Asian Countries Investment-Interested In Cameroon

Thailand, Singapore To Invest In Cameroon

By Ernest Ndukong

Like China, many other Asian countries are beginning to explore and exploit potentials in Africa as a whole and Cameroon in particular.

Singapore, a market-based economy, constitutes one of the countries that make up the Four Asian Tigers with China, Hong Kong and South Korea completing the list. They are interested in palm oil production in Cameroon.

According to the World Bank, Singapore is the world's top logistics hub and depends largely on exports and refining imported raw materials which made up about 27 percent of her 2010 Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Rizan Jiffrey, Director of Planning and Business of GoodHope Asian Holdings Limited Company based in Thailand, led a delegation to Douala recently to negotiate the establishment of about 30 thousand hectares of oil palm plantations.

Jiffrey disclosed that the over FCFA-1 billion project whose creation will take about five years to complete will not only be based on opening an oil palm plantation, but will also process the nuts for domestic and foreign consumption.

GoodHope Asian Holdings Limited Company is world leader in the production and processing of palm oil and has over 120,000 hectares of palm oil plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, produced 15,000 metric tons of cholesterol free red palm oil, rich in vitamin E, in the period ending 2009 from 12,000 hectares of palm plantations.

Despite the huge potentials for Cameroon to be a palm oil giant considering the suitable natural conditions, the nation still depends on imported oil to satisfy an ever growing palm oil consuming population.

It is recorded that 35,000 tons of palm oil was imported into the country in 2010.

There are numerous useful bi-products that could be gotten from the inputs of palm oil amongst which are palm kennel, liquid substance from trunk and even the leaves.

Palm kennel is used to manufacture soap and cosmetics whose economic value is a whole topic of discussion. The liquid substance from the trunks locally called ‘matango’ is extracted, sold and consumed locally. Some groups in the society value it more than what comes from the breweries.

The Director General of the Investment Promotion Agency, Marthe Angeline Minja, along with the institution’s Deputy Sinwin Boma Soh Donatus, who had the encounter with the potential investors, promised support to the Singapore business people and indicated their interest to magnetise and uphold foreign investments in Cameroon.

In a parallel light, Thai businessmen are also considering investing in Cameroon. Thailand has come through undulating economic and financial times and is now an emerging economy, considered as a newly industralised country.

Cameroon and Thailand share commodities across international boundaries. Thai rice is consumed heavily in Cameroon while vegetables, fruits and timber from Cameroon are part and parcel of Thailand’s market.

Agriculture, infrastructure, telecommunications, mining, tourism amongst others are areas being explored for possible exploitation and investment in Cameroon.

The Executive Director of the International Affairs Bureau, Thailand Board of Investment, Vasana Mututanont led a delegation to Cameroon and had a working session with Cameroon’s Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Louis Paul Motaze, on August 8.

Trade exchange between Cameroon and Thailand stood at over FCFA 5 billion in 2010 and Cameroon stands a great chance to benefit from Thailand, considering that the two nations share similar priorities which are produced in higher quantum by Thailand.

Thailand turns out over 20 million tons of rice every year, exporting nine million tons, and her tourism sector contributes 10 percent to the GDP of the Southeastern Asian nation with a tourist hit nearing the population of Cameroon.

She also produces about 30,000 megawatts of power, with the primary contact being electrical energy.

These fantastic records are Cameroon’s agricultural, tourism and electrical expectations for it to think of becoming an emerging economy in 2035.