Gig Afatex is the first Cameroonian company to export goods at the preferential tariff stipulated by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). On October 6, the customs administration issued the first AfCFTA Certificate of Origin for its products bound for Ghana.

Of the 44 countries that have already ratified the Continental Free Trade Agreement, seven countries decided to launch preferential trade under the AfCFTA today on products for which rules of origin have been concluded (almost all products except sugar, textiles and clothing, and the automotive industry). These are Cameroon, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Mauritius, Egypt and Tanzania.

The cargo that Cameroon will export to Ghana is dried safflower, dried pineapple and ginger tea. These products are classified by Cameroon as "Category B," known as sensitive (locally produced) products. This category consists of 6.99% of tariff lines, or a total of 408 products that the country will liberalize over 13 years with a 5-year moratorium.

Category A" includes products (imported and not produced locally) that will be quickly liberalized. It is represents 90.01% of tariff lines, or 5255 products. This group of products will be subject to tariff reductions based on a linear approach over a period of 10 years, with the aim of achieving zero duty.

Category C" products are those excluded from liberalization, consisting of 175 products, or 2.99% of tariff lines. In this last group, we find products such as wheat flour, corn flour, crude palm oil, refined palm oil, sugars, chewing gums, candies, pasta, fruit juices, portland cements, glue cements, relaxers, soaps and shower gels, aluminum bars, etc.

According to the Ministry of Trade, considering the constraints related to the functioning of customs unions, of which one of the particularities is that the members have a common external customs tariff, Cameroon has joined the 5 other Central African countries (Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Chad) which form the CEMAC zone to develop this tariff offer in a consensual manner.

Theoretically effective as of January 1, 2021, the AfCFTA aims to boost intra-African trade. So far, 54 African states have signed (only Eritrea is yet to sign) and 44 have ratified. With a population of 1.2 billion, Africa is indeed the second largest economy in the world, behind China. It is therefore time to cherish the dream of becoming a global economic giant in the coming years.

Source : Business in Cameroon