(Business in Cameroon) - Power Supply will be cut in the central and southern regions of Cameroon today March 5 between 6am and 12pm, the energy and water minister informed in a communique the previous day.

“This power cut is needed to connect Nomayos' down-step substation to the electricity transmission network. The station will allow in turn the commissioning of the new Nomayos cement production unit,” the minister said.

The facility required an investment of XAF23 billion provided by Cimenteries du Cameroun (Cimencam), the local unit of Lafarge-Holcim.  It is expected, with its annual capacity of 500,000 tons, to improve Cimencam’s production to 2.1 million tons per year.

The project whose investment agreement was signed in May 2016 with the Cameroonian government, benefited from the provisions of the 2013 law (revised in 2017) “on incentives for private investment in the Republic of Cameroon.” The law grants significant tax and customs exemptions (5 to 10 years) to economic operators, both during their installation and production phases.

An increase in production, let’s note, will help Cimencam better stand competition from Dangote Cement which arrived on the market in 2015. Indeed, only 2 years after Dangote's arrival, Cimencam lost shares on the market after being the leader for 48 years.

In 2017, the Nigerian firm recorded highest sales with its Cameroonian, Senegalese and Ethiopian subsidiaries. The announced construction of a second Dangote cement plant, also in Nomayos, will boost competition between the two market rivals (Dangote and Lafarge-Holcim). The new unit with a capacity of 1.5 million per year will then increase the Dangote Group's overall production in Cameroon to 3 million tons, compared to 2.1 million tons for Lafarge-Holcim's local subsidiary.

Brice R. Mbodiam