Editorial: Gov’t must resist brewers’ pressure!.

This is at a time the World Bank projects that if current trends continue, the extreme poverty rate in Cameroon could reach 25.0% by 2026, affecting approximately eight million people.

The Bank's recent CEMAC Economic Barometer highlights that the population living in extreme poverty has already increased by more than two million since 2001, exceeding six million, or 23% of the Cameroonian population.

In the same gory trend, the fifth Cameroon Household Survey, by the National Institute of Statistics, NIS, indicates that "nearly two out of five Cameroonians live below the national poverty line, set at 813 FCFA per day per person". 

The threshold translates to about 10 million people living in poverty in 2022, out of an estimated total population of around 27 million. More than half of these impoverished compatriots are in extreme poverty.

NIS noted that there has been an increase in poverty incidence from 37.5% to 38.6%, between 2014 and 2021, indicating a slight deterioration rather than an improvement. 

This trend is far from meeting the National Development Strategy, SND30 goal of reducing poverty to 30.8%, by 2030.

Also feeling the pinch, especially cost by the hike in fuel prices, brewers want to shoot up prices too, given the craving thirst of Cameroonians for the intoxicating liquors.

Some of the consumers often say in their penury, they turn to "alcohol to forget their problems". 

It is perceived in government parlance that an increase in the price of their kind of tranquiliser could spark social unrests, which the CPDM regime wants to avoid at all cost.

Last Tuesday, in what looked like a fire brigade emergency meeting, the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, invited government and stakeholders in the sector to his office.

Those in attendance could be interpreted as a sign of panic. They included representatives of the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure, the Ministry of Territorial Administration, the Ministry of Finance, the General Directorate of Taxes, and the General Directorate of Customs on the government bench.

The brewers and stakeholders at the meeting were members of the Cameroon Alcohol Producers' Association, CAPA; representatives of the National Union of Distributors of Hygienic Drinks of Cameroon, SYNASDIBOHYCAM; the National Union of Operators of Drinking Places of Cameroon SYNEDEBOC; the National Consumer Council, and representatives of Associations Defending Consumer Rights.

Complaining of production costs, the brewers and their distributors, some of who have already imposed unilateral increases on the gullible consumers, especially in rural areas, were bent on their demands.

When a similar meeting took place last May, the brewers confirmed that there was an unauthorised increase in the market, which benefitted only distributors and retailers.

According to some credible observations, "it is difficult to find a bar that sells beer at the recommended retail price. For example, a 65cl beer is authorised to sell for 650 FCFA, but today it is practically impossible to buy a bottle of beer for less than 700 FCFA".

In many towns in the South West and North West Regions, ravaged by conflict, a bottle of beer sells even in makeshift drinking parlours for 900 FCFA, instead of 650 FCFA.

At the May meeting, the Minister of Trade vetoed the demand for any official increase and did so again on Tuesday accusing the brewers and agents of generalised "hypocrisy", pointing out the absence of organisation, consultation and dialogue within the sector.

He warned that any price modification is subject to a prior approval procedure, based on convincing supporting documents. 

He advised that “contractual relationships between producers and distributors should be well defined”.

At the same time, he asked brewers to provide evidence justifying the request to hike prices, especially as they are "making profits". 

Normally, in a free market economy, it is demand and competition that determine prices of goods and services. 

But in the Cameroon brewery sector, demand is usually higher that the supply.

 In such a monopolistic situation, shylock traders exploit the helpless masses, which is what is happening in the beer industry in Cameroon today.

While the government is scared of a possible spontaneous demonstration against an official rise in alcoholic prices, it also has the responsibility to sanction those who have clandestinely increased their prices.

It should also be the duty of brewery industries to ensure their distributors and retailers maintain official prices or they are blacklisted.

More importantly, there should be a media campaign to educate Cameroonians, especially the unemployed and frustrated youth, on the impact of excessive alcoholic consumption on their health, deviant behaviour and crime.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3172 of Thursday July 18, 2024