Cameroon Suspends 28 Real Estate Firms, Gives Three Months to Renew Licenses

The Housing and Urban Development Ministry has identified 28 real estate firms whose professional licenses have expired. Located in the Center, Littoral, Northwest, West and Southwest regions, the firms have been suspended for three months for failing to renew their licenses.

According to a ministerial notice signed on Aug. 25, 2026, and released on Sept. 3, the licenses expired between 2010 and 2023. Some of the firms have therefore been operating without valid licenses for more than a decade. The suspension was imposed under the Dec. 18, 2001 law governing the real estate agent profession and a Sept. 3, 2007 prime ministerial decree setting the rules for real estate agents operating in Cameroon. Real estate professionals are required, among other things, to hold a valid professional license.

In the notice, Minister Célestine Ketcha Courtès called on the affected firms to contact the Department of Housing and Real Estate Development, or DHSPI, to obtain formal notice of their suspension. They were also instructed to submit a license-renewal application that meets regulatory requirements before the three-month suspension period expires. The ministry warned that firms that fail to regularize their status will be removed from the official register of real estate agents.

The warning comes after the cost of renewing a professional real estate license was set at CFAF 1 million under the 2024 Finance Law. The authorities say the requirement is part of efforts to strengthen oversight and professional standards in a sector where some operators continue to work outside the regulatory framework. The ministry said the measure is also intended to keep the official register of licensed real estate professionals up to date and make it easier to distinguish compliant firms from unlicensed or noncompliant operators. The 28 firms now have three months to renew their licenses. Those that fail to do so risk being removed from the official register.

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