(Business in Cameroon) – On January 12, the Cameroonian Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (Minepia) issued a call for expression of interest to pre-qualify investors wishing to invest in the animal by-products processing sector.
According to the calling document, the government will co-fund, with the qualified private investors, the establishment of the processing units thanks to funds provided by the World Bank in the framework of Livestock Development Project Prodel.
The Minepia’s call for expressions of interest reveals that the units to be built include a large-scale dairy processing unit (with the possibility of setting up a UHT-type dairy), an industrial pork processing unit, an industrial poultry processing unit, a beehive products processing unit, and an industrial beef processing unit.
The document adds that the public funds to be injected into each of these projects range between XAF150 and 350 million, or 60% of the budget necessary to implement the business plan. Economic operators interested in this government offer can submit their tender documents, by February 5, 2021, to the Prodel coordination unit in Yaoundé.
Apart from boosting the value of products such as Oku white honey (labeled by the African Intellectual Property Organization-Oapi), the implementation of these projects will have a significant impact on Cameroon’s trade balance, in which the importation of dairy products and other sausages and cheeses weigh heavily.
For instance, according to estimates by the French National Interprofessional Center for the Dairy Economy (Cniel), France exported over 305 tons of cheese and 1,835 tons of milk and dairy beverages to Cameroon in 2018.
Also, in 2015, the country spent XAF31 billion (exceeding the average of XAF20 billion recorded since 2013) to import milk, according to figures published by the Minedia.
