(Business in Cameroon) - On November 7, 2014 in Yaoundé, the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana (photo), officially granted 13 companies in Cameroon preferential status with the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC), which enables 81 of their products to be exported duty free to the ten CEEAC countries.

Among these companies are the industrial entities such as Aluminium du Cameroun (Alucam), the agro-industrial company, Nestlé, the match stick manufacturer Unalor and especially Société camerounaise de verreries (Socaver), the best placed company among the 13 selected by the CEEAC.

The Brasseries du Cameroun, which specialises in the manufacturing of bottles, cylinders and glass flasks, on its own, has been approved to export to the CEEAC, 28 of the 81 products selected among the 13 companies. The products have been chosen based on criteria such as having at least 40% of its raw products sourced locally and incorporated in the manufacturing process and at least 30% added value at the community level.

One hundred and forty million consumers strong, the CEEAC comprises Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea; the DRC, RDC, Sao Tomé & Principe and Chad. On October 27, 2014, Ruanda announced its plan to join the organisation after having left in 2010.

In April 2014, 19 Cameroonian companies and 145 products were granted access to CEMAC, the organisation made up of six of the 10 countries in the CEEAC. Eleven of the 19 companies are on the list of 13 countries officially admitted to the CEEAC on November 7.