The 16th session of the Steering and Monitoring Committee of the French Debt Relief and Development Contract, C2D took place last May 21, 2024 in Yaounde under the co-chairmanship of Finance Minister, Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey and French Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E Thierry Marchand.
The Puratos Group, which specialises in bakery, patisserie, and chocolate, plans to set up a cocoa bean processing plant in Ebolowa, the capital of the South Region. This information was revealed recently, during a meeting between Puratos representatives and local authorities in Ebolowa.
Since 2019, Puratos has shown interest in the quality of Cameroonian cocoa beans and is sponsoring several centers of excellence for post-harvest processing in the country. Eddy Van Belle, President of Puratos, stressed the significance of high-quality cocoa beans in producing premium chocolate during his 2019 visit to Cameroon.
Although specific details of the Ebolowa plant project are not yet available, the facility will initially process 5,000 tons of cocoa beans annually, with plans to gradually increase this capacity to 65,000 tons.
This announcement comes just a week after the groundbreaking ceremony for a new factory in Obala, Centre Region, by Sas Manta, a company led by Frenchman Olivier Bordais. The Obala plant, named Chocolat Rouge, aims to produce high-end “Made in Cameroon” chocolate, according to Cameroonian Trade Minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana.
If both projects are completed, these new players will join a dynamic market that includes companies like Sic Cacaos (a subsidiary of Swiss Barry Callebaut), Chococam (owned by South Africa’s Tiger Brands), Atlantic Cocoa (from Ivorian Kone Donsongui), and Cameroonian firms Neo Industry and Africa Processing.
In 2023, Cameroon exported 73,236 tons of cocoa-derived products, generating revenue of CFA153 billion, a 15% year-on-year increase. Cocoa and derivative sales brought in over FCFA6 billion in 2022.
However, industry insiders report that some of these processing units face bean shortages due to aggressive buying by exporters linked to major international traders. This scarcity has forced some processors to request government permission to import beans or to put staff on technical leave during peak cocoa season.
In response to these supply challenges, Cameroon introduced an export tax on raw cocoa beans in its 2023 finance law. Unprocessed cocoa beans are now subject to a 10% FOB export duty, with a reduced rate of 2% for beans exported to industrial free zones or similar regimes.
Despite these measures, Cameroon is far from its goal of processing 300,000 tons of cocoa beans annually as outlined in its cocoa-coffee sector recovery plan. Achieving this target will require not only increasing production to 600,000 tons but also ensuring a stable supply of beans to processors amid intense competition from exporters. Some industry stakeholders suggest implementing a quota system to balance bean purchases between exporters and processors.
Courtesy of https://www.businessincameroon.com/