CAMEROON Trends and Developments Contributed by: Michel Aaron Feugueng and Ida Tchamde Feugueng, Maaron Law Firm
Maaron Law Firm Maaron Tower, 6th Floor, Reunification Boulevard, 3185, Douala, Cameroon Tel: +237 680 351 225 Email: contact@maaronlawfirm.com Web: www.maaronlawfirm.com
Introduction Cameroon occupies a pivotal position in the landscape of international fraud and asset recovery in Africa. As the largest economy in the CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) zone and a founding member of OHADA – the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa – Cameroon sits at the intersection of two of the continent’s most important legal and economic frameworks. The coun - try’s unique bijural heritage, combining French civil law with English common law across its ten regions, adds a further layer of complexity that distinguishes its fraud landscape from virtually any other jurisdiction in the world. The years 2024 to 2026 have seen a marked accelera - tion in the volume, sophistication and cross-border dimension of fraud and financial crime cases involving Cameroon. This article identifies the principal trends shaping the practice of fraud litigation and asset recovery in Cameroon, examines the structural and regulatory developments that are redefining the legal landscape, and draws out the practical implications for clients and counsel engaged in this space. The Rise of Cross-Border Financial Crime With a Central African Nexus The most significant development in fraud practice in Cameroon over the past two years has been the dramatic increase in cross-border fraud mandates – cases in which fraudulent conduct originates or is executed in Cameroon but produces consequences in Europe, North America or elsewhere in Africa, and vice versa. This trend reflects Cameroon’s growing integra - tion into international financial flows, the expansion of
foreign direct investment in the energy, infrastructure and telecoms sectors, and the increasing sophistica - tion of fraud schemes that deliberately exploit juris - dictional complexity to obstruct recovery. Practitioners are encountering a new generation of fraud structures that layer multiple corporate vehicles across OHADA jurisdictions, route funds through the CEMAC banking system, and ultimately park assets in European jurisdictions with strong banking secrecy traditions. The challenge for victims and their advisers is to deploy recovery strategies that are legally effec - tive simultaneously in all relevant jurisdictions – requir - ing deep expertise in OHADA law, CEMAC regulation, Cameroonian criminal procedure and the enforcement laws of the destination jurisdictions. The practical consequence is that international coun - sel increasingly need a counterpart in the OHADA zone who can do more than simply serve process or file a local complaint. They need a practitioner who understands the interaction between OHADA Uniform Acts, CEMAC Regulations and Cameroonian national law; who can operate in both French and English; and who has the financial literacy to understand the structures being investigated. This integrated profile is increasingly the defining criterion for effective cross- border fraud work with a Central African dimension. OHADA Law as a Fraud Recovery Instrument: An Underused Asset One of the most important and still under-appreciated developments in fraud recovery practice in the OHA - DA zone is the growing recognition by international practitioners that the OHADA framework – far from
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