Cameroon-Portuguese relations

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Cameroon-Portuguese relations
Cameroon-Portuguese Relations (Africa)
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The Cameroon-Portuguese relations include intergovernmental relations between Cameroon ( port. : Camarões ) and Portugal . The countries have had direct diplomatic relations since 1977.

Their relationships are considered good, if not very intense. In addition to a few historical points of reference, including the Portuguese name of Cameroon as the country's name, political connection elements are now more likely to exist through EU initiatives or in UN bodies . The most important direct links today are bilateral trade and sport, in addition to the few historical points of contact or civil society initiatives, such as the private Portuguese-Cameroonian Chamber of Commerce and friendship society CCIPC or the projects of Portuguese NGOs in Cameroon such as the Assistência Médica Internacional .

In 2018, 172 Cameroonian citizens were registered in Portugal, with 76 most of them in the Lisbon district . In 2008 there were 7 Portuguese consular registered in Cameroon.

history

The Gulf of Guinea with today's Cameroon, map by the Italian Stefano Bonsignori from 1589

In the course of the Portuguese expansion along the African coast, Portuguese seafarers arrived in 1472 under the command of Fernando Poos as the first Europeans in the delta of the Wouri River . Because of the many crabs (Port. Camarões ) that they found there, they called the river Rio de Camarões (Crab River ), from which the later name Cameroon is derived. The Portuguese then began to trade here, especially from around 1520. The main trading partners were the coastal peoples on the Cameroon estuary , especially the Duala . The slave trade was initially not as important here as in other parts of West Africa, and so, alongside ivory and palm oil , sugar cane in particular became an important commodity, the cultivation of which the Portuguese had introduced themselves here.

Portugal then increasingly turned its gaze to the lucrative Indian trade and its flourishing bases along its trade route to the Far East . No significant Portuguese trading houses were established in today's Cameroon, which therefore did not become part of the Portuguese colonial empire. Later on Cameroon came under British and then German influence, so that in 1884 it became a German colony . After 1919, Cameroon was divided between the British and French until it finally became independent on January 1, 1960.

Afterwards, Cameroon did not enter into diplomatic relations with the colonial Estado Novo regime in Portugal, particularly because of the Portuguese colonial wars that broke out in Africa in 1961 .

After the fall of the Portuguese dictatorship as a result of the Carnation Revolution in 1974 and the subsequent return to democracy, Portugal's foreign policy also experienced a complete reorientation. In 1977 Cameroon and Portugal established diplomatic relations.

A representative of Portugal was first accredited on March 9, 1979 in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé . The countries in the other country did not open their own embassies (as of March 2020).

Since then, there has been a rapprochement mainly in the areas of civil society and the economy. Citizens of both countries founded the Câmara de Comércio e Indústria Portugal-Camarões (CCIPC) in Lisbon in 2017, a Portuguese-Cameroonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry , which also sees itself as a society of friendship .

The Cameroon Embassy in Paris, it is also responsible for Portugal.

diplomacy

Cameroon does not have its own embassy in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, the country belongs to the administrative district of the Cameroonian ambassador in Paris . Also consulates leads Cameroon in Portugal not (as of March 2020).

Portugal also does not have its own embassy in Cameroon, the Portuguese ambassador in Nigeria is responsible for Cameroon and is double-accredited in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé . A Portuguese honorary consulate has been set up in the Cameroonian port city of Douala .

economy

Bilateral trade is still comparatively low, and since Portugal's declining fuel imports from Cameroon, the trend has even continued to decline. In 2016, the trade volume between Cameroon and Portugal amounted to 105.891 million euros (2012: 388.319 million), with a trade surplus in favor of Cameroon of 58.444 million euros (2012: 356.675 million). This placed Cameroon in Portuguese foreign trade in 72nd place as a buyer and in 53rd place as a supplier, while Portugal was in 4th place as a buyer and in 36th place as a supplier in Cameroonian foreign trade. 111 Portuguese companies were active in exports to Cameroon in 2015 (2011: 62).

In 2016, Portugal exported goods worth 23.724 million euros to Cameroon ( 2015 : 24.411 million, 2014 : 27.795 million; 2013 : 24.363 million; 2012 : 15.822 million), of which 24.1% were metal goods, 19, 1% machines and devices, 15.3% paper and cellulose, 11.7% textiles and 8.4% plastics and rubber.

During the same period, Cameroon delivered goods worth 82.167 million euros to Portugal ( 2015 : 235.369 million, 2014 : 166.209 million; 2013 : 809.985 million; 2012 : 372.497 million), of which 80.6% was fuel, 9, 3% agricultural products, 8.0% wood, 1.0% textiles and 0.3% plastics and rubber.

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP does not have its own branch in Cameroon; the country is looked after by the AICEP office in Nigeria. Since 2017, however, the Câmara de Comércio e Indústria Portugal-Camarões (CCIPC) has been a Portuguese-Cameroonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry .

Sports

Cameroonian international Vincent Aboubakar in the shirt of FC Porto (2014)

Soccer

Men

The Cameroonian and Portuguese national soccer teams have met twice so far (as of March 2020), for the first time on June 1, 2010 in the Portuguese town of Covilhã , the game ended 3-1 for the hosts. The second match took place in Portugal, in Leiria , and the hosts won again, this time with 5: 1.

The selection of Cameroon was trained between 2004 and 2006 by the Portuguese Artur Jorge . Since 2019, Cameroon has again had a Portuguese national coach in António Conceição .

Cameroonian players often play for Portuguese clubs, including national players like Clément Beaud , André Bikey , Albert Meyong Zé and Jean-Paul Yontcha , who each played for several teams in Portugal. Other national players such as Nicolas Alnoudji ( SC Olhanense ), Vincent Aboubakar ( FC Porto ), Guy Stéphane Essame ( Boavista Porto ), Diederrick Joel ( Marítimo Funchal ), Alain N'Kong ( FC Paços de Ferreira ), Michel Pensée ( Desportivo) should also be mentioned Aves ), Edgar Salli ( Académica de Coimbra ) and Hervé Tchami ( CD Feirense ). Gilles Binya won the Portuguese League Cup with Benfica Lisbon in 2009 , Roudolphe Douala played for a number of clubs in Portugal and was voted Player of the Month in the Portuguese First League in March 2004 .

Women

The Cameroonian and Portuguese women's national teams have not met so far.

The women's team from Cameroon was also not represented at the Algarve Cup in Portugal (as of March 2020).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Overview of diplomatic relations with Cameroon at the Diplomatic Institute in the Portuguese Foreign Ministry , accessed on April 14, 2020
  2. ↑ a b c Website of the Portuguese-Cameroonian Chamber of Commerce CCIPC ( Portuguese , English, French, Spanish and German), accessed on April 14, 2020
  3. ^ Alfredo Cunha , Luís Pedro Nunes: Toda a Esperança do Mundo. , Porto Editora , Porto 2015 ( ISBN 978-972-0-04780-9 ), p. 304
  4. ↑ Portuguese aliens statistics by district , Portuguese Aliens and Borders Authority SEF, accessed on April 14, 2020
  5. ↑ Website on Cameroonian-Portuguese migration (Table A.3) at the Portuguese Scientific Observatório da Emigração , accessed on April 14, 2020
  6. ↑ Consular contact details of Portugal in Cameroon , Portal of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry for travelers and Portuguese abroad, accessed on April 14, 2020
  7. ↑ a b Bilateral economic relations between Portugal and Cameroon , PDF file available from the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP , accessed on April 14, 2020