CAMEROON · AFRICA
Key Facts
- —What is happening President Paul Biya, 93, runs Cameroon in October 2026: his eighth term began on Thursday, 6 November 2025, and he returned home on 20 August after more than ten weeks abroad.
- —Why it matters Cameroon is the largest of the six economies in the CEMAC currency bloc in Central Africa, so its politics, debt and succession question shape the whole region.
- —The numbers About 29.9 million people and a US$59.2 billion economy in 2025 give Cameroon roughly 44% of its currency bloc’s output, with growth of 3.1% and public debt of 40.3% of GDP.
- —Who is who Biya has ruled since 1982, Joseph Dion Ngute is prime minister, and opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who says he won the October 2025 vote, lives in exile in The Gambia.
- —What to watch The National Assembly’s mandate runs to 20 December 2026, the government promised for 31 December 2025 was still unnamed in October, and the new vice presidency was vacant.
- —What it means for you Cameroon is not on the US list of duty-free African Growth and Opportunity Act partners for 2026, and Washington warns against travel to three of its regions.
Cameroon is mid-sized in Africa by people and money, yet its ports, its currency bloc and its borders give it extra weight. Here is where it fits in October 2026.
The Cameroon continent answer is Africa, and within it Central Africa, where the country sits on the Gulf of Guinea. It is the largest member of the six-nation CEMAC currency bloc, with about 29.9 million people in 2025.
Its weight is real but limited by a long-serving president, a heavy debt load and two armed conflicts at home. More coverage sits on the Rio Times Cameroon page.
The Cameroon Continent Question, Answered
Cameroon lies in Central Africa and borders Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The African Union lists it in its Central Africa group.
Cameroon is also a Commonwealth member, the club of Britain and its former colonies. Its other great link is the common currency of its CEMAC bloc, covered below.
Its foreign partners are covered in Cameroon geopolitics explained. Its six neighbours are covered in Cameroon and its Central African neighbours.
Who Leads Cameroon in October 2026
Paul Biya, 93, has been president since 1982 and began an eighth seven-year term on Thursday, 6 November 2025. The Constitutional Council, the body that certifies elections, declared him winner of the 12 October 2025 vote on 27 October with 53.66%.
Issa Tchiroma Bakary, his main challenger, was credited with 35.19% and says he won. His own count, he says, gave him 54.8% against 31.3% for Biya.
Protests began on 26 October 2025, and officials counted 16 dead and more than 800 arrests by mid-November. UN-sourced data put at least 48 civilians killed, and opposition groups said 55.
Tchiroma has lived in exile in The Gambia since November 2025. He filed complaints against Biya in France in June 2026 and Switzerland in early July, and plans an orderly return.
Biya left for Europe on 7 June and returned to Yaoundé on Thursday, 20 August, after over ten weeks. On Friday, 16 October, civil cabinet director Samuel Mvondo Ayolo called online death reports fake and cited a 15 October decree.
Biya promised a new government on 31 December 2025, and none had been named by 6 October 2026, Al Jazeera reported. Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute represented Biya in Rabat on 15 August 2026.
Law No. 2026/002, promulgated on 14 April 2026, revived the post of vice president, abolished in 1972. The president appoints the holder with no deadline, and the post was still vacant in mid-October.
Parliament extended the deputies’ mandates to 20 December 2026, and a decree of 4 May 2026 extended councillors’ mandates to February 2027. For the succession rules, read Cameroon succession rules explained.
Cameroon’s Weight in People and Money, Against Its Peers
The IMF database puts Cameroon at about 29.9 million people and a US$59.2 billion economy in 2025, or roughly US$1,980 a head. It projects US$64.8 billion for 2026.
The IMF’s March 2026 Article IV report put growth at 3.1% in 2025 and 3.3% for 2026. It put public debt at 40.3% of GDP in 2025 and rates Cameroon at high risk of debt distress.
The World Bank classes Cameroon as lower middle income and says roughly four in ten Cameroonians live below the national poverty line. In January 2026 Cameroon raised a US$750 million Eurobond, which a UN report says cleared arrears and financed the 2026 budget.
Here is how Cameroon stacks up in 2025, using IMF figures for output and people. GDP per head is output divided by population, rounded.
- Nigeria: US$290.5 billion and 237.6 million people, about US$1,220 a head. Africa’s most populous country dwarfs Cameroon in size but not in income per head.
