(Business in Cameroon) - The cotton production in Cameroon should drop by approximately 10,000 tons during the 2016-2017 season. Indeed, production forecasts from Société de Développement du Coton (Sodecoton), the agribusiness giant in Northern-Cameroon, officially peak at 248,150 tons of cottonseeds, against 258,000 tons produced during the last season.

Despite this slight decrease which can be imputed to the harsh climate, the company’s provisional figures shown during the Promote Fair, an economic event which ended on 19 February 2017 in Yaoundé; ginning activities, will ultimately, help getting slightly more fibres than during the past cotton season. Representing 109,000 tons in total, against 107,000 tons in 2015-2016.

The company’s crushing activities will be more dynamic during the current season, with a cumulated production of cotton and soy oil estimated at 17 million litres, in increase by 2 million litres compared to the previous season. Concurrently, cottonseed meal production, highly sought as livestock feed, is announced at 65,213 tons, a slight drop compared to the 66,000 tons produced in 2015-2016.

The turnover of the company is also expected to increase at FCfa 122.662 billion, against FCfa 114 billion during the previous season. To reach this target, Sodecoton launched a challenge meant to reward distributors who have the best turnover, and was able to get partners to boost the distribution of its cotton and soy oils in Southern-Cameroon.

The expected performances are the consequence of a slew of measures taken these past months by the management of this company, who has been facing financial difficulties for at least 2 years. Indeed, we learned from reliable sources, through its equity and with the support of the State of Cameroon, shareholder owning 59% of Sodecoton, 70% of the industrial equipment and fleet of the company were renovated, while the credit line negotiated with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), to purchase fertilisers to distribute to producers, was increased; moving from FCfa 8.5 to 13 billion.

Brice R. Mbodiam