Cameroon’s
cotton development corporation (Sodecoton) harvested a net benefit of CFA8.47
billion during the 2021-22 fiscal year, contrary to drastic net fall for the past years to the tune of CFA4.7.
The 2021-22 result is presented as the company's biggest
performance over at least the past six seasons. The cotton industry in Cameroon
seems to be reviving gradually after a sluggish period marked by the Covid-19
pandemic. Before the loss in 2020-21, the performance has been on an upward
trend for three successive campaigns (2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020)
following a cumulative loss of CFA36.5 billion during the 2014-15, 2015-16, and
2016-17 seasons.
Sodecoton attributes the solid performance in 2021-22 to the
favorable international situation around cotton prices, but above all to the
recovery measures implemented in late 2016. "This recovery was achieved
through the restoration of the company's industrial capacity, the improvement
of the ginning capacity from 50% to 90%, and the capacity of the oil mills from
62% to 95%, between 2018 and 2021," said an official of the company.
“Also, to overcome the lack of electricity supply by Eneo, about
fifteen generators were acquired, as well as 90 trucks for transporting seed
cotton, 80 of which were purchased by the company and 10 donated by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Minader), under the 3-years Emergency Plan (Planut). The rolling stock was strengthened between 2016 and
2021 through the acquisition of about twenty large trucks, civil engineering
equipment (bulldozers, graders, tankers, dump trucks, loaders, and handling
equipment),” another official said.
As a reminder, Sodecoton produced 329,021 tons of cotton during
the 2021-2022 season, down 8.8% from the previous season.
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