Free business email in Cameroon: set up name@yourbusiness.cm

A business in Douala or Yaoundé gets its RCCM number from the CFCE one-stop shop, its NIU from the tax office, and a bank or Mobile Money account, and then runs its correspondence from a Gmail address for years. The address is the first thing a port forwarder, an NGO procurement officer or a cocoa buyer in Amsterdam sees. Moving to contact@yourbusiness.cm costs a yearly domain fee that can be paid by Mobile Money; the mailboxes can be free. This guide works for both the French-speaking and the English-speaking regions.

Quick answer

Register yourbusiness.cm at an ANTIC-accredited registrar (or yourbusiness.com at any registrar if the .cm price is too high this year). Create a free OquMail workspace with no card, add the domain, paste four DNS records, click Verify and create your mailboxes. Add the mailbox to the Gmail app on your phone over IMAP.

Choosing your domain: .cm or .com

• .cm: regulated by ANTIC and sold through accredited registrars, including local ISPs and hosting companies that take MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money. It signals a Cameroonian business at a glance.
• .com: cheaper in most years and registered anywhere in minutes; fine for exporters and tech companies with mostly foreign customers. International registrars also resell .cm if you prefer paying by card.
• Second-level names such as .co.cm and .net.cm exist; the plain .cm is the common business choice.
• French accents (é, è, ç) belong in display names, not in domain names or mailbox names.

Why a domain address matters in Cameroon

Freight forwarders and customs brokers at the port of Douala, cocoa and coffee exporters dealing with European buyers, and construction subcontractors on public works are all vetted on documents, and the email domain is one of them. NGOs and international organisations based in Yaoundé expect supplier correspondence from an organisational address. The tech scene around Buea competes for remote contracts against startups whose addresses match their websites. Locally, a business writing to a bank or the tax office from a free webmail address is asked to confirm the request in person.

Step by step: from domain to working inbox

1. Register yourbusiness.cm at an ANTIC-accredited registrar, paying by MTN Mobile Money, Orange Money or bank transfer. The domain is usually active within a day.
2. Go to oqumail.com and create a free workspace with your name and a password. No card, no trial countdown.
3. In the dashboard choose Add domain and type yourbusiness.cm. OquMail shows the four DNS records to add.
4. Log in to the registrar, open the DNS editor, and add the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records exactly as shown. If the registrar has no editor, point the nameservers at a free DNS host such as Cloudflare and add the records there.
5. Return to OquMail and click Verify. The live check names any record still missing.
6. Create your mailboxes: contact@, ventes@ or sales@, compta@ (accounts) and one per person. The free plan allows up to 15 mailboxes with 5 GB each.
7. Send a test from webmail to a Gmail address, then add the account to the Gmail app on your phone with the settings below.

The four DNS records OquMail needs

• MX — host @, value mail.oqumail.com, priority 10
• SPF (TXT at @) — v=spf1 MX (Mail Exchanger — where incoming email is delivered) a:mail.oqumail.com ~all
• DKIM (TXT at your selector ._domainkey) — v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=… (the exact key is shown in your OquMail dashboard)
• DMARC (TXT at _dmarc) — v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

OquMail connection settings

• Incoming (IMAP): mail.oqumail.com, port 993, SSL/TLS
• Outgoing (SMTP): mail.oqumail.com, port 587, STARTTLS
• Username: your full email address (you@yourdomain.com)
• Password: the same password you use for OquMail webmail

What it costs in Cameroon

• The domain: a yearly fee in CFA francs for .cm at a local registrar, or the usual .com price
• Mailboxes: free on OquMail, up to 15 with 5 GB each, 250 sends a day per mailbox
• No card required at any step if you register the domain by Mobile Money

Mistakes common in Cameroon

• Running the business from WhatsApp only. Send quotations and confirmations by email from the company address as well, so there is a record a buyer can file.
• Letting the web designer register the domain under their name. Insist on the registrant being your business and keep the login.
• Accents in mailbox names. Use jerome@ and put Jérôme in the display name.
• MTN, Orange and Camtel mobile data block outgoing port 25. Use port 587 in every mail app.
• Not finishing the setup during a power cut: DNS changes keep working without you; your phone over mobile data picks up the mail as soon as the records are live.

Common questions

Can I pay without a bank card?

Yes. Local .cm registrars accept Mobile Money and bank transfer, and the mailboxes need no payment at all.

Does it work with Outlook and my phone?

Yes. Add an IMAP account with the settings above in Outlook, Apple Mail or the Gmail app, using your full address as the username.

What are the limits?

15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, no expiry. Extra mailboxes are added on request without touching DNS.

Want to see how your own domain is set up? Use the free SPF checker, DMARC checker and MX lookup: they run in your browser and store nothing.