Artificial Intelligence · Cameroon
AI regulation in Cameroon: laws & policy (2026)
Cameroon shaded by its artificial intelligence status
AI in Cameroon: guidelines only, anchored by National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (SNIA) unveiled July 2025; Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL); Personal Data Protection Law No. 2024/017 (December 2024).
Cameroon has no binding AI-specific legislation in force. In July 2025, the government adopted a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (SNIA) through its second National Consultations on AI (CONIA 2025), outlining a seven-pillar framework to make Cameroon a regional AI hub by 2040. A dedicated national AI legal framework, AI Authority, and Presidential Council on AI are explicitly planned under the SNIA but have not yet been enacted.
Key points
The SNIA was adopted at CONIA 2025 (July 7-8, Yaoundé) under MINPOSTEL. It sets a 2040 vision structured around seven pillars: governance/digital sovereignty, data infrastructure, multilingual AI, sovereign infrastructure, human capital, sectoral innovation, and international cooperation. It targets 12,000 direct jobs and a 0.8-1.2% GDP contribution by 2040.
Pillar 1 of the SNIA commits the government to establishing a dedicated AI Authority, a Presidential Council on AI, and drafting a framework law on AI ethics and inter-ministerial coordination. As of mid-2026 these remain announced intentions without enacted legislation.
Cameroon's first comprehensive data protection law was signed on 23 December 2024. It governs automated processing of personal data but contains no specific provisions on AI systems, automated decision-making, or algorithmic accountability, leaving a regulatory gap relevant to AI.
Three 2010 laws form the broader digital regulatory backdrop: Law No. 2010/013 (electronic communications), Law No. 2010/012 (cybersecurity and cybercrime), and Law No. 2010/021 (electronic commerce). None address AI specifically.
A key SNIA deliverable is 'GPT Cameroon,' a sovereign large language model supporting national and local languages. The strategy also targets training 4,000 AI professionals annually and 60,000 by 2040, with women comprising 40% of the trained workforce.
Cameroon has not enacted any sector-specific AI rules (e.g., for finance, health, or biometrics) nor legislated bans on specific AI applications such as real-time biometric surveillance. All governance measures remain at the strategy and planning stage.
Timeline - major decisions & events
At the second National Consultations on AI (CONIA 2025) in Yaoundé, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng unveiled Cameroon's National AI Strategy built on seven pillars, governance, data infrastructure, multilingual AI, edge computing, human capital, innovation, and regional cooperation, with goals of 12,000 jobs created and 0.8-1.2% GDP contribution by 2040. The strategy proposes a Cameroonian AI Authority, a Presidential Council on AI, and a future framework law for ethical AI governance.
OECD.AI (MINPOSTEL submission) ↗President Paul Biya signed Cameroon's first comprehensive data protection law, establishing consent requirements, data-subject rights to object to automated decision-making, and creating a Personal Data Protection Authority. Controllers and processors have until 23 June 2026 to comply, and the law lays the governance foundation for future AI-specific legislation.
Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon (PRC) ↗The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications convened a two-day inaugural CONIA, bringing together public and private sector actors, academia, civil society, and international organisations to map AI integration across Cameroon. Recommendations from CONIA 2024 directly shaped the national AI strategy adopted at CONIA 2025.
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL) ↗The World Bank IDA approved a $100 million credit for Cameroon's Programme to Accelerate Digital Transformation (PATNuC), running through 2027. A key component mandated revision of the ICT policy and regulatory framework, including new cybersecurity and data-protection legislation, directly enabling the 2024 Data Protection Law and framing Cameroon's digital AI environment.
World Bank ↗This foundational law established the regulatory framework for all electronic communications in Cameroon, expanded ANTIC's mandate to cover electronic certification and internet governance, and set consumer-protection standards. It governs the digital infrastructure on which AI services operate and was later amended by Law No. 2015/6 of 20 April 2015.
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL) ↗Cameroon's first cybersecurity law designated ANTIC as national cybersecurity regulator and criminalised unlawful system access, data interference, cyber-fraud, and illegal interception. It established the baseline ICT-security legal layer and enforcement authority upon which AI governance discussions are built.
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL) ↗The government created the National Agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ANTIC) as the primary ICT regulatory body responsible for electronic security, certification, internet governance, and implementing the national ICT strategy. ANTIC subsequently became the institutional home for Cameroon's cybersecurity enforcement and will anchor future AI oversight.
Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon (PRC) ↗Cameroon - other topics
Artificial Intelligence in other countries
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