(Business in Cameroon) - The Société Camerounaise de Palmeraies (Cameroonian Palm Company), a company owned by the Socfin group and listed on the Douala Stock exchange (DSX), the Cameroonian equities market, is considering investing FCfa 38.2 billion for the expansion of its farms in the Littoral region.

The news was recently revealed in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, during a agreement signing ceremony with the government. This agreement thus gives Socapalm the advantages provided for by the law on encouraging private investment in Cameroon, which grants investors 5 to 10 years of exemptions, throughout the installation and production stages.

Leader in the palm oil production in Cameroon, Socapalm operates more than 78,500 hectares of palm grove in the Littoral and Southern regions. Approximately 32,500 hectares are directly exploited. A great part of the farms supplying the raw material to the company are village farms, whose operators are under contract with Socapalm.

The palm grove expansion project, which should enable the creation of an additional 816 jobs according to our sources, aims to increase the production of this food company, in order to lower the national production deficit in palm oil, which only yearly imports of 15,000 to 16,000 tons can compensate for.

BRM