China has overtaken the European Union to command the majority of Cameroon’s industrial equipment market, marking a dramatic shift in supplier dominance between 2016 and 2024.
According to the 2024 Competitiveness Report from the Committee for Competitiveness, a think tank under the Ministry of Economy, China increases its share of Cameroon’s machinery and equipment imports by 28.7 percentage points over the period, jumping from 23.8% in 2016 to 52.5% in 2024 and becoming the country’s leading supplier of industrial machinery, Ecofin Agency reported.
This expansion comes as the EU’s influence declines. The European Union holds a 50.1% share of Cameroon’s machinery imports in 2016, but its portion drops to 29.3% in 2023 before edging up slightly to 32.3% in 2024. Over eight years, the bloc loses nearly 20 percentage points of market share.
The shift unfolds even as Cameroon begins implementing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU in 2016. Under these agreements, Cameroon commits to phasing out customs duties on 80% of European imports over 15 years in return for preferential access to the European market.
Industrial machinery and equipment fall within the category of goods subject to tariff liberalization.
The dismantling process starts on August 4, 2017, with a yearly 15% reduction in applicable customs duties, and from August 4, 2023 onward, Cameroon exempts all EU industrial equipment from customs charges. In theory, this should reinforce Europe’s competitive position.
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However, the Committee for Competitiveness notes that “we observe an erosion of the EU share in Cameroonian imports of machinery and equipment, and a rise of China,” despite the EPA coming into force.
Local manufacturers and operators attribute China’s surge to stronger price competitiveness and easier, more affordable access to spare parts, which simplifies maintenance compared with European machinery.
Even with the shift in suppliers, both competitive Chinese pricing and the EPA framework contribute to rising investment in productive capacity.
Purchases of machinery continue to grow, with the Committee stating that “the overall growth in imports of machines and equipment (…) reflects a continuous effort to modernize Cameroon’s production capacity.”
Imports more than double between 2010 and 2024, increasing from CFA243.7 billion to CFA512.8 billion, while the National Institute of Statistics (INS) offers an even higher estimate of CFA573.6 billion for 2024, the highest volume of industrial equipment purchases in six years.
Between the pre-EPA period (2010–2015) and the post-EPA years (2017–2024), these imports rise by an average of 22%.
Yet the rise in investment coincides with a worrying decline in equipment conditions. The INS report on the “economic and financial situation of companies in 2023” highlights that despite increased acquisition of machinery, “the deterioration of production equipment continues, rising from 59.6% in 2022 to 60.1% in 2023.”
This means six out of ten pieces of equipment used by companies are in poor condition. Persistent maintenance challenges fuel this deterioration, leading to productivity losses, reduced revenue, market shortages and, at times, technical layoffs.
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Image Credit: Unsplash
