According to this document from the Directorate General of the Economy and the Programming of Public Investments, there is a drop in exports in the first half of 2020. The first bulletin on exports of raw materials is available. This document from the Directorate General of the Economy and Investment Programming was published on the website of the Ministry of the Economy on December 23, 2020.
Due to the partial or total containment measures taken to combat the spread of Covid-19, Cameroon recorded a significant drop in exports in the first half of 2020. “Exports in value recorded during the first half of the year. 2020 a decrease of around 21.4% compared to the same period in 2019. This trend was more pronounced in the export of crude products (-25.9% for hydrocarbons and -18, 2% for other raw products) than processed products (-4.1%). Thus, the share of processed products in total non-hydrocarbon exports improved over the period to stand at 39.8% against 36.1% in the first half of 2019 “, the document reads.
Regarding the decline recorded in the export of raw products, we note that it was particularly driven by the decline in sales of crude oil (- 33.1%), raw cotton (-42.3 %), logs (-16.8%) and raw aluminium (-14.6%).
As regards the exports of manufactured products, “the drop was mainly supported by the drop in exports of processed wood (sawn wood -11.7%, wood pasture sheets -23.5%). Also, exports of certain processed products and singularly sold in the sub-region such as beer, cement, paper boxes and cardboard, and aluminium sheets also fell sharply (-16.4%, – 79.4%, -27.8% and -16.4% respectively) .”
In addition, certain processed goods of great importance, including products resulting from cocoa processing (cocoa mass and cocoa butter) and household soaps in pieces, continued their upward momentum that began several years ago.
However, export dynamics could improve in the second half of 2020, in connection with the relaxation of restrictive measures in some advanced countries and the gradual recovery of activity in China. This despite the uncertainty over the course of the pandemic and the risks of a resurgence in some countries.
