Yaoundé will host the Cameroon International Tech Summit from 15 to 17 October. Senegal is raising investment and Côte d'Ivoire is supporting promising technology companies. Is Cameroon ready to compete?
The CITS 2026 conference promises pitches, demonstrations and meetings with investors. Yet the future of technology in Cameroon cannot be measured by how many people fill a conference room.
Cameroon has more strengths than the headlines suggest
According to the World Bank's internet-user data for 2024, internet use reached 46% of the population in Cameroon, compared with 60% in Senegal and 41% in Côte d'Ivoire. On this one measure, Cameroon is ahead of Côte d'Ivoire, not behind it.
Internet use in 2024
World Bank/ITU estimated share of internet users. Does not measure internet reliability or startup success.
Visible categories : 3 / 3
That number cannot tell us whether an entrepreneur has affordable connectivity, reliable servers or customers willing to pay for software. Being online and building a thriving technology business are different things.
The competition is not standing still
Senegal's New Deal Technologique describes fifty priority projects with a planned ten-year budget. This is an announced programme, not money already spent.
The Partech Africa report records $223 million of Senegalese startup financing in 2025, including equity and debt. Large individual transactions can dominate that total: they do not prove funding is easy for the average founder.
Côte d'Ivoire launched Ivoire Tech Next 15 and Ivoire Tech Scale Up, targeting 30 startups and digital SMEs over 24 months. Outcomes remain to be measured.
The decisive step is selling, not pitching
A Cameroonian developer can build a strong app for a school or a garage and still struggle to land the first paying customer. Product support, security, deployment and customer retention matter as much as code.
CITS could help founders find buyers. The announced regional Startup World Cup event offers an international path, but the often-mentioned million-dollar investment prize belongs to the global competition, not an automatic award in Yaoundé.
Success should be checked months later: who landed a contract, ran a successful pilot and expanded beyond Cameroon?
The summit can open the conversation. Only lasting businesses can change Cameroon's position in African tech.
