Cameroon exported 15,554 tons of bananas in June 2026, a 3.4% decline from the 16,105 tons shipped during the same month last year, as lower exports from the state-owned Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) outweighed gains by private producers.

The figures, compiled by the Cameroon Banana Association (Assobacam), show that the country exported 551 fewer tons than in June 2025. The decline reflects both the CDC’s weaker performance and changes in the structure of the industry following the disappearance of Boh Plantations PLC from the list of exporters. Based on Assobacam’s data, Boh Plantations still exported 900 tons of bananas in June 2025.

The CDC exported 3,085 tons in June, its lowest monthly shipment volume since the beginning of the year. That represented a decline of 563 tons, or 15.4%, compared with the 3,648 tons exported during the same month in 2025.

Lingering impact of the Anglophone crisis

The CDC’s performance illustrates the lasting impact of the socio-political crisis that has affected Cameroon’s English-speaking regions since late 2016. The state-owned company, the country’s second-largest employer after the government, has struggled to restore operations after separatist violence disrupted many of its banana, rubber, and oil palm plantations, particularly in the Southwest Region.

The prolonged shutdown of several production sites has generated substantial financial losses that continue to weigh on the company’s operations and export performance.

Private producers offset part of the decline

While the CDC recorded lower exports, Cameroon’s two other banana exporters posted stronger results. Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP), the country’s largest banana producer and a subsidiary of France’s Compagnie Fruitière, exported 10,174 tons in June, an increase of 544 tons, or 5.6%, from the 9,630 tons shipped a year earlier.

The Compagnie des Bananes de Mondoni (CDBM), another Compagnie Fruitière subsidiary, exported 2,295 tons, compared with 1,927 tons in June 2025. That represented an increase of 368 tons, or 19.1%, year over year.

A strategic export industry

The latest figures also underscore Compagnie Fruitière’s dominant position in Cameroon’s banana industry. Together, PHP and CDBM exported 12,469 tons of bananas in June, accounting for approximately 80.2% of the country’s total banana exports during the month. The group’s market share has grown further following its recent acquisition of the assets of Boh Plantations PLC, previously the only privately owned Cameroonian banana exporter.

Bananas remain one of Cameroon’s leading export products. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), banana exports generated CFA67.7 billion in revenue in 2025, an 84.7% increase from the previous year.

Source: Business in Cameroon