In a letter dated January 19, 2026, addressed to the president of the Cameroon Association of Metallurgical and Steel Industries (Acimesi), the secretary-general of the Prime Minister’s Office rejected any revision of the rebar standard currently in force in Cameroon. According to the correspondence signed by Magloire Séraphin Fouda, Acimesi had submitted a request on November 28, 2025, asking the Prime Minister’s Office to revise the standard.
In its response, the Prime Minister’s Office gave an unequivocal refusal. “I have the honor to inform you that your request has not received a favorable response. The proposed revision of the standard appears inappropriate in the current context of a fast-growing sector in which the State has committed significant resources to improve regulation and structure,” the letter said.
Acero Metal in the background amid divisions within the industry
Led by Mortada Hassan, who is also known as the head of cement producer Mira Company, Acimesi is said to have acted at the prompting of Acero Metal, according to sources within the steel and metallurgy sector. The rebar producer is described as the only metallurgical company not affiliated with the Cameroon Association of Steel Processing Industries (Ocita), which became the Organization of Metal Processing Industries (Ocitram) following the accession of Alucam and Proalu SA.
Ocitram brings together the country’s three other steel processors: Aciéries du Cameroun, Prometal, and Metafrique Steel. In this context, the request to revise the standard also appears to reflect broader issues of industrial alignment and sector governance, at a time when the government is pursuing a cleanup and restructuring strategy.
The Prime Minister’s Office decision comes fifteen months after the withdrawal of a conformity certificate issued to Acero Metal by the Standards and Quality Agency (Anor). The issue stemmed from the production of Fe450 rebar, a grade described as absent from Cameroon’s official standards catalogue. Following a complaint filed by Ocita, Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana asked Anor to withdraw the certificate and order the recall of all rebar placed on the market under the disputed standard.
In a letter dated October 16, 2024, Anor’s acting director-general complied with the request. “Further to your letter referenced above, in which you requested the withdrawal of the conformity certificate signed on January 15, 2024, for failure to comply with the requirements of the Cameroonian standard for rebar, made mandatory by the decree of April 20, 2022, I have the honor to inform you that the conformity certificate issued to Acero Metal Sarl on January 15, 2024, has been withdrawn. All Fe450 rebar distributed on the national market will be recalled and recycled in accordance with existing regulations, under Anor’s supervision,” the letter stated.
A mandatory standard since 2022, justified on safety grounds
For both the government and producers, compliance with the rebar standard is presented as a key safety issue for buildings constructed in Cameroon. Authorities recall that over the years, the poor quality of construction materials—including rebar—has contributed to building collapses, sometimes resulting in fatalities. The current standard was developed with input from producers and has been mandatory since 2022.
However, tensions that have persisted for more than a year around this regulatory framework suggest that its requirements do not enjoy full consensus. According to the text, some economic operators are seeking to alter the standard’s content, against the backdrop of rapid restructuring within the sector.
BRM
