(Business in Cameroon) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently issued an international call for tenders to select firms that will supply it with three palm oil extraction plants and mini-power plants.

According to the call, each of the extraction plants must have a nominal processing capacity of 6 tons per hour.

These plants will be situated at Dibamba, Njombe-Penja, and Mbanga, all in the Littoral region of Cameroon. Companies interested in this call for tenders can submit their bids till November 26, 2020, with a guarantee deposit of XAF20 million.

The equipment is acquired in the framework of the Agricultural Value Chain Development Project, led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development thanks to funds from the African Development Bank (AfDB), we learn.

The palm oil component of this project will help boost local production, which is unable to meet local demand. According to official data, due to the rise in investments from palm oil processors, Cameroon records a nominal deficit of 130,000 tons of palm oil every year. To fill the gap, the country imports the product from countries like Malaysia and Gabon. This year, the country plans to import 90,000 tons.

Let’s note that the nominal deficit referred to here is not the real deficit. According to Emmanuel Koulou Ada, president of the committee in charge of regulation in the oilseed sector, it is rather calculated by taking into account just 50% of companies' processing capacity. “Were companies’ full processing capacities to be taken into account, the deficit would have beeen much higher,” he concluded.

BRM