in Cameroon’s oil sector. The hydrocarbon industry saw a contraction of -6.9% in 2025, following an already substantial drop of -9.7% in 2024. This trend, as highlighted by GECAM, confirms that petroleum is no longer the primary driver of the country’s economic expansion.
Cotton production falls short of targets
Other key sectors also present a concerning picture. The primary sector’s growth diminished from 3.6% to 1.7% within a single year. Industrial and export agriculture experienced a sharp reversal, shifting from a positive 8.7% growth in 2024 to a contraction of -3.2% in 2025. This decline is a direct result of adverse climatic conditions and a reduction in exports across several agricultural sub-sectors.
Cotton serves as a stark illustration of this broader economic degradation. Production reached only 286,000 tonnes, falling considerably short of the ambitious 400,000-tonne target. Export volumes for cotton plummeted by 24%, while the overall value of these exports collapsed by 29.8%.
Industrial sector struggles amidst challenges
“Even the most seemingly robust sectors reveal underlying weaknesses. The cocoa campaign, despite achieving a record production of 309,518 tonnes, saw a 9% decrease in export volumes. However, an 18% increase in export value was secured due to soaring global prices. Coffee followed a similar trajectory: production rose from 10,562 to 11,637 tonnes, yet exported quantities decreased by 2%, offset by a 3.9% rise in revenue,” explained the head of the business federation.
Concurrently, Cameroon’s reliance on food imports continues to escalate. Maize imports, for example, increased by 4.5%, a figure that GECAM cites as evidence of persistent challenges in achieving national food security. The industrial sector is also struggling to fulfill its potential as a catalyst for economic transformation. Its growth merely edged up from 1.7% to 2%, while manufacturing industries experienced a slowdown from 2.9% to 2.2%. The business community attributes this challenging situation to the high cost of energy, logistical hurdles, financing constraints, and a general lack of competitiveness within the productive apparatus.