(Business in Cameroon) – The National Printing Press of Cameroon has entered a new phase of its restructuring. On November 28 in Yaoundé, Communication Minister René Emmanuel Sadi signed a public-private partnership (PPP) with Giresse Tella, president of the Ivorian group Impact Palmarès R&D SAS, known for its expertise in combating document fraud.
The 20-year contract, whose value has not been disclosed, is designed to modernize the public company responsible for printing official journals, documents used by public administrations, and materials produced for private clients.
Already present in Cameroon under a ten-year contract for the management and security of electronic visas, Impact Palmarès will finance and carry out a full transformation of the National Printing Press’s facilities. The first three years will focus on building modern infrastructure equipped with high-performance machines, followed by seventeen years of operation and maintenance.
The company will also be responsible for document security and improved economic management of the site, while generating non-tax revenue for the state in line with the value-sharing structure of the PPP.
The agreement comes as recent reports from the Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public and Parastatal Enterprises (CTR), now absorbed by the SNI, highlighted outdated machinery, declining production, and strained cash flow, creating urgency for modernization.
In 2018, orders sent to the National Printing Press totaled CFA7 billion, but only CFA3 billion were delivered. That same year, the company posted a negative result of CFA827.83 million. A 2019 assessment showed that large-format machines essential for high-volume printing were out of service, severely limiting output.
The modernization plan aims to bring the National Printing Press up to international standards with automated processes and digital traceability. It also targets the elimination of fraud and the securing of production at a time when more private actors are issuing sensitive documents.
The project seeks to restore national authority amid rising competition and reaffirm the central role of the National Printing Press in the administrative chain. Authorities see the transformation as a tool to improve competitiveness and capture new markets in the Cemac region (Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea). Once completed, the modernization is expected to create skilled jobs and meet national and regional demand for secure documents.
Frédéric Nonos
