20% on one side, 30% on the other: Cameroon's 2026 finance law adds two separate tax credits benefiting small and medium enterprises and their investors, the Ministry of Finance (Minfi) confirms.
The first measure expands a mechanism that has existed since 2017: article 105 of the General Tax Code already exempted companies under the standard tax regime from certain fiscal and employer charges when hiring a Cameroonian under 35 on a permanent, fixed-term, or pre-employment internship contract. The 2026 finance law adds a 20% tax credit on qualifying costs — gross wages, social contributions (CNPS, FNE), training costs, job-related equipment — and extends the scheme to new professional apprenticeship contracts, which let a young worker split time between classroom training and on-the-job practice.
The second measure targets investment directly: a 30% tax credit on capital contributions made by an individual to an SME, under the size and revenue thresholds set by the 2010 SME framework law. A 10-million-FCFA contribution would earn the investor 3 million FCFA in tax relief, bringing the real cost of the investment down to 7 million.
Several gaps remain on both measures, pending the implementing decrees: no cap per investor or per company has been set yet, nor a minimum holding period, nor clarity on whether in-kind contributions or diaspora investors qualify. On this point, Minfi and the tax firms that have analyzed the measure agree: the precise terms still need to be clarified by ministerial order before any large-scale rollout.
