CDC: Glimmer of Hope Amidst Persistent Crisis

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CDC: Glimmer of Hope Amidst Persistent Crisis

30 août 2021 04:42

The corporation which used to be the second largest employer after the State has been paralysed by the protracted socio-political crisis in its areas of operation.

The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) of yesteryears is mainly a shadow of its self today. The socio-political crisis in the North West and South West Regions where most of its plantations are located, continuous to have a negative impact on the life of the agro-industrial corporation. Prior to the crisis that broke out in late 2016, CDC prided itself as the second largest employer in Cameroon after the State. Its annual turnover was towering in the neighbourhood of FCFA 55 billion from its rubber, oil palm and banana plantations.

With the outbreak of the crisis, CDC’s annual revenue dropped to FCFA 52.5 billion in 2017 and with the direct attacks on its installations and workers, the annual revenue dropped drastically to FCFA 24.5 billion in 2018. The revenue situation further deteriorated drastically to less than FCFA 3.8 billion in 2019. With the relatively improving security situation, CDC realised FCFA 8.1 billion in 2020 and trends are showing positive signs as more than what was realised in 2020 has already been realized in the first half of 2021. However, the General Manager, Franklin Ngoni Njie says the improving performance of the corporation is still far from getting close to sustainability albeit hope in the horizon.

8000 Workers Without Work

CDC which in it’s hey days employed more than 21,000 workers can only count of 16,000 workers presently. Out of the 16,000, the General Manager who was guest speaker in a workshop organized by The Development Advocacy Welfare Network (The DAWN) where he presented the precarious situation of the corporation, lamented that, 8,000 workers (about 3000 in estates in Ndian, Meme and part of Fako) and 5,000 in Tiko plain are without work because of the insecurity. He expressed worries on how the workers will send their children back to school as school resumption nears. The Tiko plain which has lost 3,300 hectares of banana p...