With a production capacity of 600 thousand tonnes per year, the Turkish cement factory, Medcem Cameroon S.A. based at the Essengue Seaport Zone is a veritable investment that has come to add to the fight against cement crisis in the country.

Built on a surface area of 25,000 square metres, the FCFA 16 billion investment which produces three cement types, among them the CEM II 42.5 R and CPJ 35 has currently generated 230 direct jobs, yet has a great potential of further increase. According to Taha A. Ozbey, Project Manager, the factory is expected to be commissioned before the year ends.

The plant was set up in accordance with Law N° 2013/004 of 18 April 2013 to lay down private investment incentives in Cameroon, thus it benefits certain exemptions during installation and operation. Talks about the creation of the outfit began two years ago but materialised on September 9, 2014, when the General Manager of the Turkish multinational, Eren Holdings, Abut Ozsezikli, was in Yaounde where he sign an investment agreement with the government of Cameroon. Above all, the kicker was given by the bilateral visits of the Cameroonian and Turkish Heads of State in 2013.

The out-going Turkish Ambassador to Cameroon, Omer Faruk Dogan, who had earlier expressed his feelings to see the project come to fruition, said the cement plant is proof that it is not only the concern of his government to have Turkish investors come to sell in Cameroon, but that it is Turkey’s ambition to move to help develop the country. It is in line with this that Taha A. Ozbey disclosed that the Oren Holdings will in the future established factories for the production of building materials and energy in the country.

Sources say the choice to invest in cement production in the country comes from the fact that the cost per tonne is more profitable. In Turkey, a tonne of cement is worth 70 USD, about FCFA 35,000 while in Cameroon, it is said to be 180 USD, about FCFA 90,000 – three times more.

The demand for cement in the country is currently estimated at 2.8 million tonnes per year. With the new operator, supply may gradually move towards meeting demands. However, there is an ever-increasing demand for cement strengthened by the many infrastructure projects going on in the country.