The sector's underperformance stems from the 2024 finance law, which raised the log export tax to 75% of the FOB value, up from 60% previously. The resulting customs rebalancing has a paradoxical effect: the increased regulatory costs drastically reduce the attractiveness of the traditional forestry sector, leading to a collapse in taxable volumes that the higher tax rate cannot offset.

The impact on foreign trade is a overall decline in non-processed goods flows. The volume of logs shipped outside the borders fell to 349,611 cubic meters in 2025, down from 475,401 cubic meters the previous year, a 26.5% decline. The corresponding foreign exchange earnings decreased by 17.7%, stabilizing at 39.02 billion CFA francs. The situation is doubly complex as the first processing stage does not compensate for the budgetary shortfall: lumber exports also declined by 14.9% to 762,007 cubic meters, resulting in a loss of value of 22.62 billion CFA francs. The entire wood industry thus records a global deficit of 32.07 billion CFA francs over twelve months.

The impending total ban on log exports, set for January 1, 2028, at the Central African level, forces operators to modify their economic model. The national industrial apparatus shows signs of asymmetric mutation. While high-value-added segments like plywood and veneer record a 34.1% volume increase, their weight remains insufficient to restore the trade balance. The authorities plan to deploy incentives for the acquisition of third-transformation technologies and impose quotas for local furniture in public procurement to stimulate domestic demand before the opening of the continental free-trade area markets.


Nlend Flore

Tags: bois fiscalite commerce exterieur industrie forestiere economie afrique centrale exportations taxe de sortie droits de douane politique economique