A young man uses a cellphone as he waits for an appointment at an MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders)-run centre for minor migrants without a family in Pantin outside Paris on July 3, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT
A new system, a new dilemma
Cameroon’s Directorate General of Customs has collected 1.8 billion FCFA (about 2.7 million euros) in duties and taxes on imported phones, tablets, and digital terminals between April and early September 2026, thanks to a new digital collection mechanism. Before the reform, customs clearance on phones brought in barely 100 million francs per month. The mechanism has importers grinding their teeth, while customs officials say they are pursuing fiscal, security, and economic goals.
At Avenue Kennedy in Yaoundé, the main retail hub for imported mobile phones, the atmosphere is tense. Seydou, a second-hand phone importer, describes the difficulties: “We import used phones that sell here for between 20,000 and 25,000 CFA francs. They are cleared at the airport, but customs officers do not record their serial numbers. When we sell them to customers, they come back saying they keep receiving messages that their phones will be blocked.”
Since April 1, phone prices have risen, according to this reseller. “Customers are not interested in buying undeclared phones, but they cannot afford the price of cleared phones either. So it causes us a lot of harm,” says Gérard Fontem. He now sells his phones at higher prices; some have nearly doubled, from 45,000 to 85,000 CFA francs.
“Those who think the price has increased are those who weren’t paying”
From 68 euros to about 129 euros, according to Paul Olivier Libii, principal customs inspector and focal point for the reform at the Directorate General of Customs in Yaoundé, importers are far from suffocating: “Those who think the phone price has increased are those who weren’t paying [their taxes], because for those who paid based on the transactional value at 66%, the phone price will actually decrease. But those who weren’t paying used the customs duty as an adjustment variable to undermine those who were paying. The new mechanism will level the playing field.”
This new mechanism is not a new tax but rather a new collection system based on digitalization, Libii maintains: “The transactional value has been divided by four or even seven. We have eight collection categories ranging from 5,000 to 400,000 CFA francs. Then the overall rate went from 67% to 33.33%, so these are facilitation methods.” About five million phones still escaped the system, phones that will be recovered, customs services promise.
What does this mean for consumers and the market?
The reform has sparked debate among stakeholders. While customs officials argue that the new system simplifies procedures and broadens the tax base, importers and consumers feel the pinch. The price hikes have made new phones less accessible, potentially slowing down digital inclusion. Meanwhile, the government aims to secure revenue and curb illicit trade.
As the new system beds in, the key question remains: will the revenue gains justify the higher costs for consumers, or will it push more buyers toward informal channels? Only time will tell.
