The Cameroonian Ministry of Defense initiated discussions with Sotrabus, a company specializing in the construction of intercity buses, in April 2026, to assess the feasibility of locally producing military vehicles and equipment. This approach is part of an effort to strengthen the country's strategic autonomy in defense and contribute to national industrialization.
Sotrabus, already a supplier to several intercity transport operators, could thus diversify its activities by producing vehicles for military use, as well as individual equipment such as helmets and vests. This initiative aligns with the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (SND30), which aims to support the structural transformation of the Cameroonian economy through the emergence of national champions. Sotrabus is among the five companies identified as having the potential to play this role.
The increasing involvement of the Cameroonian army in the country's industrialization was evident as early as 2022, with the establishment of a working group responsible for reflecting on the development of military-industrial capabilities. The Minister Delegate to the Presidency in charge of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, then emphasized the strategic role of the defense and security forces in this process.
This orientation materialized with the inauguration, in September 2025, of a central clothing workshop for the armies and the gendarmerie in Yaoundé, capable of producing between 700 and 1,000 outfits per day. Other projects are in the pipeline, such as the construction of a textile factory in Mengong and a ammunition production plant in Garoua, in partnership with Turkish investors.
All these initiatives demonstrate the will of the Cameroonian authorities to reduce external dependence on military equipment and to promote the development of the national productive fabric. This import-substitution policy aims to increase local production capacities in order to limit the use of imports, the weight of which contributes to widening the country's trade deficit, which exceeded 2,000 billion FCFA in 2024, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
