(Business in Cameroon) - Official figures from the Ministry of Water and Energy (MINEE) suggests Société camerounaise de transformation métallique (SCTM) a cooking gas distribution company controls close to 50% of the market. Total and Camgaz follow with 18% each and Aza Afrigaz mark has 11% share of the market.
Newly introduced brands in the market; MRS, Kosan Chrisplaint (Glocal Gaz) have 6% percent each. But as for Tradex it just in its third week on the market, the ministry is yet to determine its market share.
Although Cameroon has seven brands of cooking gas, the Minister of Energy and Water, Basile Atangana Kouna in an interview published in the government owned outfit, the Cameroon tribune of Thursday April 18, 2013 thinks there is market space for other gas retailers. An official statement from the Ministry says that only 60% of the national demand for domestic gas is satisfied.
To conquer the market, other than SCTM, the new brands are running adverts in the media and planting billboards across the country.
But SCTM is unwilling to change its strategy, as the Director of operations in the company, Jérémie Dassié thinks, “with the present situation we cannot develop a new marketing strategy, since demand is only satisfied at 60%”.
Rather, he confirms his company wants to first judge the practicability of the new offers, the conformity to Cameroon standards and norms, and their added value.