(Business in Cameroon) - The Cameroonian national institute for statistics INS recently published a report on the second business census covering the 2009-2016 period. This report provided an up-to-date picture of the productive fabric and a complete basis for business surveys in the country.

According to the report, out of 6,458 companies recorded at the start of the period, it appears that 2,316 ceased activity during the intercensal period. Almost all (approximately 95%) of those companies that ceased activity during the period had done so before 2014, the INS reveals. “This puts the overall cessation rate at nearly 36% over the period under review,” the INS writes.  

The survey reveals three fundamental causes of this cessation rate. In order of importance, the size of the company seems to be the variable that most influences activity cessation. Indeed, compared to Large Companies, medium-sized companies have almost 20% more chance of ceasing operation while the risk is 31% for small businesses and 39% for micro-companies.  

The Littoral concentrates a little more than 64% (1,495) of the companies that ceased operations during the period under review. It is respectively followed by the Central (484), the Western (135) and Northwest (42) regions respectively. On the other hand, the East (35), Adamaoua (29), Southwest (24), North (23), South (21) and the Far North together represent nearly 8% of the extinct units.

For analytical purposes, the surveyed regions (12 in total) were grouped into six economic regions. Just over 60% of the companies that have ceased operations are located in Douala and nearly 20% in Yaoundé. The “West and North-West” economic region has the third-highest number of business terminations (7.4% of companies having ceased operations). This result, according to the INS, is not surprising given that these three regions concentrate most of the country's productive fabric.

Sylvain Andzongo