To boost Banana and coffee production: Lious Paul Motaze undertakes two-day economic “revival” visit to Mungo plantations

Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Development, Louis Paul Motaze, has rounded up a two-day economic “revival” visit to some plantations in Mungo division of the littoral region. The visit which had as aim to spur plantain and coffee producers and to convey government’s support and assistance saw the ministerial delegation transiting to over four production centers in the division.

The delegation whose mission ran from Thursday 25th to Friday 26th started at the aged old and near defunct Mbanga plantations known popularly in French as Societe de plantations de Mbanga, SPM. From Mbanga to Njombe where Minister Lious Paul Motaze visited plantain plantations right up to Melong and Nkongsamba where his visit centered on boosting the production and transformation of quality Coffee, the local producers all took the pledge to redouble their efforts so as to serve the ever-increasing markets.

Lious Paul Motaze in Penja 

The minister at every stop did not fail to encourage local producers to augment their output and meet ever available markets, especially in Europe after Cameroon signed the EPA agreement with the European Union. He told the farmers that it is thanks to the diversified nature of Cameroon’s economy that enables it to be resilience and floating when other countries in the CEMAC block and Africa are collapsing.

To ensure the uninterrupted boom of the economy, the Minister urged local producers to take the commitment that they will put in more efforts and the government, he added, will support them all the way through by providing financial, material as well as technical support.   

Speaking on day one of the ministerial filed visit, the Mayor of Mbanga highlighted that the life of the over 60.000 inhabitants of Mbanga had since the suspension of the plantations activities not been the same.

The mayor told the ministerial-led delegation that since some 80% of the population depended on the plantation, its closure rendered hundreds jobless plunging the town into an economic abyss.

working session with stakeholders

After visiting the technical units of the plantation, Minister Lious Paul who was elevated to the rank of notable by the traditional rulers reassured the population that the plantation shall live. 

He added that both technical and financial assistance had been previewed by the government with a whopping cira 25 Billion FCFA loan from AFEXIMBANK and the African Development Bank, to be invested in reviving the plantations.

Accompanied on their two-day field visit by Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, Littoral regional governor, the minister’s next stop was at the Societe des plantation du Haut Penja, PHP, where the Director-General revealed that, being the highest producer of banana in the nation, they are poised to excel to unmatchable lengths.

There, the minister expressed destitute over the drop in the production capacity of the plantation in 2017 which caused Cameroon to lose the first position of banana producer in Africa to Ivory Coast. In response, the plantation’s Director General reassured the MINEPAT boss that with the support of the government the plantation aims at producing some 230.000tons of banana annually.

With the collaboration of other banana plantations in the country, the director explained that an estimated 500.000 ton of banana could be produced annually as from 2035.

At the Melong ceremonial ground as in Nkongsamba’s Synergie Nord-Sud, SNS, where the minister held talks with coffee producers, he reiterated governments support to coffee farmers as well as the states determination to quadruple the annual output.

MINEPAT boss taking a sip of made-in-Cameroon coffee in Nkongsamba

After a guided tour of the transformation factory of the SNS coffee unit, Minister Lious Paul Motaze on behalf of his ministry signed a cira 900 Million FCFA convention with the company’s representative Aimé Njiakin. The whopping sum, the minister said, is the state’s support to the unit and aims at assisting the company created since 2006 to increase its productivity so as to meet demand and reduce the 75% rate of locally consumed coffee which is imported.

“From 2014 we have been facing very severe economic crisis compounded by the fact that the price of oil has dropped and we equally have the problem of insecurity which has forced our nation to get into unplanned spending. You know the Mungo is a very important area as far as agriculture and coffee, in particular, is concerned and our coming here is to ensure that we boost the agricultural sector which can enable our economy to be more resilience.”

R-L Lious Paul Motaze signing 900  Million worth convention with Nkongamba based coffee transformation firm

“We are very happy about what we have seen, and we are happy with the commitment of the producers, and we the government have to help them. That is why I brought some financial assistance and we are going to continue to discuss with the Ministers of Agriculture, Finance, and Commerce to see that we carry out all the necessary provisions that can assist these producers.” Lious Paul Motaze said in Nkongsamba while responding to pressmen at the end of his 48hour economic visit to the Mungo division.