Cameroon exempts locally produced flours from VAT

What changed in detail

Cameroon’s Finance Law for 2025 (Loi n° 2024/013 du 23 décembre 2024) adds locally produced flours to the products exempt from value added tax under article 128(6) of the Code Général des Impôts.

The Ministry of Finance’s presentation of the new tax measures of the 2025 Finance Law, published for the launch of the 2025 budget, lists the measure in its summary table of tax reliefs as “Exonération de TVA sur les farines locales”, with a previous rate of 19.25% (the standard TVA rate including the additional council tax) and a new rate of 0%, referenced to article 128(6) of the CGI.

The Directorate General of Taxes’ official 2026 edition of the General Tax Code reflects the change: its annex listing the exempt basic commodities now includes “Locally produced maize flour” and “Locally produced potato and manioc flour”, alongside wheat and meslin flour.

The measure applies with the 2025 financial year, from 1 January 2025.

What it means

The exemption is still in force: it appears in the 2026 edition of the tax code, which incorporates the 2026 Finance Law. It is an exemption rather than a zero rate, so a mill selling exempt local flour charges no TVA on those sales but cannot recover the TVA on its own inputs for them.

The word “local” carries the weight. Only flours produced in Cameroon from the listed crops are covered; imported maize, potato or manioc flour still carries TVA.