The ban on the export of timber in the form of logs from 1ᵉʳ January 2028, a joint decision by the CEMAC countries, marks an important step in the sustainable management of the region's forests. To achieve this objective, the Cameroon government has decided to extend the list of species banned from export.

In a circular dated 23 October 2024, Cameroon's Head of State instructed the government to extend the list of species banned from export in the form of logs for the 2025 financial year. A year earlier, the Minister of Forests and Fauna had published a list of 76 species affected by this ban.

The aim is to prepare the Cameroonian economy for the entry into force of this decision, and to develop the local wood processing industry. The ban on log exports will have an impact on tax revenues, jobs and the activities of forestry operators.

At the same time, local processing requires major investment in infrastructure, equipment and vocational training, among other things.

Additional incentive measures

As a reminder, extending the list of species banned from export as logs is not the only measure taken by the Cameroon government. The Cameroonian government has introduced a number of incentives to encourage players in the forestry sector to favour local processing rather than log exports.

Read also: CITES tightens the noose on the trade in tropical timber, ATIBT supports players in the timber industry

For several years now, the government has been successively raising exit duties on logs and sawn timber. Between 2017 and 2023, these duties rose from 17.5% to 60%, then to 75% in the 2024 Finance Act.

These measures have had a significant impact on log exports, which have fallen sharply. According to the Institut National de la Statistique (INS), the volume of exports will fall from 958.3 m³ in 2021 to 746 m³ in 2022.

Source: Investir au Cameroun

Vanessa Ntoh