Cameroon to bail out SPM

The one time number three banana production company in Cameroon, Société des plantations de Mbanga (SPM), is now in bankruptcy.

Despite some 25 million euros loan granted in recent years (mainly by Afreximbank and the European Investment Bank), Société des plantations de Mbanga (SPM) is bankrupt.

Formerly the third-largest producer of bananas in Cameroon with 40,000 tons in 2008, this business about 90% owned by the French, Jean-Yves Brêthes, is presently not exporting any quantity.

According to our sources, the businessman would have to agree after months of discussions to sell his shares to the State which holds about 10% of the share capital of the company through the National Investment Society (SNI).

The Cameroonian authorities want to revive this important sector of the country by creating a new entity on the rubble of the SPM. Some representatives went to Brussels to request a return of European Union aid for banana production in early July, which SPM had been deprived of due to mismanagement.