(Ecofin Agency) - So far, Cameroon is the only Central African country that has implemented the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU), and it is dealing with the gradual liberalization of the Union’s products on its market.

In its latest report on the Cameroonian economy, the country’s Ministry of Economy, planning, and land management (MInepat) wrote: "From August 2016, when the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Cameroon and the European Union was launched, to  December 31, 2022, total losses in tax and customs earnings (Ed.note: on Cameroon’s side) reached CFA52.5 billion ($88.3 million)".

According to the report, consulted by Invest in Cameroon, mainly big firms benefited from the tariff dismantling induced by the EPAs that cut into customs and tax earnings. Over the period reviewed, the production costs of these firms–which operate for the most part in the agribusiness, cement, energy, construction, and paper manufacturing and distribution sectors–fell.

The Ministry of Economy further noted that "EPAs’ impact on economic activity, in general, is still not very noticeable, especially in terms of jobs, prices, and exports’ growth and diversification.” The document attributes this weak impact to “a low rate of preference utilization (13.5% of customs operations at the end of 2021), which shows that the tariff dismantling profits only a few companies, among others."

BRM