(Business in Cameroon) - According to figures from the Economic Affairs Directorate (DAE in French), a division of the Ministry of Finance (as indicated in its 2013 report on Cameroon’s economic, social and financial outlook), in 2012, China became Cameroon’s first bilateral customer by being the destination for 15% of Cameroon’s exports, surpassing Spain and the Netherlands (which consumes 70% of the cocoa produced in Cameroon – as indicated to the Ministry of Trade), Cameroon’s first two customers in 2011.

In descending order, other Cameroon customers in 2012 were Portugal (11.8% of Cameroon exports), the Netherlands (11.3%), Spain (11.2%) and France (8.6%). The United States and Nigeria finish the list with 4.2% and 3.5% of Cameroonian exports.

The same source reports that Nigeria became Cameroon’s leading supplier in 2011 and 2012 by respectively providing 22.6% and 17.8% of imports; far ahead of France’s 12.8% and 11.8% and China’s 10.8% and 10.4% for the same periods.

These latest figures could be greater as Nigeria is also one of the main exit points for the contraband flooding the Cameroonian market as is apparent in several studies conducted by Groupement interpatronal du Cameroun (Gicam).

But, most importantly, these Ministry of Finance figures reveal that, in its trade exchanges with various foreign partners, Cameroon had an estimated deficit of 602 billion FCfa in the first quarter of 2013 – a phenomenon that was sustained throughout the year.