The verdict in three sentences
For a public agency or state body in Yaoundé, a credible institutional website in 2026 costs 6,000,000 to 10,000,000 FCFA (about 10,000 to 16,500 USD) on a standard CMS and 12,000,000 to 22,000,000 FCFA (about 20,000 to 36,000 USD) for a custom build, while agencies in Nairobi or Dubai typically budget 30,000 to 90,000 USD. The gap comes from three public-sector requirements: a multi-level editorial approval workflow, publication of procurement notices and open data, and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility. The tender must also specify hosting, editor training and a 99.9% SLA, otherwise bids will be impossible to compare.
Standard CMS or custom build: the comparison
| Criterion | Standard CMS site | Custom institutional site |
|---|---|---|
| Build budget | 6,000,000 to 10,000,000 FCFA | 12,000,000 to 22,000,000 FCFA |
| Timeline | 2 to 3 months | 4 to 6 months |
| Editorial approval | Editor and admin | 3 levels: editor, head of unit, management |
| Procurement | List of PDFs | Notices, tender files, awards, filterable archives |
| Open data | Downloadable files | CSV and JSON catalogue, metadata, simple API |
| Accessibility | Partial, not audited | WCAG 2.1 AA, audit and statement |
| Editor training | Half a day | 2 to 3 days, style guide |
| Annual maintenance | 600,000 to 1,200,000 FCFA | 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 FCFA |
A standard CMS suits a body that publishes a few news items a month. As soon as you must trace who approved what, publish tender notices with deadlines and meet transparency requirements, a custom build becomes cheaper over 3 years because it avoids workarounds and rework.
Hosting: sovereign or cloud?
The question comes up in every steering committee. Both options are defensible, provided they are priced over the full contract term.
| Criterion | Sovereign hosting in Cameroon | International cloud with CDN |
|---|---|---|
| Indicative annual cost | 1,200,000 to 3,000,000 FCFA | 900,000 to 2,400,000 FCFA |
| Data location | National territory | Europe or South Africa depending on provider |
| Target availability | 99.5 to 99.9% depending on data centre | 99.9% and above |
| Load time in Douala and Garoua | Good locally, variable elsewhere | Good everywhere thanks to CDN |
| Backups | Must be contracted | Included, daily |
| Compliance | Easier for sensitive data | Must be framed by contract |
A hybrid architecture is common: sensitive data and citizen forms on national hosting, the public site served through a CDN. A 99.9% SLA means less than 9 hours of downtime per year, which requires 24/7 monitoring and tested backups.
What the tender file should contain
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To receive comparable bids, specify in the tender: the number of page templates, approval levels, languages (French and English in Cameroon, English and Arabic in Dubai, English and Swahili in Nairobi), the accessibility level with an acceptance audit, the volume of content to migrate, the number of editors to train, the SLA and related penalties, and ownership of the source code. Ask for a price breakdown by lot: design, development, migration, training, hosting and 3-year maintenance.
Mini case study
Mr Atangana, communications director of a public body in Yaoundé, has a budget of 18,000,000 FCFA. He compares two bids: a CMS site at 8,000,000 FCFA with 1,000,000 FCFA annual maintenance, and a custom site at 16,000,000 FCFA with 2,000,000 FCFA per year. On the CMS, his team spends 12 hours a week manually publishing tender notices and fixing non-compliant pages, about 600 hours a year. The custom module cuts this to 3 hours a week, saving 450 hours. Valued at 6,000 FCFA per hour, that is 2,700,000 FCFA a year. Over 3 years, the total gap of 11,000,000 FCFA is offset by 8,100,000 FCFA, not counting the reputational risk of a tender notice published late.
FAQ
Is WCAG 2.1 AA mandatory in Cameroon? There is not yet an obligation as detailed as in Europe, but international donors increasingly require it in projects they fund. Built in from the start, accessibility adds 10 to 15% to the budget, versus 30 to 50% when retrofitted.
How long should we plan for the procurement process? Allow 2 to 4 months between tender publication and contract signature, then 4 to 6 months of delivery. A project launched in January is therefore often live between July and October.
Should we publish open data at launch? Start with 5 to 10 useful datasets (budgets, awarded contracts, activity statistics). The catalogue then grows without additional development cost.
Who should own the code? The public body, always. Require transfer of rights, access to the code repository and technical documentation, so you can change provider at the end of the contract.
Is editor training really necessary? Yes: without training, accessibility degrades within months (images without alt text, untagged PDFs). Two to three days of training for 8 to 15 editors costs about 800,000 to 1,500,000 FCFA (1,300 to 2,500 USD).
Let's scope your project. Share your draft terms of reference or timeline constraints: we will price an accessible institutional site between 12,000,000 and 22,000,000 FCFA, delivered in 4 to 6 months with training and SLA. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
