The 4th edition of the Cameroon Investment Forum (CIF), hosted by the Investment Promotion Agency (API), concluded on April 19 in Douala with the “Investors’ Night.” During this event, seven companies, administrations, and institutions were honored for their contributions to promoting investments in Cameroon. Shinwinsoh Boma Donatus, the acting CEO of API, kicked off the awards ceremony by presenting the Best Investment Advisory Firm in Cameroon award to the Cameroonian firm JMJ Africa.

Led by Cameroonian legal expert, banker, and financier Patrice Yantho, JMJ Africa has played a key role in major investment projects in Cameroon in recent years. This includes involvement in projects like the construction of cocoa processing plants Neo Industry and Atlantic Cocoa, the Douala Grand Mall, the Pafic soap factory, and the Novia Industries plant, a producer of refined oil, soaps, and other food products based in the Douala-Bonabéri industrial zone. JMJ Africa, which was also involved in the Société International de ciment (SIC) project being developed in the Kribi industrial port zone and owned by Ivorian billionaire Kone Dossongui, is also advising steel giant Prometal Groupe.

Prometal Groupe, the leader in steel processing in Central Africa, received an award at the ” Investors’ Night “. Founder Hayssam El Jammal received the Foreign Investment Champion Award in Cameroon. With a long-standing presence in the country, Prometal Group currently operates six factories (three built in the last five years) for steel processing and agro-food product manufacturing in the industrial zones of Bassa and Bonabéri (Douala). The group is currently finalizing plans for Proalu, its 7th factory, dedicated to aluminum processing.;

Cameroonian businessman Albert Kouinché was awarded the National Investment Champion Award. As the founder of Express Union, a company dominating the domestic money transfer market with a presence in the Central African sub-region, Albert Kouinche is currently leading an industrial aquaculture project (Fish&Co), aiming to reduce Cameroon’s heavy reliance on imported frozen fish. As a shareholder of Banque Atlantique Cameroun, this investor also controls the Cameroonian Equipment Company (SCE), a financial institution providing credits to clients for purchasing goods and small household equipment.

Ecogreen was honored with the Innovation in Investment Award. Specializing in plastic waste recycling, this company is led by Nassrallah El Sahely, who also heads Source du Pays, a leading mineral water brand. Cameroonian bank Afriland First Bank, a market leader ahead of foreign multinational subsidiaries, received the award for Best Financial Institution in Investment Support.

In addition to private entities, a public administration, and an international institution also received awards during the event. The General Directorate of Customs at the Ministry of Finance received the award for Best Institutional Support, while the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) was honored as the Best Development Partner.

Source: Business in Cameroon

On April 17, Cameroon reimbursed CFA39.8 billion on the public securities market of the Central African States Bank (BEAC). Renowned for its solvency since the establishment of this market nearly 13 years ago, Cameroon used its usual borrowing strategy to make this repayment.

To this end, two new issuances of fungible Treasury bills (BTA) were carried out on April 15, two days before the repayment date. These issuances, consisting of securities with maturities of 26 weeks for CFA40 billion and 52 weeks for CFA25 billion, raised CFA49.4 billion from investors. This sum not only covered the due repayment but also generated a cash surplus of CFA10 billion for Cameroon.

The interest rates applied in these operations reflected the increasing tension in the market, which has seen its requirements rise over the months due to a restrictive monetary policy. Cameroon offered an average interest rate of 6.3% on the 26-week BTAs and 6.5% on the 52-week ones. The rates are significantly higher than the 3% ceiling commonly practiced by the Cameroonian Treasury on these securities a few years ago.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The 4th edition of the Cameroon Investment Forum, a flagship biennial event that brings together high-level government officials, development partners, and various business stakeholders from around the world, opened on Wednesday in the commercial hub of Douala.

Organized by the state-run Cameroon Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA), the forum aims to intensify the import substitution dynamic in Cameroon by mobilizing and directing investments into niche sectors such as rice, maize, fish, milk, and palm oil, said CIPA Acting General Manager Donatus Boma.

“It is a platform for high-level consultations and exchange of experiences. It is an excellent opportunity for investors to understand why Cameroon is an investment destination,” Boma said during the opening ceremony, which was attended by African, Chinese, Russian, and European investors.

“The main objective is to encourage local investors and attract foreign direct investment in products aimed at increasing local production and processing. This initiative should help reduce Cameroon’s deficit caused by the importation of staple foods in large quantities,” he added.

The forum, held after years of postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will end on Friday.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cameroon’s brewing companies saw a significant boost in their beer exports in 2022. According to data from the National Statistics Agency (INS), exports surged by 73% over the period to 12,602 tons, bringing in a total of CFA5.7 billion. The previous year, beer exporters sold 7,285 tons of beer and collected CFA3 billion.

Soft drink shipments have followed a similar trend. INS reported that these beverages generated CFA3.5 billion in 2022, from exports totaling 7,124 tons. This represents increases of 46.6% in volume and nearly 61% in revenue compared to 2021, when the country exported 4,860 tons for CFA2 billion.

