(Business in Cameroon) – In November 2024, Cameroon’s banana exports totaled 16,004 tons, down from 19,866 tons during the same period in 2023. According to the Cameroon Banana Association (Assobacam), this represents a drop of 3,862 tons, or a 19.4% decrease year-on-year.
The decline in exports is primarily attributed to a slowdown in operations at Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP), the market leader. PHP’s shipments to international markets were weaker than expected, with exports falling nearly 30%. Official data shows that PHP’s exports dropped to 10,903 tons in November 2024, marking a year-on-year decrease of 4,628 tons (29.8%).
On the other hand, the Mondoni Banana Company (CDBM), a subsidiary of the French company Compagnie fruitière de Marseille, which entered the Cameroonian market in June 2023, saw an 81.7% increase in exports in November 2024. According to Assobacam, CDBM’s international sales grew from 732 tons in November 2023 to 1,628 tons in November 2024.
The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the country’s second-largest employer after the public administration, recorded a 24.6% rise in exports, from 2,000 tons in November 2023 to 2,493 tons in November 2024. Despite the ongoing socio-political crisis in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon, which has heavily impacted the corporation, CDC’s export figures exceeded 3,000 tons in January and September 2024.
Private producer Boh Plantations Plc, which now ranks fourth in the market due to the emergence of CDBM, saw a decrease of 459 tons in its exports in November 2024. The company exported only 980 tons to international markets that month, compared to 1,439 tons in November 2023.
Bananas remain one of Cameroon’s key export revenue sources. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), in 2023, Cameroon exported bananas worth CFA 42.9 billion to the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US). To further increase revenue from banana exports, the country plans to boost its annual production to 500,000 tons by 2030, up from the current 210,000 to 240,000 tons, according to the country’s National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (SND 20-30).
