Prime Minister Joseph Dion Nguté will preside over the groundbreaking and joint financing ceremony for Proalu SA's new aluminum processing plant on Friday, September 12, 2025. The event will take place in the Bassa industrial zone in Douala. Proalu SA is a subsidiary of Prometal Group, a leader in the Central African steel and metallurgy industry.
To announce the official launch, the prime minister's office sent out a series of letters on September 4 and 5 to various stakeholders. The construction of the new industrial complex follows an investment memorandum of understanding and a commercial contract signed on August 13, 2024, between Proalu SA and the state of Cameroon, represented by the ministries of industry and commerce and the Cameroon Aluminum Company (Alucam).
Proalu SA is committing 88 billion CFA francs to build the facility, which will specialize in aluminum processing. Expected to create 1,500 jobs, including 450 direct positions, the complex will have an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of aluminum coils, 30,000 tons of pre-coated aluminum and steel coils, and other related products.
The plant will exclusively source its raw materials from Alucam, offering a significant boost for the struggling state-owned company with annual guaranteed sales of 48 billion CFA francs.
Import-Substitution Policy
In addition to aluminum and steel coils, the Proalu SA complex will produce 8,000 tons of electric cables per year: 2,000 tons of aluminum and 6,000 tons of simple and armored copper. Part of the raw material for the copper products will be imported due to insufficient local production.
The new complex will support the government's import-substitution policy, which has been in place for several years. By reducing or eliminating the need for massive imports of coils and electric cables, the new plant will help cut Cameroon's trade deficit by approximately 27 billion CFA francs annually. Coil imports cost about 8 billion CFA francs per year, while electric cables cost around 19 billion CFA francs.
The project's developers also project that the plant will contribute nearly 10 billion CFA francs in annual taxes and create an estimated 15 billion CFA francs in annual added value.
Brice R. Mbodiam