The metal barrier at the border post rises, and a crowd of people carrying bags, either on their arms or on pushcarts, two-wheeled human-powered carts, rushes onto the straight line before their silhouettes disappear into a turn a few meters away. The scene repeats itself, in both directions, at regular intervals. In Amchidé, a village located in the Mayo-Sava Division in Cameroon’s Far North Region, the border post that the country shares with Nigeria is back to the busy state it was before the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin region between 2012 and 2020. Immediate stabilization operations that led to the reopening of borders and main roads now allow traders, residents, and merchants to go about their business.
"Things have been improving lately, and we are hopeful. I can once again sell my cattle to the Nigerians," exclaims an enthusiastic Cameroonian livestock farmer and trader returning from Banki, a neighboring Nigerian town.
Strong Trade Ties
Cameroon and Nigeria share a 1,500-kilometer-long land and sea border. Despite the recent turmoil and crises, which have resulted in an overall decline in trade, economic exchanges remain dynamic between the two countries. Nigeria mainly imports food products from Cameroon, while Cameroon imports various products such as spare parts, electronics, and textiles. Nigeria is the leading economic and trade partner of the Western part of Cameroon and Central Africa, accounting for nearly 43% of imports. Cameroonian border towns with Nigeria, the economic giant of the continent, the continent's economic giant, benefit from their strategic location.
Amchidé and the neighboring municipality of Limani in the Far North Region serve as transit centers for all manufactured goods from Nigeria to Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, and Sudan. Amchidé and Limani act as warehouses or supply centers for traders in Cameroonian cities such as Mora, Maroua, Kousseri, and other towns down south.
"We hope to be able to call Amchidé 'the dry port' again as it was a few years ago. Then, the town was booming with economic activity and trade. It used to be a major crossroad and gateway to the Lake Chad Basin and the entire sub-region."
Lamine Oumate, Traditional Leader.
Customs, A Barometer of Economic Exchange
Cross-border transportation of goods provides full-time employment opportunities for residents of transit areas, including activities such as searches, customs duties, loading and unloading, and transshipment. The income generated is reinvested in the local economy, benefiting other groups such as farmers or artisans, in addition to the products they export to Nigeria. This contributes to the development of the localities in question, notably through the construction of infrastructure such as covered markets, warehouses, schools, or police stations.
"The period during which customs revenues were zero indicates a period when local subsistence activities were also non-existent," adds the expert.
Before the security crisis, for example, the largest customs office in the Far North Region in terms of revenue was that of Limani, with 1,114,791,860 CFA francs annually. During the period marked by violent extremism, revenues drastically dropped because road traffic was interrupted between the two countries. Since the stabilization of this border, Limani customs revenues have gradually increased, from 40 million CFA francs at the beginning of 2021 to 830 million CFA francs at the end of the same year, according to Apollinaire Adamou, national livelihoods expert for UNDP Cameroon.
Revitalization and Growth Through Infrastructure
"People are slowly returning here because of what has been built or rebuilt. It is still sometimes difficult, but trade provides opportunities. Without income-generating activities, young people will become bandits or join terrorist groups."
Adjudant Chef Mviri, chief of the Amchidé gendarmerie post
According to him, the municipality has seen its population decrease significantly, from 38,000 before the crisis to just over 12,000 inhabitants today.
While separatist tendencies persist in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroonian and separatist stirrings in the Nigerian Delta encompassing the Biafra zone, stabilization programs aimed at strengthening rural economies and employment opportunities are more critical than ever for the future prevention of Sahelian youth radicalization. This is the finding of a study by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Mindful of what is at stake to continue sustaining the trade partnership between Cameroon and Nigeria, the two states have financed the construction of a bridge over the "Cross River" linking the towns of Ekok in southwest Cameroon and Mfum in Nigeria. The infrastructure, which has been operational since the end of 2021, should increase economic and commercial exchanges, which are factors in local development for the local populations.
Locations
