Cameroon Car Market is still without a growing propellent and in the last three years was stable below the 4.000 units, albeit the country is reporting improvement in several economic sectors and the level of infrastructures is better than in others african countries.
Country Outlook
Cameroon is a lower middle income country with a population of 21.7 million people, situated in Central Africa and neighboring Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Two regions are Anglophone (North-West and South-West regions, bordering Nigeria) while the rest of the country is Francophone. It is endowed with significant natural resources, including oil and gas, high value timber species, minerals, and agricultural products.
After a significant decrease in poverty rates in the 1990s, poverty rates (around 40%) in Cameroon have been stagnant since 2001. Chronic poverty stands at about 26%. These averages are high compared to other countries in the region with similar economic characteristics. There are wide regional disparities in poverty and depths of poverty in Cameroon. The poor—in terms of numbers and level of poverty—are concentrated in the three northernmost provinces, the Far North, North, Adamawa, and the East.
Cameroon has several large infrastructure projects under construction, including a deep sea port in Kribi and the Lom Pangar Hydropower Project. It also recently opened a natural gas powered electricity generating plant. Cameroon must attract more investment to improve its inadequate infrastructure, but its unfavorable business environment is a deterrent to foreign investment.
Market Outlook
The vehicles market is still most populated by imported pre-owned vehicles with the new light passenger vehicle market still below the 4.000 units per year and with a low growing pace. According with local sources, in the 2014 total market sales had been 3.782, few units more than in the previous year.
Toyota dominates the competitive arena with a market share near 50%, followed by a Mercedes with 7.8% and Hyundai at 6.0%.
