Gov’t bans cement importation

The objective, according to the Government is to reassure local businesses by allowing them to reach their maximum production capacity.

Since January 2016, the Cameroonian government proceeded with the temporary ban on imported cement in Cameroon. The decision of the Cameroonian authorities is motivated by the presence of several cement plants in Cameroon. Douala, the country’s economic capital account in this case, four plants owned by four multinationals, including two European and two African.

Since the implementation of this decision in January, “the Ministry of Commerce, twice already, had to reiterate the ban at the port in particular, where cement entries were found,” reveals the governmental daily newspaper, Cameroon Tribune on newsstands this Monday, April 4, 2016. The customs sources report that “seizures of cement bags from Nigeria are recurrent in the Far North of the country.“

Poor competition, especially in its outlook report of the evolution of economic activities in Cameroon, the BEAC estimates about cement that, competition will be very rough during the second quarter of 2016, with the additional offer of Medcem cement. But also, because “imports will continue to increase the supply.” Also according to the BEAC, with this competition increasingly urgent, “the decline in prices is expected by consumers.“

According to Cameroon Tribune, the cement prices decline has indeed been initiated since last year in Cameroon. A slight decrease of around 200 F in the 50-kilogram bag. In hardware stores of Yaounde, products of foreign brands continue to sell, including the Conch Cement. The price of the bag then oscillates between FCFA 4600 and 4900. And all the local brands are in abundance.

Currently, the installed capacity of cement production in Cameroon is between 3.7 and 4 million tons a year, while the needs are around 2.5 to 2.8 million tonnes per year. And even though all four cement plants are not yet running at full capacity, supply is already much greater than the demand.