Cameroon is expanding its cocoa processing capacity as part of its effort to capture more value from one of the country’s key exports.
On February 27, 2026, the ministers of Commerce and Agriculture laid the foundation stone for a new plant operated by Samen Industry in Baré Bakem, located in the Moungo department of the Littoral region.
According to Business in Cameroon, the facility, set on a three-hectare site, will include the production unit, storage areas, truck parking zones, and green spaces.
The total investment amount was not disclosed. According to the project developer, the plant will have an annual processing capacity exceeding 32,000 tons of cocoa beans. Once operational, Samen Industry will become Cameroon’s sixth cocoa grinder.
The company will join Sic Cacaos, a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Barry Callebaut; Chococam, controlled by South Africa’s Tiger Brands; Atlantic Cocoa, owned by Ivorian businessman Kone Dossongui; and the Cameroonian firms Neo Industry and Africa Processing.
The expansion highlights Cameroon’s strategic focus on increasing domestic processing rather than exporting raw cocoa beans.
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The country has already passed a symbolic milestone in local processing. At the end of the 2024–2025 season, Cameroon processed more than 100,000 tons of cocoa beans domestically for the first time.
The growing industrial demand has pushed up competition for beans, resulting in higher prices for farmers and strengthening Cameroon’s presence in international markets for semi-processed cocoa products.
Supported by tighter domestic competition and favorable global market conditions, the farmgate price reached a peak of CFA6,300 per kilogram during the 2023–2024 season before easing to CFA5,400 in 2024–2025, according to the National Cocoa and Coffee Board.
In addition, the Competitiveness Committee at the Ministry of Economy reported that in 2024, Cameroon ranked among the world’s top 10 exporters of cocoa derivatives for the first time, reflecting the sector’s growing competitiveness.
With the addition of Samen Industry, competition for raw beans is expected to increase further as the government continues to prioritize raising the share of value added captured domestically within the cocoa supply chain.
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Image Credit: Freepik
