The big family of trade chambers whose origins go back to the 16th Century in France is fashioned along two models:
- Anglo-Saxon type, essentially constituted in the form of associations;
- Latin type constituted in the form of public establishments and assigned the mission of public service centred on promoting and supporting enterprises.
The common ground is that these models both represent the interests of business.
However, they differ as to the ways they are run. Anglo-saxon type chambers are funded from member contributions, whereas Latin type chambers receive State subsidies.
The Chamber of Commerce was first created in Douala in 1921 with just a consultative status, with the mission of managing the resources meant for the development of the territory and fixing prices for agricultural produce. The fifteen members of this first Chamber of Commerce were chosen by the Commissaire de la République and appointed for a two-year term. Two of the members, a trader and a farmer, were natives. This reflected an innovative disposition in a context governed by racial and discriminatory provisions of the Native Code.
The Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Crafts (CCIMC), like all other trade chambers found in French-speaking countries, is a consultative body representing interests in: