Cameroon’s import of maize reaches all-time high – Report.

In what the NIS titled as, “External Trade Report” on Cameroon, it stated that this staggering hike is coming after an equally staggering decline of 64.4% in 2022. Quantitatively, NIS showed that maize imports rebounded, reaching 39,991.3 tons, valued at 7.8 billion FCFA.

“Data analysis reveals that 2023 marks Cameroon's highest maize import volume in the five-year period from 2018 to 2023. Previously, the peak import volume was recorded in 2021, with 34,100 tons. This is a substantial increase from the import figures of 13,700 tons, 14,600 tons, and 19,600 tons in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively,” the report showed.

Deepening import substitution

Observers agree that the agriculture sector in Cameroon is passing through a paradox, where producers are struggling to up their output to satisfy rising demand by industries, but the increase in local production is never high enough to meet demand, both internally and internationally, as government’s ongoing import substitution policy enters effective implementation phase.

The case of cocoa, whose price per kilo has suddenly risen from less that 1,000 FCFA last year to over 5,000 FCFA now, buttresses this claim. 

That is why NIS corroborates that this resurgence in Cameroon's maize imports after 2021 coincides with the strengthening of local supply, following the commissioning of a maize processing plant by the Compagnie Fermière du Cameroun, CFC in November 2021. 

CFC, which is a subsidiary of the agro-industrial company, Société Anonyme des Boissons du Cameroun, SABC, boasts an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of maize grits; used in beer production. 

This processing facility enables Cameroon's leading brewery to meet its entire maize grits requirement locally, thereby reducing maize imports.

To ensure a steady supply of raw materials, CFC has committed to supporting 30,000 to 40,000 farmers organised in cooperatives to develop maize fields covering around 12,000 hectares. 

The resulting maize grits production supplements the roughly 10,000 tons purchased annually from MAISCAM, a state corporation specialised in maize production, located in the Adamawa Region.

Though NIS suggests that the surge in maize imports in 2023 could also be attributed to two other factors. It cites a slowdown in maize grits production at MAISCAM and within cooperatives supported by CFC, which necessitated more imports to meet SABC's grits production needs and a spike in maize purchases by players in the national poultry sector, where 80% of animal feed is maize-based.

To attain the objectives of government´s import substitution policy, the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, had expounded a strategy to promote products "Made in Cameroon". 

He told economic operators, farmers and other stakeholders in productive sectors to aim at satisfying local demand by producing sufficient quantities to ensure their availability. 

This, the PM also said, will reduce losses in livestock and fishery products, and overhaul the agricultural system for an eventual industrial transformation of local production.

The government also recommended restricting the import of products whose demand can be met by local supply and by gradually increasing taxes on imported goods that can actually be produced in the country. 

The PM had called for more tactical approach to combating smuggling, counterfeiting, and by granting tax and customs incentives to investors.

Also, and in an effort to boost to the policy of import substitution, the government has since 2021, fine-tuned some provisions of the Finance Law with aim to spur local production in different economic sectors. 

In the agricultural sector, for example, prefabricated constructions for greenhouses and improved agricultural seeds are exempt from customs duties and taxes.

For the livestock sector, this measure only applies to improved animal seeds, vaccines, and medications for veterinary use. As concerns human health, vaccines and software for medical use shall be exempt from paying customs duties and taxes. 

The measure shall for the next two years include appliances, equipment and medical supplies meant to improve the technical infrastructure of public and private health facilities. 

These exemptions further apply to the wood exploitation sector and particularly concerns imported appliances, equipment, materials and tools intended to develop local "advanced wood processing" activities. 

The objective is to strengthen local wood value chains, increase the availability of wood products on the local market and limit wood log exports.