Moving goods from the trans-border region of Sangha to Douala port in Cameroon is costly and sometimes deadly. Often local officials levy unofficial fees on drivers and rugged forest tracks exert a heavy toll on trucks. Photo by Julius Tieguhong
“Trade not aid” is often championed as the best solution to Africa’s problems. It’s usually said in reference to the
difficulties African countries face in exporting their products to Europe or America. The unfortunate irony, however,
is many African countries find it difficult to trade with each other. Tariffs, custom duties and other barriers seriously hamper intra-African trade. And have for a long time.
The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa States (CEMAC) has been trying since its establishment in 1994 to improve trade relations between the Central African countries of Cameroon, the Central Africa Republic, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad.
To understand the enormity of the task CEMAC faces, we need look no further than the forestry sector. In particular, we need to look at those forests that straddle national boundaries, where ‘shady’ refers not so much to the foliage filtered shadows as to the behaviour of officials working along national borders. The Sangha River Region is a case in point. A biodiversity hotspot criss-crossed by rivers and waterways, it is the meeting point of three national boundaries - Cameroon, the Central Africa Republic (CAR) and the Republic of Congo (Congo). Elephants, chimpanzees and buffalo still slumber, swing and stroll through its rich rainforest.
Once a patch of quiet wilderness, the Sangha River Region is becoming a hive of business activity. When the Congo government collapsed in the 1980’s, Cameroon took over Congo’s strategic role as the transit country for timber from the Central African Republic and Northern Congo. Now the region is sliced up with dirt roads making a beeline to Cameroon’s main port, Douala, and offers economic opportunities to people from each of the region’s countries.
While cross-boundary trade improves many lives, it causes problems too. Last year, CIFOR and local NGO ‘Center for Education, Formation and Help’ (CEFAID) examined cross-boundary trade. The aim was to formulate policy advice for enhancing cooperation between local governments and conservation and development agencies in the three countries.
According to CIFOR’s Ruben de Koning, traded natural products include timber, bush-meat, palm oil, gold and diamonds. “The products are mostly extracted from the tri-nation region and sold in Cameroon or exported from Douala”, de Koning says, “And as this trade in natural products increases, so has the cross-border trade in manufactured goods and processed foods, and in crops like plantains and cassava, to supply the small villages springing up in forest concessions.”
The rapid economic development of this once isolated backwater border zone has certainly benefited local populations and recent arrivals. But another CIFOR researcher, Julius Tieguhong, says the economic activities have the potential to damage the environment, harm communities and incite conflict.
According to Tieghong, “The rush on marketable natural products can damage the natural resource base and does not always (equally) favor human populations in the region.” Tieguhong especially fears an outbreak of violence between locals and outsiders. He says diamond trading, hunting and commercial logging often cause conflicts, with locals claiming outsiders plunder the region and offer nothing in return. “Not to mention,” Tieghong adds, “The conflict between hunters and conservation organizations.”
According to the project’s findings, although the situation is serious enough to start developing and implementing management plans, officials remain ambivalent about cross-border trade and its human and environmental impacts.
Victor Amougou, CEFAID Coordinator and CIFOR colleague, believes one key area needing government attention is the over-regulation of legal trade. He believes legal cross-border activities should be freed up of bureaucracy, and when regulations are needed, they should be implemented fairly.
Says Amougou, “For necessity goods like crops, non timber forest products and medicines, trade should be liberalized.” In fact, according to Amougou, tariffs on these products have been officially removed, but taxes are still levied, with traders often facing variable and sometimes high transaction costs. Among the more disturbing elements of Sangha's cross-border trade are elephant hunting and the blackmarket trading in firearms. De Koning says these require stronger law enforcement but acknowledges “borders are fluid and perpetrators live and operate in different countries, making it difficult to police the situation.” Illegal gold and diamond mining are also problems, he says, and need to be legalized so they can be controlled.
Local governments from the three countries have recently begun looking more closely at Sangha. Administrators from the countries meet with each other, alongside conservation and development experts.
De Koning recalls a Cameroon official saying trade liberalization and the illicit arms trade are extensively discussed during Tri-national meetings. But the same official also said finding policy solutions is difficult. Part of the difficulty is due to the difficulty some countries face in developing and implementing policy. This is understandable in a region where there are nations still feeling the effects of recent war or dealing with differing degrees of internal instability. Understanding the difficulty of managing trade in a small region like Sangha gives us some insight in to the challenges CEMAC must face in working across several nations.
De Koning believes the Sangha River region can be saved. But it requires the political will to undertake capacity and resource building involving a range of politically sensitive issues and institutions. Concludes de Koning, “The military, the police, customs, game wardens, they all need assistance in targeting and controlling illegal trade. On the other hand, with legal trading, the opposite applies. Loosen the controls and regulations and the legal trade will become more efficient and productive for people. Do these two things and then we can start talking about development and stability in Sangha”.