On June 23, 2026, the President of the Groupement des Entreprises du Cameroun (GECAM) reflected on the dire conditions impeding the nation’s economic development.

According to the GECAM President, Cameroon’s economic growth slowed to 3.1% in 2025, down from 3.5% in 2024. He deemed this pace insufficient to achieve the country’s emergence target set for 2035. For comparison, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to experience an average growth of 4.5%, while the UEMOA zone is expected to reach 6.4%. In stark contrast, the CEMAC region, where Cameroon represents the largest economy, is only anticipated to hit 2.6%.

This underperformance can be largely attributed to the decline in the petroleum sector. The hydrocarbon industry contracted by -6.9% in 2025, following an already significant decrease of -9.7% in 2024. This trend, GECAM asserts, confirms that oil is no longer the primary driver of national growth.

286,000 tonnes

Other sectors present an equally concerning picture. In the primary sector, growth plummeted from 3.6% to 1.7% in just one year. Industrial and export agriculture saw a dramatic shift from an 8.7% increase in 2024 to a -3.2% contraction in 2025, a consequence of challenging climatic conditions and reduced exports across various agricultural segments.

Cotton production serves as a prime example of this downturn. Output reached only 286,000 tonnes, falling considerably short of the 400,000-tonne target. Export volumes decreased by 24%, and the value of these exports dropped by a substantial 29.8%.

1.7% to 2%

“Even the most successful sectors reveal underlying vulnerabilities,” explained the head of the employers’ association. He noted that despite a record cocoa harvest of 309,518 tonnes, export volumes paradoxically declined by 9%. This was mitigated by an 18% increase in export value, driven by surging global prices. Coffee followed a similar pattern: production rose from 10,562 to 11,637 tonnes, but exported quantities decreased by 2%, although revenue saw a 3.9% increase.

Simultaneously, Cameroon’s food dependency continues to escalate. Maize imports increased by 4.5%, illustrating, according to GECAM, the ongoing difficulties in ensuring national food security. The industrial sector also struggles to fulfill its role as an economic transformation engine. Its growth progressed only marginally from 1.7% to 2%, while manufacturing industries slowed from 2.9% to 2.2%. The business community attributes this challenging scenario to high energy costs, logistical hurdles, financing constraints, and a general lack of competitiveness within the productive apparatus.