The Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Institute for Investment Treaties hosted a workshop that trained Cameroonian government officials to attract foreign capital by better negotiating investment agreements.

The workshop was held in the country’s capital Yaounde from 22 to 24 November, as it was a vital platform for senior legal affairs officials from various government agencies to strengthen their understanding of bilateral investment treaties and necessary policies to limit their negative impacts, including lawsuits.

During the opening of the workshop, the Permanent Secretary of Cameroon’s Ministry of External Affairs, Chinmoun Oumar gave a vote of thanks to the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Institute for Investment Treaties for hosting the timely workshop. 

He revealed that Cameroon was involved in several ongoing negotiations relating to investment facilitation, although it lacks sufficient expertise to fully engage with its foreign investors.

He hopes that the workshop would enable “Cameroon to build a formidable team of legal experts who could contribute to the ongoing and future negotiations”.

The workshop was held at the request of Cameroon’s Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development and the Ministry of External Affairs.

The workshop had a series of plenaries and best practices to help Cameroonian officials rethink what duties they should include in their future investment agreements and whether to reform existing treaties in line with national interests.