“It Is Through Trade That We Elevate Living Standards”

Visits by British authorities to Cameroon have become increasingly frequent in recent months. How does your visit differ from previous ones?
I think it is quite a long time since a Minister has been here. The close relationship between Britain and Cameron is such that there should be frequent visits because there is so much to talk about. We have mutual security and defence interest. We are working in the Northern part of the country in training and mentoring capacity. We have very strong development interest in Cameroon. We have humanitarian interest. We have been a funder of “Education-cannot-wait” project in order to get children who are out of school back to school. We have been a strong supporter of the International Red Cross. We also have strong trade and investment interest. BII, the British Government’s Tax Funded Development Investor with the private sector has been of a great force in terms of investment in the private sector because it is the private sector that creates jobs. The Douala eastern road which Britain is financing through the UK Export Credit and Finance Division of the British Government. In terms of investment and trade, there is a lot going on and we want more of it. Next year, we are hoping that Cameroon will be one of the attendants at the UK-Africa Investment Summit which will be chaired by our Prime Minister. 

Cameroon and Great Britain signed an economic partnership in March 2021. Two years after, where are we with the implementation of the agreement? 
One of the advantages of Britain leaving the European Union is that we now negotiate our trade agreement. Previously, we didn’t do trade negotiation as Britain because we did it through the European Union. And getting any deal through a multilateral organisation that has so many countries as members takes a very long time. We were able to conclude the economic partnership accord with Cameroon, very quickly, just slightly over a year. We are right on our feet. And of course there is something very uncomfortable about the European trade bloc. They are putting up defenses on free trade from Africa. Britain wants less developed countries to trade with the world, now that we are not in the European Union. I think we can even be a greater force for good irrespective of that. 

The UK is selling shares of some of their businesses in Cameroon such as Guinness, Standard Chartered Bank and Actis. How can we understand such decisions?
Well, companies will always be coming and going and I talked to the Head of the Standard Chartered Bank when I arrived Douala and they are not leaving the market, but they are not going to be physically presence in quite the same way as in the future. I think the critical thing for us to focus on is making sure th...