OHADA and business law
Most commercial activity in Cameroon is governed not by national statute but by the Uniform Acts of OHADA, which apply directly in the seventeen member States and prevail over contrary national law.
Cameroon has been a party to the Treaty on the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa since it entered into force on 1 September 1996. For a company operating here, that has a practical consequence that is easy to miss: a commercial dispute governed by a Uniform Act does not end at the Supreme Court in Yaounde. Its final appeal lies to the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration in Abidjan, which sits as a court of cassation in place of the national supreme courts on those matters. The Permanent Secretariat of OHADA is itself in Yaounde.
The Uniform Acts most often at issue
| Uniform Act | Subject | In force |
|---|---|---|
| General Commercial Law | Merchant status, the RCCM register, entreprenant status, commercial leases, sale of a business, agency, commercial sales | 15 May 2011 |
| Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups | SA, SARL, SAS, SNC, SCS and GIE; preference shares; employee share allocation | 5 May 2014 |
| Securities | Guarantees, pledges, liens, mortgages, the security agent | 15 May 2011 |
| Simplified Recovery Procedures and Enforcement | Injunction to pay, attachments, enforcement measures | 16 February 2024 (revised text) |
| Collective Insolvency Proceedings | Conciliation, preventive settlement, reorganization, liquidation | 24 December 2015 |
| Arbitration and Mediation | Arbitral procedure, awards, mediated settlements | 15 March 2018 |
| Accounting and Financial Reporting | SYSCOHADA, consolidated accounts, IFRS | 1 January 2018 and 2019 |
Our work includes
- Advising on the form, capital structure and governance of companies incorporated under the Uniform Act on Commercial Companies
- Drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, distribution and agency arrangements, and commercial leases
- Creating and perfecting security interests, and advising security agents on their duties
- Representing creditors and debtors in enforcement and insolvency proceedings
- Conducting arbitrations under the Uniform Act and the CCJA Arbitration Rules of 23 November 2017
- Advising on proceedings before the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration in Abidjan
Related practice areas
Speak with an attorney
Enonchong Chambers meets with clients at its offices at 305 rue Alfred Saker in Akwa, Douala. Correspondence in English or French is answered in the language it was written in.