(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon launched construction of a CFA 30 billion ($49 million) pharmaceutical factory in partnership with China’s Yicheng Pharmaceutical Group.
- The plant aims to reduce the country’s reliance on imports, which cover over 90% of drug consumption.
- The project is the first phase of a broader plan worth over CFA 500 billion through 2035, including a hospital complex and a pharmacy network across Central Africa.
Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Nguté presided over the groundbreaking ceremony on October 3, 2025, in Meyo, near Yaoundé, for a new pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. The project, led by Cameroonian entrepreneur Idriss Confiance Mbé in partnership with China’s Yicheng Pharmaceutical Group Fabrication Co., is expected to create between 300 and 500 direct jobs.
The plant will take 15 months to build and cost CFA 30 billion. Financing will come from the promoters’ equity, banks, and other local and foreign investors.
Developers expect the facility to begin operations in September 2027 with an annual production capacity of 100 million infusion bottles, 2 billion injectable ampoules, and 10 billion tablets across 100 drug and medical device categories.
Mbé said, “The history of Cameroon’s pharmaceutical industry, though marked by commendable initiatives from courageous pioneers, has never seen a project of this scale or with such strategic importance for our nation’s health future.”
He added, “More than 90% of medicines consumed in Cameroon are imported, leading to shortages, prohibitive costs, dangerous counterfeits, loss of foreign currency, and strategic vulnerability in public health.”
The government supports the private initiative as part of its policy to promote import substitution. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Cameroon imported CFA 170 billion of pharmaceuticals in 2024, up CFA 3.3 billion year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, imports reached CFA 41 billion, putting pressure on foreign reserves and worsening the trade deficit.
The Meyo facility, built on a five-hectare site, is expected to help reduce massive imports by expanding domestic production.
Despite its strategic scope, the plant will face a difficult operating environment. The pharmaceutical sector in Cameroon struggles with contraband, which creates unfair competition for local producers. Industry survival largely depends on procurement by the public purchasing agency Cename, which often delays payments, straining producers’ cash flow.
In addition, a 2018 excise duty on non-returnable packaging continues to cause disputes between the tax authorities and drug manufacturers.
Promoters say the Meyo factory is only the first step in a multi-phase program running until 2035. After the plant’s delivery in September 2027, developers plan to expand the facility and build a modern hospital complex. Between 2031 and 2035, they also intend to establish a pharmacy network covering the entire Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Cemac).
The two additional phases, estimated at over CFA500 billion, are expected to generate more than 1,000 jobs.
This article was initially published in French by Brice R. Mbodiam
Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum
