The AfCFTA-GTI Ad-hoc Committee charged with implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area Guided Trade Initiative (AfCFTA-GTI) in Cameroon met today, 20 March 2025, at the head office of the Cameroon National Shippers’ Council (CNSC) in Douala.

The meeting was presided over by the Chairman of the said Ad-hoc Committee Mr. Auguste Mbappe Penda, who doubles as CNSC’s General Manager, and comes at a time when development partners are increasingly mobilising support towards the effective implementation of the Continental Free Trade Agreement. One of such organisations is the Trade Law Centre (TRALAC), represented at the meeting by its Executive Director Mrs. Trudi Hartzenberg. The latter is in Cameroon to learn about the country’s GTI implementation efforts and to identify avenues for collaboration, especially with SMMEs, women and youth-led businesses, for the advancement of the One African Market agenda.

Other sub-committee institutions in attendance included the National Institute of Statistics, the Single Window for Foreign Trade Operations, the Port Authorities of Douala and Kribi, and the Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, just to name a few. Discussions between Ad-hoc Committee members and the TRALAC official delved into activities that could support SMMEs and other private sector actors, to enable them tap into the opportunities offered by the AfCFTA in Cameroon.

Presenting the 2025 action plan, Mr. CHAM Etienne BAMA, Coordinator of the AfCFTA-GTI for Cameroon, stressed the need for tailored capacity-building programmes for Informal Cross-Border Traders with a specific focus on trade between Cameroon and Nigeria which is a major market for the country's exports under the Free Trade regime.

It is noteworthy that Cameroon is amongst the first group of countries selected for trading under the AfCFTA-GTI framework along with Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia and South Africa.