« After Somdia’s decision to exit Sosucam, despite Pierre Castel’s promises to the President, those who enriched themselves through decrees instead of serving the people have influenced parts of the media to spin a narrative suggesting to the President that the group is leaving Cameroon due to family disputes, » Albine Njilo explains.

According to him, the company, which has left Cameroon, has just signed an agreement with Côte d’Ivoire to invest 100 billion FCFA in the Ivorian sugar sector. « The truth is quite different. Somdia is leaving Cameroon because Yaoundé’s elites have implemented a policy of distributing sugar import licenses to their associates. As a result, Sosucam could no longer sell its sugar, as cheaper imports flooded the market, » he adds.

« Despite this unfair competition, Somdia injected 4.5 billion FCFA last year, hoping the government would reduce import quotas. Nothing changed: 125 billion FCFA worth of sugar was imported. Even worse, these importers—allegedly acting as fronts for regime elites—benefited from customs privileges. They imported sugar into Cameroon, officially for the local market, but resold it across the subregion. Large quantities of sugar are currently stocked in warehouses at Ngaoundéré’s rail terminal, blocked since President Mahamat Idriss Déby reinstated customs barriers on Cameroonian sugar. This sugar is later redirected to the Cameroonian market, » Njilo continues.

Why Côte d’Ivoire and not Cameroon?

« In Côte d’Ivoire, despite local production falling short of demand, the government does not hand out import licenses to fronts. Instead, it assesses production deficits and authorizes producers to import within strict quotas. Only producers benefit from these when shortages occur, » Njilo concludes.