- Kenya: US$135.9 billion and 53.4 million people, about US$2,550 a head.
- Ghana: US$114.7 billion and 35.1 million people, about US$3,270 a head. It has a larger population than Cameroon and nearly twice the output.
- Côte d’Ivoire: US$99.9 billion and 32.9 million people, about US$3,040 a head. It anchors the West African monetary union, the sister bloc of CEMAC.
- DR Congo: US$92.9 billion and 106.6 million people, about US$870 a head. Its neighbour in Central Africa has far more people and far less income per head.
- Cameroon: US$59.2 billion and 29.9 million people, about US$1,980 a head. It trails Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya on income per head but leads Nigeria and DR Congo.
Inside the CEMAC bloc the picture flips. Cameroon’s output is about 2.7 times Gabon’s US$21.9 billion and about 2.7 times Chad’s US$22.0 billion, IMF figures show.
The African Union and the AfCFTA
Cameroon joined the Organisation of African Unity, the African Union’s predecessor, on 25 May 1963. It has been a member of the continental body ever since.
Cameroon signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement on 21 March 2018 and deposited its ratification on 1 December 2020. The AU treaty status list of 22 May 2026 records both dates.
Trade-law centre tralac said in July 2026 that Cameroon has submitted tariff offers but has yet to complete domestication. It adds that Cameroon published a national AfCFTA strategy for 2020-2035.
Tralac’s own tracker showed 50 of the 54 signatories had deposited ratifications at the end of September 2026. Cameroon is not on its list of outstanding signatories.
Cameroon belongs to none of the ECOWAS, EAC, SADC or AMU blocs of West, East, Southern and North Africa. The AU’s regional community for Cameroon is ECCAS, as tralac records.
ECCAS, CEMAC and the CFA Franc
The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) was founded on 18 October 1983. Beyond the six CEMAC states, it has five more members, tralac records.
The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has six members. They are Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.
Its commission sits in Bangui and is led by president Baltasar Engonga Edjo’o. The common central bank, the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), has its headquarters in Yaoundé.
The CFA franc used by the six states traded at about 585 per US$1 on 20 October 2026. That is the open.er-api.com rate of 00:02 UTC.
A BEAC decision of 29 June 2026 fixed its policy rates, and its monetary committee met on 28 September 2026. IMF figures for 2025 put Cameroon at about 44% of the six states’ output and 46% of their people.
Biya skipped the extraordinary CEMAC summit in Brazzaville on Thursday, 22 January 2026. His civil cabinet said he had named the finance minister to speak for Cameroon.
Chad and the Central African Republic have no coast, while Cameroon has Atlantic ports at Douala and Kribi. Chad is profiled in Chad explained, and regional bank lending in Central Africa’s BDEAC bond report.
Neighbours, Nigeria and the Bakassi Ruling
The International Court of Justice ruled on 10 October 2002 that sovereignty over the Bakassi Peninsula belongs to Cameroon. Equatorial Guinea had been allowed to intervene in the case.
The border with Nigeria still carries a security cost, since attacks by suspected Boko Haram fighters continue in the Far North. A UN report of 29 May 2026 counts over 125,190 Nigerian refugees in that region.
The UN report links Far North attacks to suspected Boko Haram, such as Blangoua on 15 February (two dead, 19 abducted). Assigashia was hit on 4 April 2026, with three killed.
The same UN report counts about 493,400 displaced people and 411,290 refugees across Cameroon as of 30 April 2026. It says 2.9 million people needed aid in 2026, and the US$319 million appeal was 22.8% funded on 13 May.
In the North-West and South-West, separatist groups and the army are still fighting. The UN report counts at least 38 civilians killed in raids around Wowo and Gidado between December 2025 and February 2026.
Overseas courts are now involved in the conflict. They include a US conviction in December 2025, Norwegian war crimes charges on 9 February and Belgian arrests on 3 March 2026.
Alliances Beyond Africa, Led by the United States and the Vatican
Biya received the deputy commander of US Africa Command at the presidency on 7 May 2026. Pope Leo XIV visited Cameroon from 15 to 18 April 2026 and met Biya at the Palais de l’Unité.
The US Trade Representative estimates 2025 goods trade with Cameroon at US$456.6 million. US exports were US$169.3 million and imports US$287.3 million, a US deficit of US$118.1 million.
Cameroon is not among the 33 countries the US designated for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2026. AGOA gives duty-free access to the US market, and the current law runs to 31 December 2026 unless Congress extends it.
