Cameroon: New decree paves way for enhanced trade exchanges with Algeria

August 8, 2023

On August 1, 2023, Cameroon's Head of State, Paul Biya, signed a decree ratifying the February 24, 2021 agreement on air transport services between the Republic of Cameroon and the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. According to authorized sources, the ratification of this agreement paves the way for the opening of air links between the two countries, to boost tourism and trade.

Thanks to the presidential decree of August 1, 2023, Algerian state carrier Air Algérie can finally materialize its plans to land in Cameroonian skies, as announced since the beginning of 2019 by the Cameroon Aviation Authority (CCAA). According to details provided by specialized media Air Journal after the signing of the air agreement in February 2021, Air Algérie is set to fly thrice weekly to Douala from Algiers-Houari Boumediene airport. It will use a Boeing 737-800 with a capacity of 48 passengers in business and 114 in economy classes.

The opening of this air link between the two countries, pending the resumption of international flights by Cameroon’s state airline, Camair-Co, should help boost trade between Cameroon and Algeria. "Cameroon is an open door to the CEMAC (Central African Economic and Monetary Community), which is a very important economic grouping with 120 million consumers, representing enormous potential for us," said Hocine Boubtina, then Secretary General of Algeria's National Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Trade (Algex), in 2018, at an information day on business, partnership, and export opportunities with central African countries organized in Algiers, Algeria.

Source: Business in Cameroon