About FCFA 830 billion generated in 2013 by mining industry

Cameroon’s mining sector generated almost FCFA 830 billion or 30% of state revenue from January 1 to December 31, 2013, according to the 2013 EITI report presented on Wednesday in Yaoundé.

The 2013 EITI report was presented during a ceremony chaired by the Minister of Finance (Minfi), Alamine Ousmane Mey for Initiative pour la Transparence dans les Industries Extractives (ITIE) project.

These revenues contributed 5.4% to the national GDP and accounted for 38% of exports with a possibility of creating jobs by 0.2%.

This is the second of such report of achievement by Cameroon as stated by ITIE. If we stick to the published report, the performances recorded by the mining sector in Cameroon are slightly below those of 2012 by 2% less, despite the entry of minerals like diamond and sapphire in the list of exported products.

The reason is that, "in 2013, small scaled companies started the operation in certain minerals. However, following the fall in the price of these materials at the international level, their activities were interrupted pending the prices and resumed their normal business before the diversion," as shown by Kimaka Dieudonné, a member of the ITIE Committee.

Oil sector

The first artisans of the revenue recorded in 2013 were the oil companies particularly the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) that contributed FCFA 542 billion. SNH operation brought FCFA 24 billion while the rest of 14 valued oil companies generated FCFA 202 billion.

Thus, 24.2 million barrels of oil were produced during the year 2013. FCFA 21.3 million of oil were exported to the international market and the rest sold locally. Ample data showed that between 2012 and 2013, revenues from the oil sector increased by 17%. According to Minfi, "it is rather important to aggregate for an economy like ours."

Mining Sector

The Cameroon diamond is now part of Cameroonian exports. In 2013, 2,141 carats of this new commodity in the market were sold on the international market. Gold experienced a 52 kg production and exports amounted to 84 kg during the year. Sapphire, marble, granite, limestone, clay, sand and aggregates such as gravel also made their debut in exports although export quantities were further reduced for the period.

Dieudonné Kimaka noted that "the ITIE system is progressive. We are trying to strengthen exports of the state with other materials." The total yield of these minerals contributed FCFA 2.5 billion to state revenue in 2013, according to the report.

In total, 22 extractive companies registered by the state in Cameroon were assessed in the context of the preparation of this report, for a coverage rate of 99.99% according to the independent firm responsible. It showed that 14 of those companies were from the oil sector, seven from the mining sector and one of them falls within the area of oil transport. The recommendations advocated by this assessment required the government to conduct an assessment of the impact of actions undertaken as part of the ITIE initiative on strengthening transparency and good governance in the extractive sector. The next publication is planned for 2016.