(Business in Cameroon) - Minister of Livestock, Fisheries, and Animal Industries (Minepia), Dr. Taïga, inaugurated a new modern and automated animal feed production plant in Olembe, north of Yaoundé, on April 24. The plant belongs to the Noutchogouin Jean Samuel (NJS) group and is a significant investment by Provenderie du Centre, totaling nearly CFA5 billion. This venture is the latest subsidiary of the group founded by the late Jean Samuel Noutchogouin, established in partnership with undisclosed Belgian investors holding a 20% stake valued at one billion CFA.

Spanning a one-hectare site, this industrial unit has an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons of animal feed for all ages, including ranges for laying hens, broilers, pigs, cattle, small ruminants, horses, rabbits, and fish. Initially focusing on pelleted and crumbled feed for livestock and poultry, Provenderie du Centre plans to expand production to fish feed and soybean processing, as stated by its Managing Director, Bart Buytaert.

The managers note that the produced feed will primarily serve the Central, Southern, and Eastern regions, as well as livestock farms in neighboring countries such as Chad, CAR, Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. The factory will also supply feed to the NJS group's parent farm in Obala, about thirty kilometers from Olembe, expected to consume between 600 and 700 tons of feed per month.

Strategic investment

The opening of this new facility addresses the growing market demand, with the animal feed plant in Bafoussam, in the West, operating at full capacity. According to Managing Director Bart Buytaert, the choice of Olembe is strategic. "This is a new unit of the NJS group designed to manage production in the central region of animal feed already produced two months earlier in the west, which we decided to relocate here. The Central region is very promising for livestock; it already accounts for 40 to 45% of the group's turnover. We also wanted to be closer to the raw materials needed for feed production, sourced from the North and South," he explained.

"The inauguration of the Olembe plant, the result of unprecedented investments throughout the CEMAC region, will also enable our group to achieve complete autonomy in our activities for the Central, Southern, and Eastern regions, to better serve our customers and meet all their needs in the agro-industrial value chain," responded Marcel Tchagongom, Chairman of the NJS group's board of directors, known for over 40 years for sustainable agricultural practices and substantial investments.

Livestock Minister Dr. Taïga states that this industrial production unit contributes to achieving the government's goals outlined in its import-substitution policy within the 2020-2030 National Development Strategy (SND30). "This significant plant helps develop sectors of our economy that can reduce imports, modernize production methods, and further transform our agricultural products. This contributes to realizing a true agricultural revolution as envisioned by the President," said the government official, urging private economic operators to invest in the livestock sector.