LONDON, (The Southern African Times) – The United Kingdom has signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with Cameroon.
The trade deal, which will support jobs and build future prosperity, was signed by International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena and High Commissioner of Cameroon to the UK, H.E. Albert Fotabong Njoteh in London. The deal provides certainty for British and Cameroonian businesses, ensuring they can continue to trade as freely as they do now without any additional barriers or tariffs.
The UK-Cameroon trade was worth around £200m in 2019, and this deal lays a foundation to extend our trading relationship in the future. The UK market accounts for 12% of total exports of bananas from Cameroon and this agreement will maintain tariff-free market access to the UK. It also guarantees continued market access for UK exporters, who sold £50m in goods to Cameroon in 2019.
International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena said:
Today’s deal secures opportunities for both British and Cameroonian businesses – and will help support jobs and foster investment.
International trade and investment are engines of economic growth around the globe, so today’s deal will play a crucial role as we all build back better from Covid-19.
Minister for Africa James Duddridge said:
This agreement will make sure around £200m of trade between the UK and Cameroon can continue, supporting Cameroonian businesses to increase operations, enabling UK exporters to sell more goods and boosting prosperity for both countries as we together recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
This provides the continuity businesses in both the UK and Cameroon need to ensure trade between our countries continues to flourish and grow.
The signing comes after the agreement to roll over current EU-Cameroon trading arrangements from 1 January 2021 concluded at the end of December.
The UK government has secured agreements covering 66 countries plus the EU, worth £890bn of trade in 2019.
