Relations between Germany and Cameroon are good. Regular contacts at governmental and parliamentary level foster these good relations. There are also many links between the two countries’ civil societies and a large number of church partnerships. In 2019, there were over 24,000 Cameroonians living in Germany. Among international students, Cameroonians ranked fifteenth in terms of numbers, thus forming the largest group of students from Africa. Around 600 to 700 German nationals live in Cameroon. Germany enjoys a positive image in Cameroon, not least because of its extensive development policy work.

Germany provides the largest amount of bilateral governmental development cooperation funding of all countries (over 100 million euros in the 2017-2019 period alone).

In addition to the German Embassy in Yaoundé, Germany is represented in Cameroon by many other institutions. The Goethe-Institut, which has been active in the country for over 50 years, provides a platform for young Cameroonian artists and offers German classes. With over 200,000 pupils and more than 2000 teachers, German is the second most popular foreign language in Cameroon (after Spanish).

The German Academic Exchange Service sends two lecturers to Cameroon and also runs an information centre. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and KfW carry out development cooperation projects on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung have regional offices in Yaoundé and work to foster political relations.

There is great potential for development in German-Cameroonian economic relations. Trade between the two countries is relatively modest and fluctuates from year to year. German companies do not currently show a great interest in investing in the country.