Cameroon and CAR Launch $3m Trade Project to Boost Border Jobs and AfCFTA Links

The African Development Bank Group sees PAMOZ as a practical route for translating AfCFTA commitments into opportunities for businesses and workers.

Cameroon and the Central African Republic have launched a $3 million project designed to make cross-border trade easier, strengthen regional value chains and create more economic opportunities for communities whose livelihoods depend on the movement of goods, services and people. The Project to Support the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, known as PAMOZ, was officially launched in Yaoundé on 6 October 2026 with support from the African Development Bank Group and the International Organization for Migration.

The African Development Bank Group is contributing $2.7 million to the initiative, which will run for 24 months with technical support from IOM. PAMOZ will focus on traders, entrepreneurs, transport operators and border communities along the Douala-Bangui and Douala-Kusari corridors, with particular attention given to bringing more women and young people into cross-border commerce and improving the conditions under which people and goods move between the two countries.

Border Communities and Small Businesses Move to the Centre of Trade Support

Project teams will work with government institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and local communities to reduce practical obstacles to trade, improve border management and support safer and more orderly migration. Cameroon's Trade Minister Luc-Magloire Mbarga Atangana said the project reflects the government's effort to use opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area to promote inclusive growth and stronger regional integration.

Atangana said strengthening the capabilities of cross-border traders and improving the environment for economic exchange could open new opportunities for businesses and communities. The launch brought together representatives from Cameroon and CAR, including CAR Ambassador Jeannette Marcelle Gotchanga, alongside regional organisations, financial institutions, private-sector groups, civil society, women's and youth organisations and development partners.

Strategic Corridors Link CAR to Regional Markets

The Douala-Bangui and Douala-Kusari routes are important trade and development corridors for Cameroon and CAR, with links that also matter to Chad. CAR's landlocked geography makes access to neighbouring transport networks especially important for reaching regional and international markets.

CAR recorded around $984 million in goods trade in 2024, including about $779 million in imports. Cameroon recorded approximately $5 billion in exports and $8.3 billion in imports, according to 2025 World Bank data, making it a major trading partner for CAR.

Gotchanga said closer cooperation between the two countries is needed to address trade constraints, build stronger economic connections and support sustainable development, describing PAMOZ as an important step toward greater regional connectivity and shared prosperity.

AfCFTA Ambitions Meet Mobility, Investment and Regional Value Chains

The African Development Bank Group sees PAMOZ as a practical route for translating AfCFTA commitments into opportunities for businesses and workers. Pierre Ollame Bekale, the Bank Group's Country Programme Officer for Cameroon, said regional integration is not simply about moving goods across borders, but also about allowing people, skills, businesses and investment to circulate more freely and helping African enterprises connect to regional value chains.

Human mobility is another central part of the project. PAMOZ will support safe, orderly and regular migration, recognising that cross-border movement can contribute directly to trade and regional economic activity.

IOM Chief of Mission in Cameroon Abdel Rahmane Diop described human mobility as a driver of economic development and regional integration, saying IOM would support both governments in using mobility to create opportunity, resilience and shared prosperity.

Over the next two years, the project is expected to connect AfCFTA policy with practical improvements at the border level, giving traders and communities more tools to participate in regional commerce and build livelihoods around stronger links between Cameroon and CAR.