Promoters of the FCFA 125 billion project say Esse in the Centre Region will host the processing plant.

It is a project that once operational will change the face of the banana and plantain sector in Cameroon. Promoters of the plantain processing plant comprising over 20 agropoles and four processing units across seven regions of Cameroon, say their intention is to professionalise the sector, create more jobs and scale up production.

In effect, it was on June 9, 2016, that the General Manager of the Integrated Priority Action for Agricultural Development in Cameroon, (SAPIDACAM S.A.), Gilles Herman Foka and his Board Chair, Jules Abanda Ndouma and their Spanish partners of the Tomsa Destil company (specialized in agro-industrial processing) represented by its Deputy General Manager and Sales & Business Development Director, Roman Rudkowskyj and Manuel Ariza Martin respectively signed an agreement to kick start the ambitious project.

The project intends to produce 1, 5 million tons of banana plantain; 200 000 tons of chips; 300 000 tons of flour; 1, 2 billion liter of ethanol; 200 MW of electricity; and biogas. It is expected to create 70, 000 direct jobs and 150, 000 indirect jobs, to be done through the National Employment Fund.

The project cost is evaluated at FCFA 125 billion and will see the construction of social development facilities like schools, churches and hospitals. Project promoters are glad that; “The funds are currently available and housed in two Spanish banks”. The plant is expected to be constructed during a period of 24 months plus one year of guarantees making it up to three years.

Banana and plantain is cultivated in of the 10 regions of Cameroon, notes SAPIDACAM. Production is estimated at 200, 000 tons per year. Production deficit is in the neighbourhood of 4 million tons annually, notes Gilles Herman Foka. The not-so-atisfactorily production capacity is blamed on cultivation techniques that are reportedly artisanal in spite of the grouping of farmers into cooperatives.

Low processing capacity has also hit the sector, with only 30 per cent of production processed. The project owners want to develop by 100 per cent, banana and plantain products in Cameroon.

The project comes on the wake of scarcity, reportedly blamed on poor farm-to-market roads. Other inconsistences are blamed on the opening of the market to regional buyers who in most cases buy in the farms. Consumers of the highly cherished tubers have had to switch to other things due to high scarcity.

Consumers say even what is found in markets remain of poor quality. The SAPIDACAM / Tomsa Destil Company project once operational will solve some of the problems.