(Business in Cameroon) – Only three of four producers exported in September and October 2025
- CDBM and PHP drove overall growth with strong export increases
- Industry remains dominated by Compagnie fruitière’s two subsidiaries
In September and October 2025, only three of Cameroon’s four active banana producers carried out exports. According to data published by the Banana Association of Cameroon (Assobacam), Boh Plantations Plc (BPL), now the smallest operator in the sector after the rise of Compagnie des bananes de Mondoni (CDBM), made no international sales during the past two months. Assobacam did not provide reasons for the producer’s withdrawal from the exporters list since September 2025.
However, data compiled by the association show that this absence had no impact on the country’s overall exports, thanks to strong activity from the three other operators. In September 2025, Cameroon’s banana shipments posted a slight year-on-year decline of 0.74 %, reaching 22,720 tons compared with 22,890 tons in the same month of 2024.
In contrast, exports rose in October 2025, reaching 20,062 tons. According to Assobacam, this volume reflects a 51.5 % increase, equal to 6,825 tons, compared with the 13,237 tons exported in October 2024.
The recovery in Cameroon’s banana exports over the past two months was mainly driven by CDBM, the second subsidiary of Compagnie fruitière de Marseille in the country. Having entered the market just over two years ago, the agro-industrial unit recorded export increases of 86 % and 97.8 % in September and October 2025. Its shipments reached 2,925 and 2,475 tons in September and October 2025, compared with 1,573 and 1,251 tons during the same months in 2024.
Export growth was more modest at CDC, the public agro-industrial company still affected by the ongoing Anglophone crisis in the North-West and South-West regions since late 2016. Assobacam reports that CDC’s banana exports rose 39.1 % and 63.2 % in September and October 2025. They reached 4,357 and 3,415 tons in September and October 2025, compared with 3,124 and 2,092 tons in the same periods of 2024.
After a decline in its international sales in September 2025, falling from 18,193 tons to 15,438 tons (-15.1 % year-on-year), Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP) — the first subsidiary of Compagnie fruitière and market leader — saw its exports rebound in October 2025. Shipments rose to 14,172 tons, up 43.2 % from 9,894 tons a year earlier.
The mixed but overall positive export performance of these three producers offset the disappearance of the fourth exporter during the review period, stabilizing revenue from this key cash crop. Bananas are among Cameroon’s main sources of export earnings, with Europe as the primary market.
The sector is heavily dominated by Compagnie fruitière de Marseille. Through its subsidiaries PHP and CDBM, the French agro-industrial group accounts for 70–80 % of Cameroon’s banana exports each year. The multinational also provides technical support to all other local producers, reinforcing its influence in the market.
