Cameroon Aims to Attract Investment with Tax Breaks for Chinese Workers

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Business in Cameroon | Cameroonian lawmakers recently received a draft bill to ratify a new tax agreement between Cameroon and China. The agreement’s main goal is to eliminate double taxation on income and reduce tax fraud and evasion.

This proposed tax convention will exempt Chinese workers in Cameroon from paying taxes in both countries. It also removes several other tax obligations, including corporate taxes, personal income taxes, and contributions to various funds like the National Employment Fund and the Housing Credit Fund. The government also emphasizes that the agreement will enhance the existing legal framework to combat tax fraud and evasion.

For the Cameroonian government, the agreement is seen as a chance to strengthen ties with China, especially by boosting trade and investment between the two countries.

According to the bill, the tax convention will create better conditions for attracting foreign investors to Cameroon. It includes key tax benefits like preferential income tax rates on investment earnings, protection against discrimination for taxpayers, and increased cooperation between the two nations’ tax administrations to fight international tax evasion.

Cameroon’s Finance Minister, Louis Paul Motaze, who signed the agreement on behalf of the country, highlighted that negotiations took ten years to finalize. “Signing this convention is part of a larger effort to expand our network of tax treaties, a project we began ten years ago to enhance Cameroon’s appeal to foreign investors,” Motaze said.

Currently, Cameroon hosts 60,000 expatriate workers. Meanwhile, the 2025 finance bill proposes annual visa fees set at 5% of the salaries for foreign consultants and experts. This initiative is expected to improve non-tax revenue collection, projected to reach CFA5 billion in 2024, with a target of CFA14 billion.

China remains Cameroon’s leading economic and trade partner. In 2023, trade between the two countries totaled nearly CFA1,178.1 billion, a 24.1% increase from 2022, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS). China holds an 18.9% share of the Cameroonian market, ahead of India and France.