15 BFCFA investment to combat soybean Oil Scarcity, employ thousands

Cameroonians will, in the near future, be lifted out of the existing scarcity and high cost of soybean oil on the local market as agro-industrial company, Agrivar Cameroon, is investing FCFA 15 Billion in soybean processing.

The investment is expected to employ about 1,000 Cameroonians and make soybeans oil cheaper in the Cameroonian market as it will see the processing up to 150,000 tonnes of soybean per year, according to information from the company’s management.

Through the Investment Promotion Agency (API), the Cameroon Government has also granted Agrivar Cameroon tax and customs exemptions for 5 to 10 years. This is based on the 2013 law on incentives for private investment in the Cameroon.

Agrivar Cameroon will be mounting up a soybeans processing unit in Douala with a crushing capacity of between 150,000 – 300,000 tonnes of soybean per year.

“Soybean oil is scarce in our markets because of its very high price. This makes the product not accessible to the majority of Cameroonians, despite its multiple nutritional values. With the establishment of our production unit and thanks to the support of the Cameroonian government, we intend to popularize the consumption of soybean oil and make soybean meal more accessible to breeders ”, said Bayard Ngoupouyou Ketcha, CEO of Agrivar Cameroon.

Although Cameroon already has the Soyobeans Processing Industry of Cameroon (Soproicam), based in economic capital Douala, the company has been unable to satisfy the country’s 25 million citizens.

Agrivar Cameroun is expected to reduce soybean imports as Cameroon currently spends FCFA 14 billion for soybean imports yearly.

Joining the Soybean sector, Agrivar Cameroun SA adds to the number of companies specialising in soybean production among them the Soyobeans Processing Industry of Cameroon (Soproicam) which supervises more than 16,000 soybean farmers in the northern part of Cameroon.