(Business in Cameroon) - The Cameroonian government and the Lafarge group, who recently merged with the firm Holcim, recently signed an investment agreement for the construction of a cement factory in the town of Nomayos, close to the Cameroonian capital.

This agreement between the Cameroonian State and Lafarge-Holcim will thus help to resurrect this project announced 5 years ago. Indeed, a cornerstone ceremony for this cement factory took place in September 2011 in Nomayos, just a few days after the start of the construction works for the Dangote cement factory in Douala, which started operating in 2015.

Justifying the delay in the installation of this new cement factory, Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo, Chairman of Cimenteries du Cameroun (Cimencam), local subsidiary of Lafarge, mentioned “the industrial procedures (which) are time-consuming”. Before adding: “Discussions are ongoing with the State on tax and administrative issues. The most important is that the project has reached maturation today and this agreement signing will enable us to finally start the works, which should be completed by 2018”.

Worth a total of FCfa 23 billion, this investment will finally benefit from the provisions in the private investment incentives Act in the Republic of Cameroon adopted by the Cameroonian Parliament in 2013, which grants important tax and customs exemptions to economic operators during the installation and production phases of their companies.

BRM