Although neighboring countries of Cameroon have brewing facilities that are often owned by the same multinationals operating in Cameroon, the beers and beverages from this CEMAC country are highly sought after, especially in countries like Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The Ministry of Mines, Industry, and Technological Development of Cameroon has officially opened the country’s first enclosed gold ore processing unit in the town of Kana, Eastern region. This groundbreaking facility, a first for Central Africa, was announced on April 5 by the acting head of the ministry, Fuh Calistus Gentry. The project, spearheaded by the companies Codias, Yucam, and Xin Wang, represents a significant leap in mining technology and practices within the region.

Boasting a maximum processing capacity of 500 tons of ore per day, the innovative gold processing system set up at the Shunda Mining site is expected to increase production efficiency to over 90%, boost national reserves, and ensure greater transparency in actual production figures. In addition to being profitable for both the state and operators, it is also lauded for its environmental benefits and as an effective solution to combat child labor in mining operations.

“This system for processing mineralized gravel in a closed tank will significantly reduce the waste of resources, marking a significant change from the precarious situation that currently prevails in the East and Adamaoua regions. It will also significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the mining industry as it is practiced today using methods that are three centuries old,” said Minister Fuh Calistus Gentry, as reported by Cameroon Tribune.

Traditionally, gold ore processing in Cameroon has been done using open systems, which experts say results in a mere 30% average gold recovery rate. This method leads to a 70% waste of resources, which end up being released into the environment. The new system triples the metal recovery rate from 30% to as high as 90% or even 95%. Moreover, what used to be discarded as waste is now seen as a potential deposit for further gold extraction.

The government aims to establish 10 such enclosed system operations across the country. Companies Codias SA, Yucam, and Xing Wang are fully committed to meeting the activity schedule for setting up an enclosed mining system by August 2024 at the Colomine small gold mine project site and at the Batouri-East site for semi-mechanized artisanal mining. Moreover, two more installations are planned at the mining sites in Bétaré-Oya, also in the East, alongside the inauguration of an enclosed system designed by a French company later this month and another by a Canadian company in June 2024.

The government’s goal is to completely abandon artisanal methods. Previously, some semi-mechanized artisanal operators used chemicals like mercury and cyanide for gold recovery, leading to uncontrolled environmental effluent discharge and exposing local populations to heavy metal contamination risks.

In July 2023, Fuh Calistus Gentry urged mining operators to adopt enclosed processing units (or closed circuits) to eliminate any risk of accidental effluent discharge into the environment. On April 5, he reiterated his call for operators in the sector to transition “as soon as possible” to this system or face the withdrawal of their exploration permits. Gentry emphasized that it will no longer be possible to issue a semi-mechanized mining exploitation permit without an enclosed system installation plan or partnership with a company that has such a system. He also gave a six-month deadline for existing permit holders to comply with the new requirement.

Source: Business in Cameroon

During the significant electoral meeting on April 9 in Douala, Célestin Tawamba was elected with an overwhelming majority as the first president of the Cameroon Business Consortium (Gecam), garnering more than 98% of the vote. He was the only candidate. Tawamba, who leads Cadyst Invest, takes on the presidency in the aftermath of a highly debated merger. This merger brought together the Inter-Patronal Group of Cameroon (Gicam), the nation’s premier business organization, and the smaller, yet significant, business group Entreprises du Cameroun (Ecam), which itself was born out of dissent within Gicam.

The merger treaty between Gicam and Ecam was signed on April 5, 2023, and ratified on July 11, 2023, amidst attempts by some Gicam members opposed to the merger to block the assembly. These dissenters, who also initiated legal proceedings, suspected Tawamba of seeking to dissolve Gicam for personal gain. Critics argued that Tawamba, having served two terms as the president of Gicam and ineligible for a third term, orchestrated the merger to head the nascent organization.

Despite opposition claims, the decision for a merger-creation rather than a merger-absorption was made, a choice that did not alleviate suspicions surrounding Tawamba’s motives. This led to the establishment of Gecam, effectively dissolving Gicam despite reservations from both the council of elders and the board of the then-leading business organization in Cameroon.

Tawamba has faced criticism since the inception of his merger proposal but maintained that his goal was simply to unify the business community for a more effective representation of corporate interests. On January 29, 2024, in a letter to the members of the newly formed organization, he responded to the widespread call for his leadership, stating, “I must, in truth, confess that there are requests that duty compels one to accept, lest one commits betrayal. Many of you, individually or collectively, have asked me to take my share of responsibility by continuing beyond just the entry point in the process of solidifying this important edifice that we have built together.

As Tawamba takes the helm of Gecam, numerous legal challenges initiated by members of Gicam opposed to the merger, which resulted in Gecam’s creation, are still pending in court.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has successfully withdrawn a total of CFA63 billion from the banking system in two operations. This move is part of the central bank’s efforts to combat monetary inflation, which accounts for 20% of the inflation in the region.

