(Business in Cameroon) – Employees of Cameroon Shipyard and Industrial Engineering Ltd (CNIC) began a new strike on September 30, 2025, at the company’s headquarters in Douala, demanding payment of 18 months of unpaid wages estimated at 2.7 billion CFA francs.
Carrying banners, the protesters called on President Paul Biya to intervene. “For nearly five years, we’ve reached breaking point. Wage arrears keep piling up and have soared over the past two years,” said Gaspard Nyetam, a staff representative.
CNIC retirees have joined the protest. Norbert Tcheutgnia, representing the retirees’ collective, said many pensioners are dying without medical care because they are not receiving the benefits guaranteed under agreements between the company and the state.
CNIC management declined to comment when contacted by Business in Cameroon on October 6.
The latest walkout follows a 2023 protest in which employees demanded 1.2 billion CFA francs in unpaid wages and 800 million CFA francs owed to retirees. That demonstration was reportedly dispersed by police.
The state-owned shipyard, once a leading industrial firm, has faced chronic financial distress for more than a decade. Around 2013, internal strikes over disciplinary sanctions against union leaders exposed the company’s recurring crisis.
CNIC’s annual revenue has plunged from over 40 billion CFA francs a decade ago to about 3 billion CFA francs today. It now carries more than 3 billion CFA francs in tax debt and over 2 billion CFA francs in unpaid social-insurance contributions to the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS).
The firm also struggles with obsolete equipment, recurring strikes, and internal conflicts, deepening its financial woes.
A government-led restructuring plan (2015-2017) cut the workforce from 800 to 300 employees and aimed to attract an industrial partner and funding for the Limbe Oil Yard to restore competitiveness.
Today, CNIC maintains limited operations through government industrial contracts, such as the rehabilitation of ferry boats, to generate revenue. But workers say they have lost faith in a recovery, with the current strike highlighting a social climate near collapse at what was once one of Cameroon’s flagship industrial enterprises.
Frédéric Nonos
