(Business in Cameroon) – Atlantic Cocoa, the cocoa bean processing plant built by Ivorian billionaire Koné Dossongui in Cameroon’s Kribi industrial port zone, officially launched the expansion of its facility on June 27, 2025. The kickoff meeting marked the start of feasibility studies on new equipment to be built for the project. This stage is tied to initial payments to the equipment supplier, which in this case is Swiss manufacturer Bühler.
The planned upgrade will increase the factory’s annual grinding capacity from 48,000 tons to 64,000 tons. According to a source familiar with the matter, the project is expected to cost more than CFA10 billion. This new investment will bring the total cost of Atlantic Cocoa’s Kribi plant to over CFA40 billion, following the CFA30 billion spent during its initial construction.
Construction at the Kribi site is scheduled to begin in July 2026, giving Bühler time to build the required equipment. Once delivered to Cameroon, the installation is expected to take six months, including testing. The upgraded facility should become operational between late 2026 and early 2027.
The launch of this expansion signals a turnaround for Atlantic Cocoa, which faced tough beginnings due to a shortage of cocoa beans on the local market. Local processors like Atlantic Cocoa have had to compete with exporters working on behalf of major global traders, leading to intense rivalry over bean sourcing.
Atlantic Cocoa was the first company to set up in the Kribi industrial port zone. Since September 2023, it has been led by Cameroonian executive Josiane Salomé Tchoungui, a former banker who previously held leadership roles at Orabank Bénin, BGFI, Ecobank, and Standard Chartered Bank in Cameroon. Since taking over, she has helped turn around a factory once plagued by raw material shortages into one now aiming to boost its production capacity.
