(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon’s national mining company (Sonamines) is developing a plan to grab some market share in the mineral water sector. Although more details have not yet been provided on the project, we learned from a source that the company led by Serge Hervé Boyogueno (pictured) wants to install a water production plant in Ekolkang, in the Littoral region.

The project has been in the pipeline for about a year and “I believe the feasibility studies are satisfactory,” the source said. Sonamines is entering a very competitive market dominated since 2016 by Source du Pays, which produces the brand Supermont. The market leader ended that year with about 52% market share, compared to only 36% for SEMC, the former market leader, which has since been struggling to recover.

Created on December 14, 2020, Sonamines is a company with public capital, with the State as the sole shareholder. However, according to the presidential decree creating the company, Sonamines' shareholding may be open to other public or private entities. Its mission is to develop and promote the mining sector and to manage the state's interests in this area. Hydrocarbons, which are the responsibility of the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), and quarries, which are to be managed by the communes per the General code of decentralized local authorities (CTD), are excluded from its remit.

BRM