Before the deputies, the government, through its Ministry of Mines, recently announced major projects in this sector.
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The sharp rise in natural gas prices in Europe due to the war between Russia and Ukraine has led to widespread reductions in the production of ammonia, an essential component in the manufacture of nitrogen fertilizers.
According to figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INS), fertilizers represent 17% of Cameroon’s imports from Russia. This makes this country the leading supplier of these agricultural inputs in Cameroon, with 43% of the market share against only 11% for China.
In an interview with the weekly Cameroon Business Today on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, Antoine Mvondo Ze, crop fertilization expert explains that the fertilizer sector worldwide has always been highly dependent on the oil industry, because the fertilizers are divided by types.
According to him, “the public authorities must encourage Cameroonians involved in the production of local fertilizers and who are trying to set up production units. Only, these production units will manufacture local fertilizers which can only be fertilizers and among these, there are amendments because they do not have the concentration that a fertilizer should have”.
INS data indicate a growth rate for food crop agriculture down to 2.1% in March 2022 from 2.5% in March 2021, due to supply difficulties and higher fertilizer prices. . On June 30, 2023 before members of the National Assembly of Cameroon, Fuh Calistus Gentry, Acting Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (Minmidt), indicated that several measures had been taken by the government, in order to to facilitate investment in the fertilizer sector.
1,250 billion FCFA will be necessary for the company Ferrostaal to produce in the town of Limbe, 600,000 tons of ammonia and 700,000 tons of urea for the national market and for export. With an investment of 500 billion FCFA, the expected annual production is 230,000 tons of ammonia and 400,000 tons of urea.
Feasibility studies are already underway by the government of Cameroon, for the establishment of a chemical fertilizer production unit in the city of Douala from 2024. The government’s objective through these various projects is to reduce the cost of fertilizer imports in Cameroon, estimated at more than 16 billion FCFA each year.
