(Business in Cameroon) - Banana exporters operating in Cameroon exported 187,884 tons of banana in 2020, against 204,320 tons in 2019, according to figures compiled by the Banana Association of Cameroon (Assobacam). Year-over-year, this shows a drop by 17,436 tons (-8%) in the exports.
This drop in performance is mainly due to the decline in the exports of market leader plantations du Haut Penja (PHP). Its exports fell from 187,423 tons in 2019 to 166,762 tons in 2020 (representing a drop of 20,661 tons or 11% between the two periods).
The exports of Boh Plantations, which became the second-largest operator in the sector in Cameroon due to the cessation of state-owned company Cameroon Development Corporation’s (CDC) activities (due to attacks by armed gangs in the Anglophone regions), fell from 16,897 tons in 2019 to 14,954 tons in 2020 (representing a drop of 1,943 tons or 11.5%).
CDC was not operational in 2019 but it exported 6,168 tons of banana in 2020. This was however not enough to make up for the shortfall.
Bananas are among the top 10 non-oil products exported by Cameroon to the European Union. According to the latest official figures, the country sold XAF136 billion worth of bananas on the European market in 2019. With this decline in export volumes in 2020, we should logically expect a decline in Cameroon’s export revenues from the product.
S.A.