Douala: Prime Minister inaugurates two modern steel plants

By Stephen TADAHA

An estimated 3000 jobs, including 1,000 direct jobs will be generated in the steel sector in Cameroon, the government announced. This assurance lies in the hope of the two steel processing plants that were inaugurated in the country’s economic capital, Douala.

The two plants Prometal 4 and 5 inaugurated on Friday, January 19 by Prime Minister Dion Ngute in Douala, are built by Prometal group and are meant to boost local steel, wire rods, and gaz bottle production. The plants are estimated at FCFA 57 billion, CNA learned.

Prometal 4 estimated at FCFA 45 billion, will have an annual production capacity of 360,000 tons of finished and intermediate steel products.

Prometal 5, the second plant is meant to boost the local production of gas bottles with an estimated annual production of 600 000 gas bottles and 5 000 metric tons of metal structures per year. This plant whose investment is estimated at FCFA 12 billion, will help reduce the importation of domestic gas bottles which was estimated at 400 000 bottles yearly, thus enabling Cameroon to end imports of gas cylinders according to the builder.

With production capacities that surpass local demand and the introduction of pioneering materials such as wire rods to the subsaharan African market, Prometal 4 and 5 provide Cameroon with the opportunity to venture into external markets. This positions the country to more vigorously engage in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an area where local economic operators have been relatively cautious until now.

Apart from creating 3000 jobs, the plants especially Prometal 5, will also help reduce the rate of defective gas bottles circulating in local markets, promoters revealed.