(Business in Cameroon) - At least 27% of products manufactured in Cameroon will be found on the shelves of the new Carrefour supermarket in Bonaberi. Guillaume Tanne, CFAO Retail Cameroon's CFO, said that customers will have access to around 3,000 local products. This represents a proportion ranging from 27% to 40% of all products advertised in this supermarket, for which the Carrefour-CFAO Retail partnership claims an investment of CFA5 billion.

The sale of local products is gaining momentum in Carrefour outlets in Cameroon. For instance, at the opening of the very first Carrefour store in 2017 in Douala, only 1,500 local products were announced on the shelves, which is half the volume in the new Bonaberi supermarket. The PlaYce hypermarket, opened by the same operator in Yaoundé in 2022, officially displays 4,600 local products, which is 20% of the more than 20,000 products sold in the shopping center.

Guillaume Tanne reported that the turnover generated on local products now stands at 40% of the overall turnover, compared to 30 to 35% just a few years ago. According to reliable sources, this turnover reaches 75% when it comes to locally purchased products, with several suppliers of the brand being importers.

To give more visibility to local products, the Carrefour supermarket network in the country has developed concepts such as the "Made in Cameroon Fortnight." This usually involves a 15-day promotion of local products, including tasting sessions, presentations of local products, exchanges with producers, fashion shows by local stylists, and various entertainment. The last edition took place from May 11 to May 24, 2023.

Thanks to these initiatives, Carrefour, which works with a network of 400 producers, is responding to the government's ambition to put local products at the forefront thanks to its import substitution policy.