Why did Cameroon experience a severe economic crisis in the 1980s?

Cameroon’s severe economic crisis in the mid-1980s was primarily driven by a combination of internal and external factors.

Causes of the Economic Crisis

• Economic Mismanagement: The government invested heavily in numerous costly and poorly planned industrial projects, which resulted in significant capital loss.12
• Commodity Price Decline: The country suffered from a sharp drop in the global market prices of its key export commodities, specifically coffee, cocoa, and petroleum.1
• Dependence on Exports: Because the economy relied heavily on the sale of primary goods, fluctuations in global prices made the nation's financial situation highly unstable.1

These factors forced Cameroon into a lengthy recession. By the late 1980s, the resulting budget deficits compelled the government to seek external borrowing and accept the intervention of the International Monetary Fund to implement structural adjustment programs. The crisis eventually necessitated a large-scale restructuring of the country's banking system.13