Garoua

Where is Garoua?

Garoua is in the North Region of Cameroon, about 210 km from Maroua by road.

Garoua is the capital of the North region and of the Bénoué department. It lies on the banks of the Benue, more than 1,000 kilometres north of Yaoundé by road. It is one of the country's major cities, with several hundred thousand inhabitants by most estimates, and Fulfulde is its main common language.

History and origin of the name

The town grew in the nineteenth century around a Fulani lamidate, a traditional Muslim chiefdom; sources disagree on who founded it. In the steamship era Garoua became a major river port, linked to Nigeria by the Benue. During the First World War the German garrison there was besieged in 1915. Garoua is the birthplace of Ahmadou Ahidjo, Cameroon's first president.

What to see

• The Lamido's palace, seat of the Garoua lamidate, which is still active.
• The banks of the Benue, around which the city grew.
• Bénoué National Park, between Garoua and Ngaoundéré: a wildlife reserve from 1932, a national park since 1968 and a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1981. Bouba Ndjida National Park and the Faro reserve can also be reached from the city.
• The Roumdé Adjia stadium, one of the venues of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and home of Coton Sport de Garoua.

Economy and local life

Lying in the cotton-growing area, Garoua is a base of Sodecoton, the country's main cotton company, and CICAM has run a spinning and weaving mill here since 1965. Leatherwork and fishing also matter. The football club Coton Sport, founded in 1986, carries that cotton economy in its name.

What to eat

The food is that of the North: millet or sorghum couscous shaped into balls and dipped in a slippery sauce such as baobab-leaf sauce, and kossam, the curdled milk of Fulani herders.

Practical information

The climate is tropical savanna, hot all year round, with about 1,000 mm of rain a year. There is almost no rain from December to February; March and April are the hottest months and August the wettest. The city has an international airport and lies on National Highway 1, between Ngaoundéré and Maroua.

Distances by road

• Maroua: about 210 km
• Ngaoundéré: 250 to 290 km

Approximate distances, city centre to city centre. Travel time depends heavily on road conditions and traffic.