Cameroon’s phone import tax reform: inside the mechanics of a revenue surge
The mechanics behind Cameroon’s customs revenue leap
Between April and early September 2026, Cameroon’s customs directorate pulled in 1.8 billion FCFA (about 2.7 million euros) in duties and taxes on imported phones, tablets and digital terminals. That figure comes from a new collection mechanism that replaced a system which had been yielding barely 100 million francs a month. The reform has drawn complaints from some importers, even as customs officials insist the changes serve fiscal, security and economic goals.
At Avenue Kennedy: practical snags and rising prices
Avenue Kennedy in Yaoundé, the main hub for imported mobile phones, is bustling. Seydou, a second-hand phone importer, describes problems with the new declaration and clearance system: “We import used phones that sell here for between 20,000 and 25,000 CFA francs. They are cleared at the airport, but customs officers don’t record their serial numbers. When we sell them to customers, they come back saying they keep receiving messages that their phones will be blocked.”
Prices have climbed since 1 April, according to this reseller. Gérard Fontem, another vendor, says: “Customers aren’t interested in buying undeclared phones, but they can’t afford the price of cleared ones either. So it’s causing us a lot of harm.” Some of his phones now sell for nearly double, rising from 45,000 to 85,000 CFA francs.
“Those who think the price went up are those who weren’t paying”
From roughly 68 euros to 129 euros, according to Paul Olivier Libii, a senior customs inspector and focal point for the reform at the customs directorate in Yaoundé. He argues that importers are far from being strangled: “Those who feel the phone price has increased are those who weren’t paying [their taxes], because for those who paid based on the transactional value at 66%, the phone price will actually decrease. But those who weren’t paying used customs duty as an adjustment variable to undercut those who did pay. The new mechanism will bring everyone to the same level.”
Libii stresses that the new mechanism is not a new tax but a new collection system built on digitalisation: “The transactional value has been divided by four, even seven. We have eight collection categories ranging from 5,000 to 400,000 CFA francs. Then the overall rate dropped from 67% to 33.33%, so these are facilitation methods.” Around five million phones were still outside the system, and customs services promise they will be brought in.
What lies ahead for the market
The reform’s backers see it as a way to widen the tax net and level the playing field. For now, traders and buyers are adjusting to the new reality, with customs vowing to capture the remaining untracked devices.
