Cameroon Country Profile

Customs Administration

Individual Corruption

A 2007 Transparency International household survey (in French) reveals that the customs are rife with corruption. According to Global Integrity 2007, customs laws are not always enforced uniformly and without discrimination.

Business Corruption

In the Transparency International domestic company survey 2007 (in French), the customs are singled out as the sector which is most affected by corruption. Global Integrity 2007 states that unofficial payments have become systematised in clearing goods through customs.

Political Corruption

The most important case in the 2006 'Operation Sparrow Hawk' was the trial of the Port Authority of Douala and the Inter-Communal Mutual Aid Fund (FEICOM) former top executive, Gerard Ondo Ndong. After seven months in court, Ondo Ndong was sentenced to fifty years in prison for misappropriating an alleged XFA 11 to 13 billion. The money was primarily stolen from additional local taxes that FEICOM was responsible for using to upgrade local investments.

Former Minister of Energy and Water, Alphonse Siyam Siwe, former senior member of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CODM), had his assets seized and was sentenced to 30 years in jail in December 2007 for allegedly embezzling approximately XAF 30 billion during his time as Director-General of the Douala Autonomous Sea Port between 1998 and 2005. Fourteen others were found guilty on corruption charges in connection with the case and sentenced to jail terms ranging from 20 to 48 years and the seizing of their assets.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC Doing Business 2010:
- A standard export shipment of goods requires 10 documents and takes 23 days at an average cost of USD 1,250 per container.

- A standard import shipment of goods requires 11 documents and takes 26 days at an average cost of USD 2,002 per container.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business leaders give the efficiency of customs procedures (formalities regulating the entry and exit of merchandise) in Cameroon a score of 3.2 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'extremely efficient').

Transparency International: Enquêtes nationales sur la corruption au Cameroun - enquête quantitative auprés des ménages - 2007 (in French):
- 70% of the respondents in this household survey consider the customs sector to be very corrupt.