(Business in Cameroon) - On April 11, 2018, the cornerstone of Douala Grand Mall & Business Park (whose construction works had started since January 2018) was laid in Douala.

According to official sources, during the first phase of this construction, an 18,000 m² rental mall outlet will be built and during the second phase (which should be launched after the first phase is commissioned during Q2, 2019) a 5-star hotel and an office park will be built.  Let’s remind that the rental mall outlet will host a supermarket operated by the French group Carrefour,  a multiplex of five movie theaters operated by the Nigerian group Genesis, restaurants, leisure complex and shops.

David Morley, Head of real estate at Actis reveals that the construction of Douala Grand Mall & Business Park (the first major real estate project of Actis group in Cameroon) will cost CFA80 billion. Moreover, Mathurin Kamdem, managing director of Craft Development (the gigantic real estate project’s proponent which successfully convinced Actis LLP to invest in the project), informs that during the construction, local companies will supply different building materials and equipment. The value of these supply is estimated at CFA30 billion.  

According to the project’s proponent, the Douala Grand Mall & Business Park will help create 4,000 direct and indirect jobs and in the words of Luc Magloire Atangana, the commerce minister,  “Actis is setting Garden of Eden in Cameroon”.

It is to be reminded that this project is benefiting from the tax and customs incentives prescribed by the April 2013 law on private investments incentives in Cameroon.  

Brice R. Mbodiam