By Innocent Fowung, UK Correspondent
British Prime Minister (PM) Rishi Sunak has announced that Britons will go to the polls on Thursday, July 4, as he bids to win the fifth term in office for the Conservatives.
Despite tougher taxations, Cameroon’s import of cigar and cigarette has remained above 2000 tons in the last two years.
According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), in its 2023 external trade report, in 2023, Cameroon imported a total of 2,189.5 tons of cigars and other cigarettes, amounting to slightly over FCFA14 billion in expenditures. These figures mark a decline compared to the country’s imports in 2022.
In 2022, Cameroon spent FCFA17.2 billion to purchase 2,425.4 tons of these products. Between the two periods, purchases of cigars and cigarettes decreased by 236 tons in volume, a 9.7% relative decrease, and by FCFA3.1 billion in cash, reflecting an 18% relative decrease.
Despite the stricter taxation, Cameroon’s imports of cigars and cigarettes remained above the 2,000-ton mark in both 2022 and 2023, following a peak of 1,743 tons (CFA11.2 billion) in expenses in 2021. The higher imports in 2021 can be attributed to revised import duties introduced in the 2020 finance law on products like cosmetics and tobacco, including raw tobaccos, cigars, and cigarettes. Notably, a 30% ad valorem excise duty was imposed on tobacco products, which appeared deterrent to importers in the subsequent years.
However, despite the increased taxation, there was a rebound in cigar and cigarette imports in Cameroon in 2022, followed by an 18% decline in 2023. This could indicate robust local demand or increased integration of previously informal quantities into formal channels, which were often concealed in smuggling and counterfeiting circuits.
Courtesy of https://www.businessincameroon.com/