Cicam, the leading textile company in Cameroon, is crumbling under a debt burden of over CFA22 billion with a negative result of CFA3.55 billion since 2021. This bleak picture was painted in a report issued last July 14 by the Bureau for Business Upgrading (BMN).
Because of this situation, the company’s top management is mulling over paying the salaries of April 2023 in cash “if they make enough money from the sale of the printed fabric for the World Teachers’ Day”. The decision was made public on August 31 by MD Edouard Ebah Abada following a meeting with the staff representatives.
“Since the fund currently available is not enough to cover the salary spending, we have come to the agreement to pay them in two instalments. We will first pay CFA50,000 per employee on September 1 and the remaining will come as soon as we gather the revenues from the sale of the teachers’ day’s fabric,” the manager said.
According to the top management, Cicam’s situation is the combined result of the aging production equipment and the stiff competition imposed by fabrics from Asia and West Africa. A source within the company revealed that Cicam controls only about 5% of the Cameroonian fabric market, compared to 80% for products from Asia (mainly China), 10% from Nigeria, and 5% from other West African countries.
BMN estimates the amount needed to get the company back on track at between CFA30.7 and 48.2 billion, depending on whether the rehabilitation is carried out solely by the government or in partnership with the private sector.
Source : Business in Cameroon