A UN report says 17 third-country nationals were reportedly deported from the US to Cameroon and detained on arrival. Four journalists and a lawyer were reportedly assaulted and detained on 17 February 2026 while trying to interview them.
China, France and Russia are covered in the Cameroon geopolitics guide. For the wider contest in Africa, read Who backs whom in Africa.
For a sister guide on another Central African giant, read DR Congo in Africa. For the full country profile, read Cameroon explained.
What It Means for US Readers
The State Department issued a Level 2 advisory for Cameroon on 15 May 2026 and updated it on 4 June. It tells Americans not to travel to the South-West, North-West and Far North for any reason.
It also tells Americans not to travel within 20 kilometres of the borders with the Central African Republic, Chad and Nigeria. The reasons include terrorism, unrest, crime, kidnapping and homemade bombs.
Exporters lose the AGOA duty break in 2026, and the programme itself is due to lapse on 31 December 2026 unless renewed. Investors face a country at high risk of debt distress, with no new IMF lending programme described in the March 2026 release.
Deportation flights and the AFRICOM contact show that Washington deals with Yaoundé on security and migration while its trade benefits are suspended. A sudden presidential vacancy would test a succession rule only six months old.
What Is Not Known
No official health information on Biya was found in the sources checked. No date has been announced for a vice president or a new government.
The date of the next legislative elections was not confirmed, and the deputies’ mandate ends on 20 December 2026. Tchiroma has given no return date, and the real toll of the October 2025 unrest is disputed.
Whether Cameroon has completed AfCFTA domestication since tralac’s July 2026 factsheet was not confirmed. The reason for its absence from the 2026 AGOA list was not given in the notice.
The outcome of the BEAC meeting of 28 September 2026 was not seen. No active prediction market on Cameroon with real trading was found on 20 October 2026, so none is shown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which region of Africa is Cameroon in?
Cameroon is in Central Africa, on the Gulf of Guinea, and the African Union lists it in its Central Africa group. It borders Nigeria, Chad and the Central African Republic, among others.
Who is Cameroon’s president in October 2026?
Paul Biya, 93, president since 1982. His eighth term began on 6 November 2025 after the Constitutional Council declared him winner with 53.66%.
Which regional bodies does Cameroon belong to?
It is a member of the African Union, ECCAS and the six-nation CEMAC currency bloc, and of the Commonwealth. It is not in ECOWAS, the EAC, SADC or the AMU.
Is Cameroon part of the AfCFTA?
Yes. It signed the free trade agreement on 21 March 2018 and deposited its ratification on 1 December 2020.
How big is Cameroon’s economy compared with Nigeria’s?
The IMF puts Cameroon at US$59.2 billion in 2025 against US$290.5 billion for Nigeria. Per person, Cameroon’s output of about US$1,980 is higher than Nigeria’s US$1,220.
Does Cameroon get AGOA trade benefits from the United States?
Not in 2026. Cameroon is off the 33 countries designated for 2026, and AGOA expires on 31 December 2026 unless Congress renews it.
Sources: IMF, Cameroon 2026 Article IV (30 March 2026); IMF DataMapper (GDP and population); World Bank, Cameroon overview; UN Secretary-General, report S/2026/445 (29 May 2026); Presidency of Cameroon; International Court of Justice, Cameroon v. Nigeria; African Union, member states; African Union, ECCAS; African Union, AfCFTA status list; CEMAC; BEAC; Commonwealth, Cameroon; USTR, AGOA eligibility notice (30 June 2026); USTR, Cameroon; US State Department, Cameroon travel advisory; Human Rights Watch (12 November 2025); tralac, AfCFTA guide for Cameroon; tralac, AfCFTA ratification status; La Libre (election result, 27 October 2025); Africanews (oath, 6 November 2025); Africanews (official toll); Africanews (Tchiroma complaint); APA News (12 August 2026); Sahara Reporters (16 October 2026); Al Jazeera (17 October 2026); Bénin Web TV (26 August 2026); Africa24 (Prime Minister Dion Ngute, 15 August 2026); allAfrica (CEMAC summit, 22 January 2026); open.er-api.com (exchange rate) (all accessed 20 October 2026).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
Part of our ongoing coverage
Africa: The New Scramble — the great-power contest over the continent.
Expat Guide to Cameroon
What The Rio Times publishes for foreigners who live in or move to Cameroon.
Understand Cameroon