(Business in Cameroon) - Construction sector companies in Cameroon have a new competitor in their midst: the National Civil Engineering Equipment Depot (Matgénie in French), a public company previously exclusively devoted to the acquisition, rental and maintenance of civil engineering equipment to construction companies that lacked the means to buy their own machinery.

Indeed, a presidential decree which has just been published, widens the State-owned company’s scope to include services provided in the construction sector. Basically, the former civil engineering focus body will now be competing for construction contracts.

This is lifeline that has been thrown to the public company which has been agonising for several years because of the reduction of its equipment park due to a lack of maintenance. This situation, along with the arrival of new civil engineering equipment rental companies in Cameroon led to a drastic downturn in sales for the State company that left it unable to pay its staff. With the newly authorised diversification and the recent improvement of its park, the company has found a new path.