The Anglophone Cameroon-Nigeria boundary: Opportunities and conflicts

Recent studies of African boundaries have tended to focus eitheron the growing number of border disputes between states or onfrontier regions that are said to offer local inhabitants awide range of economic opportunities. This article attemptsto combine both approaches and to demonstrate the ambiguousnature of the Anglophone Cameroon-Nigeria border. On the onehand, the border has been subject to regular skirmishes betweenCameroon and Nigeria, culminating in a protracted war over thesovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula — an area rich inoil reserves. On the other hand, it has for historical and economicreasons never constituted a real barrier to cross-border movementsof labour and goods. The large Nigerian migrant community inAnglophone Cameroon, in particular, has been able to benefitfrom formal and informal cross-border trade for a long time.Unsurprisingly, its dominant position in the host community'scommercial sector has been a continuous source of conflict.