Cameroon Collects Over CFAF 1.8 Billion From Mobile-Phone Customs Reform in Five Months.

Cameroon’s new digital customs system for mobile phones and other electronic devices has generated more than CFAF 1.8 billion in customs duties and taxes between April 1 and early September 2026.

The figure represents more than four times the approximately CFAF 400 million collected during the comparable period a year earlier, according to figures from the Directorate General of Customs.

The reform, which became operational on April 1, 2026, covers mobile phones, tablets, modems and other digital terminals. About 386,000 phones had been declared by early September.

The system uses the device’s IMEI number to identify phones connecting to Cameroonian mobile networks. Devices that were not properly cleared can therefore be identified and their owners notified about the applicable customs duties.

The government says the reform does not introduce a new tax. Instead, it moves the collection process from the traditional physical border to what authorities describe as a “digital border”, helping Customs track devices that may have entered the country without proper clearance.

The reform is also intended to reduce customs fraud and improve government revenue collection. Since September 1, authorities have begun blocking some phones that remain undeclared, with more than 1,000 devices reportedly blocked and undergoing regularisation as of September 7.

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