(Business in Cameroon) - Cocoa market leader Telcar Cocoa, the local dealer of American Cargill, has shown a weak dynamic over 2022-23. According to data compiled by the cocoa-coffee board ONCC, the operator’s market share slightly dropped to 35.8% over the period, from 36.09% the previous campaign.

As a reminder, the company owned by billionaire Kate Fotso (pictured) has acquired 100% of the assets of Ndongo Essomba, one of the main traders in the Centre region, the country's largest production basin. It is currently unclear whether this deal has yet to yield its full benefits, or if the contribution from this acquisition has been offset by underperformance in other regions of the country.

It should be mentioned that insecurity persists in the Southwest region, the second-largest cocoa production area in Cameroon and a traditional source of supply for Telcar Cocoa. According to officials, during the 2022-23 season, this region was also a hotbed of massive and fraudulent exports to Nigeria (about 40,000 tons were smuggled, according to ONCC estimates), depriving local traders, primarily Telcar Cocoa, of cocoa beans.

In addition to the gloomy cocoa market conditions in the Southwest region, this season has witnessed the dynamism of other traders and local processors. For instance, while operator Usicam held the second position among exporters in 2021-2022 with a 19.6% market share, the second-ranking operator for the 2022-2023 season, Oficam, boasts over 23% market share. Meanwhile, Sbet, ranked third, increased its market share by 1.5%, rising from 9.9% to 11.4% over the two seasons, according to ONCC data.

At the same time, locally processed volumes during the 2022-2023 season increased by 2.7%, partly due to the entry of Africa Processing into the market, intensifying competition for cocoa bean purchases.