Palm oil Cameroon Pushes Towards Self-sufficiency

1 BUSINESS IN. February / N 108. Cameroon . MAJOR PROJECTS - AGRICULTURE - ENERGY - MINING - INDUSTRY - SERVICES - FINANCE. Palm oil Cameroon Pushes Towards Self-sufficiency Taxing telecoms, A True Innovation: Transforming Conundrum for African Countries Cassava Peels into Flour FREE - CANNOT BE SOLD. BUSINESSIN. Cameroon ..COM. Daily business news from Cameroon Compatible with iPads, smartphones or tablets Yasmine Bahri-Domon, Just do sports ! Against all odds, despite facing the pan- Cameroonians to get serious with demic, terrorist movements and other sports. Now more than ever is the time rebellions, being harassed by selfish for Cameroon 's soccer federation, the European groups, even supremacists, FECAFOOT, and its new president, denigrated by foreign media often igno- Samuel Eto'o, to boost clubs and natio- rant, sometimes malicious, Cameroon nal competitions, to open more training has handled the African Football Cup of centers, and to give Cameroonian soc- Nations (AFCON) amazingly.

2 The game cer a strong media visibility throughout was beautiful and the national team the year. honored its people. Those who had a part in this success, from the highest So, from now on, let the whole officials of the organization to the most Cameroonian nation get behind its modest supporter of the Indomitable Indomitable Lions in the perspective Lions, well deserve congratulations. of the Cameroon -Algeria match next month. The winner will win his ticket to However, the greatest achievement the World Cup Qatar 2022. of this AFCON came in the form of top-level sports infrastructure built in Don't put away the jerseys, the green- Cameroon , infrastructure that is worthy red-yellow make-up, and the vuvuzelas. of a great nation. This is just the start of the great story of Cameroonian soccer! So now more than ever, it is time for N 108 / February 2022 3.

3 CONTENTS. FOCUS INTERVIEW. 08 P alm oil: The crusade against production 12 E rwan Garnier: The hospitality sector in deficit Cameroon is full of opportunities . 09 C risis-stricken agribusiness group CDC. to rehabilitate 1,550 hectares of oil palm plantations in 2022 Publisher Stratline Limited 10 C hinese companies to build three palm oil Publication Director extraction units in Cameroon Yasmine BAHRI-DOMON. 10 C ameroon plans to increase its production by Editor Aboudi OTTOU. 71,000 tons in 2022. Contributors 11 T he state supports oil palm farmers' union Brice R. Mbodiam, Sylvain Andzongo, Idriss Linge, Muriel EDJO. with Operator M diamania S rl 11 C amvert launched a 50,000 ha oil palm plantation in Campo, southern region Maquette : J r mie FLAUX, Corrections : Souha TOURE. Advertisement LEADER OF THE MONTH In Cameroon 34 C ameroonian Albert MASSIMB, journalist Denise Tel : 00 237 694 66 94 59.

4 Epot bags Printing Rotimpres, Aiguaviva, Espagne executive positions Office - Distribution Cameroon at TV5 Monde Albert MASSIMB, Tel : 00 237 694 66 94 59. Free cannot be sold - 4 N 108 / february 2022. NEWS IN BRIEF. PUBLIC MANAGEMENT P 17-20 AGRIBUSINESS P 27-32. ECONOMY P 21-23 ENERGY P 33. FINANCE P 24- 26. N 108 / February 2022 5. MONTHLY STATISTICS. 114%. The deep seaport of Kribi handled a total of 81,771 twen- 436,239 tons ty-foot equivalent unit containers in 2021. According to a newsletter from the Autonomous Port of Kribi (PAK), the public company in charge of the management of this port platform, this volume is up by 114% year-on-year. Cameroon produced 140,170 tons of rice in 2020, accor- According to the PAK, this performance is mainly due to ding to figures published by the Technical Commission for the dynamism of the French shipping group CMA CGM.

5 The Rehabilitation of Public and Para public Enterprises Indeed, on April 11, 2021, the shipping group decided to (CTR). According to this specialized agency of the Ministry suppress its Douala stopovers and make the deep seaport of Finance, the country was left with a deficit of 436,239. of Kribi its exclusive port of call in Cameroon . tons, all filled thanks to imports, the CTR explains. Meanwhile, per the data compiled in its 2020 report on Cameroon 's commercial exchanges, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) reveals that the country imported 591,597 tons of rice, spending billion overall. A. massive portion of the rice imported is fraudulently expor- ted to neighboring countries, INS data show. XAF90 billion Soci t Anonyme des brasseries du Cameroun (SABC), lea- der of the Cameroonian brewing market, plans to launch the second phase of its XAF90 billion investment project this year.

