Transport in Cameroon - Roadways

Roadways

Total highways: 50,000 km
Paved: 5,000 km
Unpaved: 45,000 km (2004)

Cameroon lies at a key point in the Trans-African Highway network, with three routes crossing its territory:

• Dakar-N'Djamena Highway, connecting just over the Cameroon border with the N'Djamena-Djibouti Highway
• Lagos-Mombasa Highway
• Tripoli-Cape Town Highway

Cameroon's central location in the network means that efforts to close the gaps which exist in the network across Central Africa rely on the Cameroon's participation in maintaining the network, and the network has the potential to have a profound influence on Cameroon's regional trade. Except for the several relatively good toll roads which connect major cities (all of them one-lane) roads are poorly maintained and subject to inclement weather, since only 10% of the roadways are tarred. It is likely for instance that within a decade, a great deal of trade between West Africa and Southern Africa will be moving on the network through Yaoundé.

Prices of petrol rose steadily in 2007 and 2008, leading to a transport union strike in Douala on 25 February 2008. The strike quickly escalated into violent protests and spread to other major cities. The uprising finally subsided on 29 February.