(Ecofin Agency) - Remi Depoix, president of French firm Céréalis which is specialized in the trading of grains, revealed that the firm exports around 200,000 tons of its wheat to Cameroon each year. This represents about 20% of Céréalis’ sales revenue, he says in an interview to the daily l’Economie.

Clearly put, out of approximately 200 million euros (131 billion CFA Francs) it makes yearly in Central and West Africa (exporting a million tons of grains), Céréalis exports to Cameroon amounts to nearly 26 billion FCFA each year.

Céréalis intends within the 10 next years to double this revenue in both markets with Cameroon as its first buyer, Remi Dupoix declared. “The milling industry is quite significant in Cameroon with around twelve important actors. New mills will soon open and previously closed ones reopen. The activity is truly important considering that the country has started exporting to countries such as Chad, Central Africa and Nigeria,” he adds.

Let us be reminded that since the closure of Société de développement du blé (Sodéblé) back in the 90s, Cameroon has been importing all of its wheat. In 2012 for example, official statistics showed that more than 517,000 tons of the product were imported at a cost of 102 billion FCFA.