Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP), Cameroon’s largest banana producer, exported 9,207 tons of bananas in May 2026, according to data released by the Cameroon Banana Association (Assobacam).
The figure marks the company’s lowest monthly export volume since the beginning of the year. According to Assobacam, PHP started 2026 on a strong note, exporting 20,037 tons in January. Volumes then fell to more than 17,000 tons in both February and March before dropping to 11,687 tons in April.
The steady decline continued in May, bringing exports to their lowest level of the year. The drop in overseas sales, and the export revenue that comes with them, coincides with the peak of Cameroon’s dry season, a period typically associated with lower agricultural yields.
PHP is the leading Cameroonian subsidiary of France’s Compagnie Fruitière de Marseille. Together with Compagnie des Bananes de Mondoni (CDBM), the group’s second local subsidiary, which exported 1,975 tons in May 2026, Compagnie Fruitière controls about 80% of Cameroon’s banana market.
Bananas remain one of the country’s most important sources of foreign exchange earnings. In 2025, banana exports generated CFA67.7 billion in revenue, up 84.7% from the previous year, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS), Cameroon’s official statistics agency.
BRM