Cameroon’s anglophone crisis threatens to escalate

Significance

Hosting the CHAN was an attempt by President Paul Biya's government to convince international audiences that it can host the AFCON despite ongoing conflict in the predominantly anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions, with armed groups now apparently using improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Impacts

• Biya’s lack of a clear succession plan raises a risk of political instability in the event of his incapacitation.
• A first economic contraction in two decades will heap additional pressure on the government before the AFCON.
• Collaboration between armed anglophones and Boko Haram remains unlikely given their differing religious beliefs and ideology.