(Business in Cameroon) - The African Development Bank reveals that Cameroon, the strongest and most diversified economy in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), has long been resilient to shocks, but its economy is showing early signs of a slowdown.

According to the bank, this is due to the negative impacts of the economic recession in Nigeria, the crude oil crisis which hits CEMAC and the security crisis in the Anglophone region. It is also due to the decline in extractive activities (because of the postponement of investments in extraction and production) as the consequence of lagging oil prices.

Despite this slowdown, AfDB forecasts that the country’s growth will stand at 4.1% and 4.8% in 2018 and in 2019 respectively (a bit behind the average recorded between 2013 and 2015 which is 5.8%).

The bank further reveals that this improvement should be mainly “spurred by higher exports to the European Union following an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and increased energy supply due to new hydroelectric dams. Other tailwinds affecting growth include the development of forestry and agro-industrial value chains, as well as a reduction in imports in favor of local products”.

Brice R. Mbodiam