(Business in Cameroon) - On January 25, Cameroonian customs intercepted a shipment of 18.4 tons of cocoa beans intended for smuggling to Nigeria through the Idenau port in the Southwest region. To avoid customs, the smugglers falsely declared the bags as containing peanuts during the loading onto artisanal boats.

Indeed, faced with the intensification of fraudulent exports of Cameroonian cocoa to Nigeria during the 2022-2023 season, the Minister of Trade, following a crisis meeting with sector players on June 13, 2023 in Yaoundé, had to ban exports of beans to this neighboring country. The surveillance system involving administrative authorities, security forces and customs officers was immediately reinforced to ensure better monitoring of the Southwest trade area, a key hub for these illicit exports.

For example, within Cameroon's cocoa-producing region, it was noted that during the 2022-2023 cocoa season, fraudulent exports, predominantly to Nigeria, reached unprecedented levels ranging from 30,000 to 60,000 tons. Official data reported that this accounted for 10 to 20% of the national cocoa production, resulting in a substantial financial setback for the Treasury, amounting to nearly CFA10 billion in terms of export duties and royalties. Also, there was a loss in foreign currency repatriation amounting to around CFA60 billion.