(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon’s banana exports fell 2% year-on-year in May 2025, dropping by 321 tonnes. The Cameroon Banana Association (Assobacam) reported that shipments totaled 15,222 tonnes, compared with 15,543 tonnes in May 2024.
Strong performances from the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) and Compagnie des Bananes de Mondoni (CDBM) helped limit the overall decline. These two producers were the only ones of Cameroon’s four exporters to post gains.
CDBM led the pack with a 25% surge in exports, increasing sales from 1,098 tonnes in May 2024 to 1,465 tonnes in May 2025. CDC, Cameroon’s second-largest employer after the civil service, raised exports by 10.4% to 3,014 tonnes, up from 2,700 tonnes last year.
Europe Remains a Key Market
Meanwhile, Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP), Cameroon’s largest banana producer and a subsidiary of France’s Compagnie Fruitière de Marseille, saw exports slump. PHP shipped 9,998 tonnes in May 2025, down 9.2% from 10,921 tonnes in May 2024—a loss of 923 tonnes.
Boh Plantations PLC (BPL), now the fourth-largest producer since CDBM’s arrival two years ago, exported just 745 tonnes in May 2025, down 10.6% from 824 tonnes a year earlier.
Bananas remain a crucial source of export revenue for Cameroon, with Europe as the key destination. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), Cameroon sold CFA42.9 billion worth of bananas to G7 countries in 2023. The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US.
Brice R. Mbodiam
