Cameroon: 45 billion for self-sufficiency, Opalm launches a vast palm oil production plan with the construction of a factory
The Cameroonian government and the company Opalm formalized a large-scale agro-industrial project in Yaoundé on December 22, 2025, aimed at reducing dependence on palm oil imports.
Through the signing of two investment agreements and a set of specifications, the partners launched a five-year program. Its first phase will be the construction of a plant in the Nyong-Ekelle department (Centre region).
Work on this first unit is set to begin in the first quarter of 2026, with delivery scheduled no later than the third quarter of 2027.
It will be followed by four other plants in the country’s production basins, representing a total investment of 45 billion CFA francs. The project will create 450 direct jobs and approximately 1,200 indirect jobs.
The goal is to address a structural deficit. Cameroon currently faces an estimated annual production shortfall of 300,000 tonnes of palm oil.
This shortage severely hampers the local processing industry (refineries, soap factories), which operates at only 40-50% of its capacity; estimated by the Minister of Agriculture, Gabriel Mbairobe, at 1.2 million tonnes.
Opalm’s CEO, Tarek Daoud, announced that his company’s program will add 108,000 tonnes to national capacity. “This represents a reduction of the deficit by about 50%,” he specified.
This increase in local production aims to enable processing plants to finally operate at full capacity.
Beyond boosting the sector, the project is central to the government’s import-substitution policy, which seeks to develop local production to reduce imports and the trade deficit.
Palm oil is a critical import, costing about 100 billion CFA francs annually and significantly weighing on the country’s trade balance.
“Opalm’s project will help the state rebalance this trade balance, even if just a little,” emphasized Minister Mbairobe. The company itself states a dual objective: to support the state in structuring the rural sector and to increase national production.
Thanks to facilities provided by the investment code and a framework for synergy with palm nut producers, this public-private partnership could mark a turning point in the quest for self-sufficiency in this strategic commodity.
If the schedule is met, Cameroon could significantly reduce its import curve by the end of the decade.
Gilbert FOTSO
