The cocoa-coffee development fund (Fodecc) just commissioned a technical audit of the projects it financed between 2006 and 2019. This initiative, which began a week ago, is being conducted by experts from the international firm Moore Stephen, whose Central Africa branch is headed by Robert Prosper Nken, a Cameroonian and former KPMG employee.

"The audit will help us evaluate our capacities, assess whether the projects have been conducted as they should be, and if not, why. It is based on the audit’s result that corrective measures will be gathered in the form of recommendations. These corrective measures will decide on the future of the financing of the cocoa and coffee sectors in Cameroon, which aim to revive this promising sector in the best possible way," explains Samuel Donatien Nengue, the administrator of Fodecc.

Concretely, at the end of the study, the Moore Stephen Cabinet will have to make recommendations to define the conditions and the appropriate strategy to increase the quantity and quality of cocoa and coffee products. The firm will also "suggest the best approaches to improve the marketing of exceptional beans of Cameroonian origin, help improve export earnings and specifically ensure the increase in income of producers," adds Auguste Essomba Ndongo, Chair of the Board of Fodecc.

Created in 2004, the cocoa-coffee development fund is a public financing body dedicated to the cocoa and coffee sectors which, according to official statistics, contribute 3% and 15% respectively to the gross domestic product of the primary sector and account for 30% of Cameroon's non-oil export revenues.

The fund is more involved in government projects designed at the level of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Research, and the Ministry of Industry. While the importance of this instrument is undeniable for the cocoa-coffee sector, some operators criticize this mechanism insofar as the Fodecc does not directly finance projects carried out by producers.

B.E