About

Cham Etienne Bama is a seasoned trade policy expert with nearly 15 years of experience in designing and implementing trade policies. His expertise spans a wide range of areas, with a specific focus on formal and informal cross-border trade, export promotion, trade data collection, trade and gender linkages, trade support infrastructure development, trade facilitation, investment facilitation, and export development.

Mr Bama has actively participated in various expert meetings at the continental level. These include significant events like the “Expert Group Meeting on Negotiating Institutions: Putting In The Right Foundation,” organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the Regional Trade Forum for West and Central Africa in Dakar, also under UNECA. He has also been involved in the capacity building workshop on stakeholder engagement in African Trade Policies and the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Trade Policy Dialogue Forum in Abuja, facilitated by GIZ. Additionally, he has contributed to the regional dialogue forum on the Free Movement Protocol for Eastern, Southern, and North Africa, organised by the African Union/GIZ.

Mr Bama’s expertise extends to his role as the key expert in the development of a Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade for the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement. Furthermore, he serves on the boards of several prominent organisations, including the Institute of Export and International Trade in the UK, Fairtrade Africa in Germany, Transport Evolution Africa in South Africa, the Pan-African Business Women Association in South Africa, the Enabling Africa Trade Forum in the UK, and the Global Council for the Promotion of International Trade in the UK.

Currently, Mr Bama is the coordinator of the Technical Secretariat responsible for implementing the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative in Cameroon. As of December 5, 2022, he has assumed the role of CWEIC Hub Director for Cameroon, Gabon, and Togo. This role complements his position as Director at the Cameroon National Shippers’ Council, where he continues to make significant contributions to trade policy and promotion.