The internationalization of Cameroon agricultural products to access market in United Kingdom and other European countries is the main objective of United Kingdom Trade Partnerships Programme-Cameroon launched in 2019.
The three years pilot programme due to end in 2022 worth eight hundred million francs cfa focuses on promoting the exportation of cocoa and its derivatives and Penja Pepper.
According to Veronigue Stephanie Elong, coordinator of UK Trade Partnership (UKTP) “UK selected to promote the exportation of Cocoa and Penja Pepper for specific reasons.
First, Cameroon is the fourth highest producer of cocoa in the world but cocoa from Cameroon is not directly exported to UK. This explains why the two countries are deepening economic and trade relationships to ensure that there is direct exportation of cocoa from Cameroon to UK.
Secondly,Penja Pepper is a niche product with a label and protected therefore a good product for the UK.
According to James Duddridge, Uk minister for Africa and the foreign, commonwealth and development office(FCDO) visiting UK investments in Cameroon,the partnership is implemented by International Trade Centre in Geneva Switzerland;a UN development agency that is dedicated to support the internationalization of small and medium size enterprises by connecting small and medium size enterprises in developing countries to international markets.
UK – Cameroon partnership programme seeks to increase awareness of economic partnership agreement and preferential markets conditions,encourage transparent business in export,improve institutional and business service to support market access,increase capacity for small and medium size enterprises to go international through training for quality production of products and opportunity in market linkages as well as connect producers with potential buyers.
Minister James Duddridge accepts that the exportation of cocoa and Penja pepper does to encourage veritable industrialization and creation of jobs in Cameroon but assures that the partnership progressively is seeking ways of extending the project to a level of encouraging local transformation of agricultural products. This is possible by training producers in the domain of branding, packaging and the valorization of agricultural products.
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Minister James Duddridge in the process of visiting UK investments in Cameroon was at Douala Grand Mall Wednesday March 24, 2021. He expressed appreciation of the putting in place of a giant business hub that exposes Cameroon’s unique agricultural products to the world.
Mbatho Ntan.
United Kingdom intensifies trade relations with Cameroon