6 Most of the envelope is allocated to the construc- 1,688 tion of two new plants: a second corn processing plant in the Noun and a brewery in the Eastern region. The successful implementation of this investment plan will depend on the support provided by the Cameroonian Between 2018 and 2020, the number of jobs offered by government, we learn. After all the investments made state-owned company Pamol Plantations Plc decreased during the first phase ( : about XAF45 billion) of by 1,688. In its 2020 report on the performance of state our investment plan, for the second phase, the state can be and parastatal firms, the Technical Commission for the supportive by recognizing us as the national agribusiness Rehabilitation of Public and Parastatal Enterprises (CTR) champion we are, a source close to the case explains. reveals that in 2020, only 380 people were still working for Pamol, way down from 2,068 in 2018.

7 The main cause for this huge job shedding is the secu- rity crisis in the South-West where the company is facing growing challenges at its oil palm plantations, the CTR. report explains. It adds that Pamol was able to operate at 35% of its capacity in 2020 thanks to measures taken by the government to secure company facilities. 6 N 108 / february 2022. COMPANY OF THE MONTH. All Bitumen Cameroon Plc to create 1,800 jobs with a bitumen production plant in Kribi On January 13, 2022, in Kribi, According to construction experts, the remaining envelope from local Minister of Mines Gabriel Dodo locally produced bitumen will also banks and international backers, the Ndok presided over a workshop reduce road construction costs by firm contracted French investment organized to present the feasibility 30% ( : Cameroon is cur- banker AM Capital as its financial and key actors' mobilization studies rently one of the African countries advisor.)

8 Of a bitumen plant construction with the highest per kilometer road project. Carried out by SAIPEM, a construction cost). In the study , it is According to credible sources, subsidiary of Italian oil giant ENI, also explained that the plant would discussions are ongoing with pan- the feasibility study was ordered facilitate the conquest of growth African financial institutions like the by Cameroonian firm All Bitumen markets like Nigeria, Chad, Gabon, African Development Bank (AfDB). Cameroon Plc, initiator of the plant and the DRC. and African Export-Import Bank construction project. (Afreximbank). The bitumen plant will be built on The planned production capacity is a 60-hectare site, which is being If all the involved parties comply 250,000 tons of bitumen annually. To allocated in the industrial zone of the with the commitments taken, we will obtain the raw material needed for Kribi deep seaport.

9 The initiator of lay the foundation stone by December production, the project provides for the project explains that 300 to 400 2022. The construction works will the construction of a mini oil refinery direct jobs and about 1500 indirect last between 24 and 36 months, . plant able to refine 10,000 barrels jobs will be created with the various says Ahmadou Oumarou. The CEO. of oil daily. According to Ahmadou components of the projects (oil refi- of All Bitumen Cameroon Plc also Oumarou, Managing Director of All nery, the production of bitumen, and praised the support provided by the Bitumen Cameroon Plc, by produ- by-products like diesel and kerosene, Cameroonian government adding cing 250,000 tons of bitumen yearly, which will all be sold in the local and that the promoters of the projects are the plant will help end the importa- regional market).

10 Willing to transfer part of the stakes tion of this product into Cameroon to the state, given the strategic (the country officially imports 50,000 Overall, the project will require about nature of the plant being planned. tons of bitumen yearly) therefore XAF100 billion investment. Close to bridging the trade deficit by about 30% of the funds will be provided by Brice R. Mbodiam XAF300 billion. All Bitumen shareholders. To raise N 108 / February 2022 7. FOCUS. Palm oil: The crusade against production deficit The Media personnel was surprised in local production. Worse, accor- palm farmers to increase their pro- in 2016 when the Association of ding to operators in the sector, this duction tenfold. At the same time, Oilseed Refiners of Cameroon deficit is becoming more and more local economic operators have also (Asroc) revealed during a press important over time, due to the taken the lead, either by launching conference that Cameroon had accelerating investments in the field industrial-scale palm oil production imported palm oil from Gabon.