(Business in Cameroon) - At the end of an executive board meeting in Yaoundé on March 28, 2018, the management of SOSUCAM announced the possibility of the companies plants in Mbandjock and in Nkoteng being closed. The reason for this is the drop in their sales following the massive imports of sugar. Indeed, between May and September 2017, Cameroon authorized the import of about 70,000 tons of sugar (authorization granted to SOSUCAM for most of these imports, according to authorized sources). So, sugar is available in great quantity in the Cameroonian markets. This lead to a drop in prices, which is advantageous for Muslims since they will start the Ramadan fasting shortly and this period is generally characterized by high demands of sugar.

Traders reveal that in Douala and Yaoundé, Sosucam sells a bag of 50 KG of sugar at CFA30,000 but the same quantity of imported sugar is sold between CFA22,000 and CFA23,000.

At the same time, according to the regional tri-weekly l’Oeil du Sahel, a 50kg bag of Brazilian sugar is sold at CFA27,500 in the Far-North while the one from Sosucam is sold at CFA31,500. This represents a difference by CFA4,000 or more.

The journal informs that combined with the purchasing power of most of the Cameroonians, this substantial difference is high enough for even the most patriotic individuals to prefer imported sugar.  

For the record, 74% of SOSUCAM is owned by the French company SOMDIAA and Cameroon owns 26%. In 2017, the company produced 130,000 tons of sugar but the demand was estimated at 300,000 by public authorities. This reveals a gap that other companies are unable to fill since they buy raw materials from Sosucam when the country does not authorize them to import granulated sugar with preferential customs rates.

BRM