(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the country's second-largest employer after the public administration, exported 301 tons of banana in June 2020, according to data from the banana exporters’ association (Assobacam). The agribusiness company is thus back on the country’s banana exporters’ list after 19 months of absence.

The operator stopped operations in September 2018 due to the insecurity created by English-speaking separatists in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon. After over a year of absence, this public agro-industrial unit is once again active and automatically repositioned itself as number 2 on the banana market, behind Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP) and ahead of Boh Plantations Plc.

The revival of CDC’s activities was expected since the 3^rd quarter of 2019. According to internal sources in Assobacam, after numerous governmental consultations on the company’s situation, it was already projected that by that time, the company would resume activities over 1,000 hectares.  

However, the company’s managers indicated that to recover from the damages caused by the crisis in the English-speaking regions, CDC would need CFAF29 billion from the state, its sole shareholder. This financial need has probably shot up now.

Brice R. Mbodiam