Visitors to the Carrefour hypermarket in the PlaYce shopping Centre, which officially opened on 5 July 2022 opposite the Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, will be able to find 4,600 local products on its shelves. Pascale Theze, who is in charge of shopping centres at Cfao Retail, Carrefour's partner in its expansion in Africa, revealed that this figure represents 20% of the 20,000 products displayed on the shelves of this hypermarket which has the largest section allocated for fresh foods in a mall within the country.

Luc Demez, Cfao Retail Cameroon’s General Manager, explains that this volume of local products is evidence of Carrefour’s policy to promote products made in Cameroon, which began with the opening of their first mall in the country, Carrefour Market. This mall was opened in 2017 and is located in Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala. This strategy has enabled the French retailer to set up a network of 400 local suppliers, the majority of whom operate in the agriculture, fisheries, livestock and handicrafts sectors.

"In our supermarkets, we make 75% of our turnover from products procured locally, and 30 to 35% from products typically made in Cameroon, since some of our suppliers are equally importers. With the hypermarket, we will continue to promote the made in Cameroon brand", says the CEO of Cfao Retail Cameroon.

Beyond the Carrefour hypermarket, the PlaYce shopping Centre itself intends to be a platform for products Made in Cameroon. Indeed, Pascale Theze revealed that in addition to the local brands that will be present in some of the 46 shops of PlaYce, periodic trade events, punctuated by mini exhibition fairs for local products will be regularly organised on the site. These exhibitions will allow local craftsmen and entrepreneurs to sell their products, but above all to make themselves known to the general public.

Source: Business in Cameroon