(Business in Cameroon) - As part of its strategy to promote “made in Cameroon”, the Cameroonian government aims to push up local products on shelves of large distribution outlets whose number is increasing across the country.

The trade minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, said: “between 2015 and 2016, the number of hypermarkets in our country jumped by 150% while that of supermarkets grew by 44.56% and the number of mini-markets increased 5.88%”; making these places one of the best channels of promoting made-in-Cameroon products. According to the official, local products account for at least 18% of the references currently and the government’s mid-term objective is to bring this rate to 50%.

The strategy of exposing local products in supermarkets, owned both by foreign and domestic groups, Mr. Mbarga Atangana said “has allowed the emergence of products that one would never have imagined could be marketed and consumed on such a scale”.

This breakthrough of products made in Cameroon is clearly noticeable on the shelves of Casino, and especially at BAO, a brand specializing in Cash & Carry (wholesale technique, at low prices), launched in March 2018 in Douala, the Cameroonian economic capital.

Brice R. Mbodiam