Société de ciment du Cameroun, a subsidiary of the Atlantic Group controlled by Ivorian businessman Kone Dossongui, signed an amendment to its agreement with the Investment Promotion Agency (API) on February 19, 2026, in Yaoundé [cite: ]. This agreement concerns the cement plant project in Kribi, in the South region, and modifies the initial agreement concluded on August 4, 2021 [cite: ].
According to Georges Wilson, Vice President of the Atlantic Group, this amendment follows an improvement in the production technologies planned for the factory, leading to an upward revision of the initial cost, estimated at over 39 billion FCFA [cite: ]. The total investment for this unit located in the Kribi industrial-port zone will therefore exceed the 2021 forecasts [cite: ]. The amended agreement grants tax and customs exemptions for periods of 5 to 10 years during the construction and operation phases, in accordance with the April 2013 law on incentives for private investment, revised in 2017 and 2025 [cite: ].
Development work on the 10-hectare site, made available by the Autonomous Port of Kribi (PAK), began on August 3, 2021 [cite: ]. Construction of the factory is scheduled to begin in 2026, with an estimated duration of 24 months [cite: ]. Ultimately, the cement plant should have an annual production capacity of one million tons and create approximately 1,600 direct and indirect jobs [cite: ].
This project strengthens the presence of Atlantic Group in Cameroon, where the conglomerate is already active in the financial sector via AFG Bank and AFG Assurances, and in industry with Atlantic Cocoa [cite: ]. The entry into production of this plant would bring the number of cement companies active in Cameroon to ten, after the end of Cimencam's monopoly in 2015 [cite: ].
Despite a national production capacity approaching 12 million tonnes, for an estimated demand of 8 million tonnes, the price of a 50 kg bag of cement remains high, fluctuating between 5,100 FCFA and 5,300 FCFA in Douala and Yaoundé [cite: ]. Producers and the government justify these prices by the import costs of clinker, an essential component in the manufacture of cement, while the Minister of Commerce mentions suspicions of "illegal agreements" on prices [cite: ]. Atlantic Group, founded by Ivorian businessman Koné Dossongui, is a pan-African conglomerate present in various sectors such as finance, agro-industry and hotels. In addition to Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire, the group is also exploring industrial opportunities in Gabon.
