BY NDUMBE BELL JOSEPH GASTON IN DOUALA
The Minister of Commerce Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana has exhorted the Carrefour supermarket chains of the CFAO group to introduce concrete measures to mitigate the rising cost of consumer consumption in order to fight the galloping inflation plaguing the international marketplace including the CEMAC zone.
The call was orchestrated at the inaugural ceremony of the 4th supermarket outfit in Douala this time at Logpom, in Douala 5 community, last Wednesday,March 29 in the presence of representatives of government, public and private sector, investors and leaders.
Minister Luc Magloire Mbargaen joined all stakeholders in the production, distribution and consumption chains to fight the rising cost and that this motivation will only make Carrefour a flagbearer and a winner and help by increasing their customer base and also be seen as one of those implementing the new strategic development plan created by government.
He congratulated CFAO’s former General Manager Luc Demez and extended a warm welcome to the new G.M. Philippe Marcillon (who had also worked in Russia, Vietnam and beyond) wishing him success for his mission.
The Minister looked at the economy in perspective and appreciated Carrefour market’s participation in creating jobs for the youth and emphasised to all stakeholders on the need for professionalism into large scale and small-scale production, through the agro-industrial sector to improve, produce and promote made-in-Cameroon products, which he revealed, started from 30% as an ambitions amount in 2017 to 60% – 70% items on the supermarket shelves today.
Luc Magloire Mbarga also raised eyebrows as he encouraged import substitution to produce better standard goods locally so as to import less and to be getting ready to trade within the pan-african free trade zone.
He also recommended that Carrefour supermarket chains deploy and adopt the program of freezing the price of a certain number of consumer products over a quarterly or semi-annual period to show fidelity and solidarity with consumers as it is now being done in France.
The new General Manager of CFAO Phillippe Marcillon earlier in a press conference before the arrival of the Minister, said they decided to have another facility in this neighbourhood to improve the lives of the people here. It is now at their doorstep so they do not need to go to Bonamoussadi Carrefour Market. Throughout in Cameroon, the made-in-Cameroon products occupy 60 percent of items “on our shelves and we intend to continue with this trend”, because of its impact on jobs and sustainable development. They intend to continue spreading in areas such as Bonaberi in Douala, in the West and other regions of Cameroon. The recruitment of the young in CFAO or Carrefour is another major goal. For example, the young manager of Carrefour market Logpom received training. Carrefour market employs 60 workers and many producers, suppliers and distributors are benefiting from this, the G.M. and collaborators such as the Director of the Human Resources explained.
In the presence of the Minister, Phillippe also had a three-point objective during his address. He said for the period of 2015 to 2022, this is the 4th outfit in Douala and the 6th in Cameroon (two in Yde). Development is on-going with 400 producers representing 60% of the items sold in the supermarket shelves. He named his second objective as recruitment and training. Presently, they have 1000 salaried workers in Cameroon. There is also 1.400 training opportunities. The third objective was disclosed as their obsession in satisfying their clients by providing optimal services, quality products of international standards, thereby improving the lives of the citizens. He thanked all stakeholders for their contributions and advised all to come closer together to build the nation.
The manager of Carrefour Market Logpom Michel Eric Bian promised optimal services and asked the population of Logpom to collaborate with them to realise the needed objectives. The representative of the Mayor of Douala Dr. Mbassa Ndine also offered words of encouragement and gratitude to CFAO and Carrefour.
The Logpom entity is said to have been constructed on a 2000 m² area, lasting 9 months by Cameroonians. It offered a sales block area of 750 m² and a car park facility claimed to have been tailored on international standards.