The first withdrawal operation took place on March 28, when the central bank targeted CFA50 billion through the issuance of 14-day BEAC bonds at a 2.5% interest rate. However, it only managed to attract an offer of CFA15 billion, resulting in a relatively low demand coverage rate of just over 30%.

On April 2, BEAC launched another operation for CFA230 billion but only one bank participated, allowing the central bank to withdraw CFA48 billion at an interest rate of 1.25%. In total, the central bank managed to collect CFA63 billion from commercial banks in a week.

Let’s note that the escalation of liquidity withdrawals, including increasing the amounts sought by the BEAC and issuing BEAC bonds, are among the strategies employed by the CEMAC central bank to fight soaring inflation within the region. In addition to these measures, the BEAC has recently increased its key interest rates multiple times to slow down the refinancing pace of commercial banks and has suspended its liquidity injection operations into the banking system.

The central bank’s goal is to drain the banks and thus restrict economic agents’ access to credit. According to the BEAC, injecting significant financing into economic circuits contributes to inflation, especially in countries like those in the CEMAC region, where most goods and services are imported.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The government of Cameroon has announced a 10% reduction in the taxable value of newly imported tires. This move, reported by the Minister of Finance -Louis Paul Motazé, aims to lower the cost of new tire imports into the territory. It is set to last for six months, with the possibility of an extension if required.

Minister Louis Paul Motazé stressed that the decision was taken following “the very high instructions of the Head of State… prescribing additional support measures after pump fuel prices were adjusted,” starting from February 3, 2024. These presidential directives were communicated to him in a letter from Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, the Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic, dated February 23, 2024.

Beyond the official reasons provided by the Finance Minister, the reduction in the cost of importing new tires in Cameroon also aims to encourage the use of quality tires in the land transport sector. This sector often experiences road accidents caused by the use of poor-quality tires. However, although the decision by Minister Motazé appears to be a temporary measure, it emerges amidst the implementation of an import-substitution policy, which is designed to reduce imports while introducing incentives to foster the development of local production.

In this context, several projects for tire production facilities are in the pipeline. An example is the Cameroon Tyre Factory (CTF), a subsidiary of Neptune Holding owned by Cameroonian business operator Antoine Ndzengué. Currently marketing “Double Star” tires from the German company Double Star Industry, CTF plans to establish a production unit in Bomono, a suburb of Douala, for an investment of CFA400 billion. With an annual production capacity of 4.6 million units, the factory is expected to create about 2,500 jobs.

Such a project could potentially reduce consumer prices for new tires and narrow the country’s trade deficit caused by the massive importation of both new and used tires. According to a report on Cameroon’s external trade by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), the country spent CFA32.6 billion to import 23,164 tons of new tires in 2022. This expenditure represents a decline of approximately CFA1.2 billion from the previous year, as revealed by the INS report.

Furthermore, the INS document disclosed that Cameroon imported 6,596 tons of retreaded or used tires in 2022, costing just over CFA2 billion. The previous year saw imports of 6,913 tons of such tires, amounting to CFA1.8 billion. Contrary to popular belief, the INS data indicates that new tires, despite being more expensive, are more marketed and used in Cameroon than so-called second-hand tires.

Source: Business in Cameroon

MTN Cameroon reported a robust revenue of CFA325.7 billion for 2023. According to data released on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa, this figure marks a 10.9% increase from 2022, showcasing a notable acceleration in growth and performance.

Analysis by Business in Cameroon reveals that revenues rose by 8.7% in 2022, 2.2% less than last year. MTN Cameroon’s revenue substantially outpaced the CFA312.9 billion reported by its main competitor, Orange Cameroon, highlighting the company’s dominant market position. A significant driver behind this growth has been internet connection services, which accounted for nearly 38.4% of total revenues. For the first time, these services have overtaken direct call services as the leading contributor to MTN’s revenue in Cameroon.

The company also saw significant strides in its fintech services, including credit lending, which surged by nearly 44.5% to reach CFA57.5 billion, based on the conversion rate at the end of the financial year. This is a sharp increase from the 10.2% growth in 2022.

Data and fintech services combined have formed 52.13% of MTN Cameroon’s total income, up from 51.4% in 2022, 47% in 2021, and 40.6% in 2020. By the end of December 2023, MTN boasted a record 5.8 million active internet subscribers and 5.6 million active Mobile Money users in Cameroon, marking the highest levels in five years. The average revenue per user in Cameroon reached a new high of CFA2542.02 in 2023.

Amidst this positive trajectory, MTN declared a pre-tax and depreciation profit of CFA123 billion in Cameroon, constituting 37.8% of its revenue, the best margin recorded since 2019. However, despite these favorable outcomes, challenges persist. The internet market faces ongoing consumer grievances regarding service quality across all providers. Furthermore, the South African company is currently embroiled in legal proceedings where its bank accounts were frozen due to a dispute involving Baba Danpullo’s holding company, Bestinver, and its South African banker, First National Bank (FNB), a subsidiary of FirstRand Bank (FRB), one of MTN’s shareholders.

Source: Business in Cameroon