Cameroon and the Netherlands at a glance
- Stamp
- Legalisation
- First stop
- Cameroon’s Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) in Yaoundé legalises the signature, and that one stamp is all the Netherlands asks for (Netherlands Worldwide)
- Language
- French, often accepted as it is
- Register
- Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier (RCCM)
- Tax treaty
- Outside the Dutch treaty list: Dutch rules apply (Rijksoverheid, 1 October 2026)
- EU trade
- Interim Economic Partnership Agreement, 2014
- Moving here
- Residence permit needed
- Notary checks
- Enhanced, with a source-of-funds note (EU high-risk list, Delegated Regulation 2016/1675)
Documents from Cameroon
Passport copy, certified by a notary in Cameroon.
Proof of address in Cameroon, at most three months old.
Power of attorney. Sign the power of attorney before a notary in Cameroon, then have the notary’s signature legalised at the Ministry of External Relations in Yaoundé.
Ownership statement, one page from us.
Legalisation. Cameroon’s Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) in Yaoundé legalises the signature, and that one stamp is all the Netherlands asks for (Netherlands Worldwide).
Official page: https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/legalisation/foreign-documents/cameroon
Good to know. Documents in English, the second official language of Cameroon, are accepted as well. Cameroon is on the EU high-risk list, so the notary also checks the source of the money.
If a company from Cameroon becomes a shareholder
Register extract, at most three months old: Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier (RCCM). Companies register through the Centres de Formalités de Création des Entreprises (CFCE), which also collect the register fee (eRegulations Cameroon). Order a recent RCCM extract and the statutes. Plus articles, signing authority and ownership chart.
Cameroon and the EU: trade and tax
Cameroon is the only country in Central Africa that has signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU (European Commission). The agreement has applied provisionally since 4 August 2014. Since 1 January 2008, all goods from Cameroon have entered the EU duty-free and quota-free, for an unlimited period (EEAS).
The agreement works both ways. Since 4 August 2016, Cameroon has been removing its import duties on 80% of its imports from the EU, step by step until 2029 (EEAS). For most goods of EU origin that a Dutch company sells to Cameroon, the duty goes down year by year.
Bananas, aluminium, processed cocoa and plywood are among the Cameroonian products that gained free access to the EU (EEAS). Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon together supply more than 70% of EU imports of cocoa and cocoa products (European Commission). Cocoa and wood fall under the EU deforestation rules, which large and medium-sized companies apply from 30 December 2026.
For tax, the standard Dutch rules apply: Cameroon is absent from the list of countries with a Dutch tax treaty (Netherlands Worldwide, July 2025). A dividend from your Dutch company to you in Cameroon has 15% Dutch dividend tax withheld.
Your next step from Cameroon
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