Cameroon misses out on UK-Africa summit

Yesterday over 20 different African leaders took part in an investment summit with the UK as they sought to chart forward a new path for bilateral relations in the business world.

Conspicuously absent, however, was Cameroon, one of the lead nations of the Central African Region.

Though many other French speaking African nations were not part of the summit, others say Cameroon’s attachment to the UK through the Commonwealth was good reason for participation.

The Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it should be noted, is party to the EU-Cameroon Economic Partnership Agreement, one of several economic ties likely to come under review following Brexit.

In order not to disrupt its trade agreements after leaving the EU, Britain has been renegotiating some of its deals.

While the absence of Cameroon from yesterday’s summit is seen by some as the deliberate ignoring of the nation, others say it transcends to more than that and has to do with the country’s political challenges.

Currently faced with the ongoing war in the Anglophone regions, Cameroon has been under pressure from several nations to talk with Ambazonian fighters in an all inclusive dialogue, a call some say is followed with a cold shoulder from Cameroon.

Going by the Cameroon Trade Hub, in the last Six years, the UK has been the 11th largest export market in Cameroon with 2.1% of total exports and 18th among Cameroon’s suppliers with 1.4% of total imports.

Mimi Mefo Info