(Business in Cameroon) - According to the Cameroonian Association of Oil Refineries (ASCROC in French), soap and refined oil product exports from Cameroon to Nigeria, Chad and Congo Brazzaville, the DRC and the Central African Republic (CAR) have been “virtually at standstill” for several months.

ASCROC Secretary General, Jacquis Kemleu Tchagbou, has indicated that this is due to the sporadic, murderous attacks perpetrated in the Extreme-North of Cameroon by the Islamist sect, Boko Haram as well as general insecurity at the border shared with the CAR.

In addition to hurting the sales of local soap manufactures, this underselling has affected the entire oil product sector. “Agro-industries and village farmers of crude palm oil, soya beans and cotton are no longer able to sell their produce. For example, the fat used in soap production comes from the fractionating of crude palm oil which helps to produce a refined palm oil. Yet, as refined palm oil is no longer selling, it is out of the question for the refineries to buy crude oil to get stearin for soap production,” explains ASCROC’s Secretary General.