Southern Cameroons’ War of Independence: International Crisis Group calls on the EU and the UN to increase pressure on Yaoundé
According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), Cameroon is among the “seven peace and security priorities for Africa in 2026”. The NGO warns that “in the absence of movement towards serious negotiations, the conflict in the Southern Cameroons, also referred to as the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon, is expected to continue with increasing risks to Cameroon’s stability”. In this context, ICG believes that the European Union (EU) — linked to the country by a partnership ranging from formal and regular political dialogue to development programming — has leverage to influence a lasting solution to the crisis.
“Brussels should use its leverage to pressure the government to end the repression of opponents and resolve the conflict in the Southern Cameroons – Ambazonia”, suggests the NGO. ICG specifies the modalities of such an approach: “It could, for example, indicate privately that it will impose individual sanctions, including travel bans on actors authorizing the use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators. It could also push Biya to revive negotiations with Ambazonian authorities”.
France and the UN called upon
ICG also believes that Paris could strengthen European action behind the scenes. “Although Paris has traditionally protected its relationship with Yaoundé, it has notably not congratulated Biya on his re-election”, writes the NGO. It puts forward a financial and patrimonial leverage argument: “The concentration of Cameroonian elite assets in France suggests that the intervention of President Emmanuel Macron’s government could be particularly effective”.
The NGO also calls on the United Nations (UN).“For his part, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, who has reportedly been in contact with Biya for years, should also push him to revive negotiations with Anglophone figures”, the report states, “ Seven peace and security priorities for Africa in 2026”. ICG considers the UN to be well placed for discreet diplomacy, recalling that it “was the only one to offer technical support for the election”. The organization goes so far as to recommend a return to a mediation that has already been attempted: “António Guterres should push Yaoundé to re-invite Canada, which led these talks in the past, to organize a new attempt to resolve the impasse”.
Domestically, ICG links its recommendations to the climate prevailing since the presidential election of October 2025. The NGO believes that “external actors should work together to encourage the country’s leadership to make choices that avoid a downward spiral”. However, it recognizes the limits of the exercise: “there is no simple or obvious way for external actors to help calm things down”.
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