Cameroon — Shopping
Shopping
Local handicrafts include highly decorated pots, drinking horns, jugs, bottles and cups, wood carvings, great earthenware bowls and delicate pottery, dishes and trays, mats and rugs woven from grass, raffia, jewelry and camel hair, cotton and beadwork garments. These are sold in the marchés artisanales (tourist or craft markets) found in large towns and tourist areas.
Some stallholders offer items which they describe as antique: in many cases they're merely distressed. Special permission must be obtained from the Delegation Provinciale de Tourisme in Douala or Youndé to take genuine antiquities out of the country. The main markets in most towns sell fresh produce, cheap clothing and household essentials rather than souvenirs, but can be good places to find African-style printed cotton fabric.
Shopping hours: Mon-Sat 0730-1800.
Currency
CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine) Franc (XAF; symbol CFA) = 100 centimes. Notes are in denominations of CFA10,000, 5,000, 2,000, 1,000 and 500. Coins are in denominations of CFA250, 100, 50, 25, 10, 5, 2 and 1.
Cameroon, together with CAR, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, belongs to an economic and monetary community sharing a common currency, the Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale (Bank of Central African States) CFA Franc, which is pegged to the Euro. The CFA Franc issued by the Banque des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (Bank of West African States), used in the ECOWAS countries further west, has the same value but is not legal tender in Cameroon.
Currency Exchange
Euros are the easiest currency to exchange. US Dollars are the next most acceptable. Travelers should bring cash in preference to traveler's checks.
Credit Cards, Debit Cards, and ATMs
Major credit cards are accepted on a very limited basis (some airline offices and hotels will take them). Cards cannot be used in banks to obtain cash advances. ATMs are rare.
Travelers Checks
To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travelers are advised to take traveler's checks in Euros, although it is possible to exchange Sterling traveler's checks. Commission rates tend to be high.
Currency Restrictions
Import of local and foreign currency is unlimited. Export of local currency is limited to XAF20,000. There is no limit on the export of foreign currency.
Banking Hours
Mon-Fri 0730-1530.
Exchange Rate
| 1.00 GBP = 1.13 EUR |
| 1.00 USD = 0.7 EUR |
| 1.00 GBP = 746.8 XOF |
| 1.00 USD = 464.54 XOF |
| 1.00 EUR = 655.95 XOF |
| Currency conversion rates as of 19 July 2011 |
