- (Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon launches tender for FEED study on a CFA500 bln fertilizer plant project.
- Plant planned as a public-private partnership to cut heavy reliance on imports.
- Past fertilizer projects stalled, while private sector builds new local capacity.
Cameroon’s Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (Minmidt) has issued a call for expressions of interest to prequalify firms for the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study of a planned national fertilizer plant.
The FEED study will assess the project’s technical and economic feasibility before detailed design and construction. It will also cover safety and environmental standards to ensure compliance with international norms. According to the tender notice, “Cameroon has the land and strategic plans to develop agriculture, but the lack of local fertilizer and pesticide production creates strong dependence on imports.”
The project is included in the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Budget and Economic Programming Document (Dpbemt). While construction has not yet been confirmed, the plant, estimated at CFA500 billion, is expected to be developed under a public-private partnership, with Minmidt as project owner.
Plans to establish fertilizer plants in Cameroon are not new. Several projects have been announced over the past decade but stalled. One of the largest was proposed by German firm Ferrostaal in Limbé in 2013, with an investment of CFA1,250 billion for an annual output of 600,000 tons of ammonia and 700,000 tons of urea. That project remains blocked due to disagreements over gas pricing, leaving the case with state-owned oil and gas company SNH.
Meanwhile, the private sector is working to strengthen local supply. On May 7, 2025, Agriculture Minister Gabriel Mbaïrobé inaugurated a plant in Bonabéri, Douala, run by Hydrochem Cameroon, a subsidiary of Noutchogouin Jean Samuel (NJS) Group. With a capacity of 120,000 tons per year, expandable to 150,000 tons, the unit is expected to halve Cameroon’s fertilizer imports, currently about 300,000 tons annually.
These moves come as Cameroon remains highly dependent on agricultural input imports. The National Institute of Statistics (INS) reports the country imported nearly 210,000 tons of fertilizer in 2020 worth CFA38 billion. Between 2021 and 2023, fertilizer imports cost CFA173.9 billion, with volumes and prices both rising, highlighting the urgency of building a sustainable domestic production base.
