Crossing paths with the Minister of Finance who spoke on January 15, 2025, in Buea, on the occasion of the official launch of operations on the state budget for 2025.16000 jobs are being created in the three crisis-affected regions of Cameroon thanks to the tax and customs incentives accompanying the status of Economic Disaster Zone.The three regions in question are the Northwest, Southwest, and Far North regionsRegarding the tax benefits granted to companies investing in disaster-stricken areas, the special tax legislation put in place to encourage investment in economically affected areas due to security operations has, to date, attracted 33 companies in the Northwest, Southwest, and Far North regions. These investments are projected to total 168 billion CFA francs, with the ultimate goal of creating 16,000 jobs, according to the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze.The economically disadvantaged zone status granted to the Northwest, Southwest, and Far North regions by decree of the Prime Minister signed on September 2, 2019, confers on companies investing in these regions a special tax regime similar to that of the April 2013 law revised in 2017 on private investment incentives in the Republic of Cameroon.Since that date, new investments made in these regions have benefited from exemptions from certain taxes, including Value Added Tax (VAT) on the acquisition of goods and services, corporate tax, and minimum tax. These exemptions can last for up to ten years, with a minimum of three years for the installation phase and the first seven years of operation.The Far North region of Cameroon has been plagued by repeated attacks from the Islamic sect Boko Haram since 2013. The deadly incursions of this organization have virtually wiped out the meager economic fabric of this part of Cameroon. Similarly, in 2017, the Northwest and Southwest regions were also engulfed in protests over cooperative demands that eventually degenerated into separatist demands. These protests transformed the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon into a battleground between the regular army and separatist militants.

 Christelle koambi