Strategic takeover seals decade of expansion
Cadyst Group, the Cameroon-based agri-food conglomerate led by industrialist Célestin Tawamba, closed its purchase of Le Grand Moulin du Cameroun and Le Grand Moulin du Phare on 6 August 2025, ending a ten-month transitional phase that began with the offer to French giant Castel.
Boards of both mills met in Douala and Brazzaville to ratify the change of shareholding, unanimously electing Tawamba as chair and installing Cadyst’s executive director, Elizabeth Gouater, among new administrators, according to minutes reviewed by regional business daily EcoMatin and confirmed by company officials.
Banking syndicate signals regional confidence
Although the price remains undisclosed, bankers close to the talks said Afriland First Bank led a pool with BGFI, UBA and Société Générale, implying a ticket above 100 million dollars, similar to recently West African milling sales (Jeune Afrique, 8 Aug 2025).
Credit committees reportedly drew comfort from the mills’ combined 850-ton-per-day capacity, diversified customer base and Cadyst’s 25-year record in biscuits, beverages and logistics, factors that ratings agency Bloomfield cites as underpinning the borrower’s BBB short-term note programme (Bloomfield Research, July 2025).
Food security narrative gains traction
Cameroon currently imports roughly two thirds of its wheat, while Congo-Brazzaville sources nearly all of its grain externally; policymakers therefore welcomed investment that promises to localise value addition and stabilise retail flour prices that rose 18 per cent year-on-year in June (CEMAC Statistics, 2025).
Minister of Commerce Claude Alphonse Nsilou told reporters that Cadyst’s arrival aligns with Brazzaville’s Development Plan, which prioritises agro-industrial clusters around Pointe-Noire harbour and aims to shave 200 million dollars off the republic’s cereal import bill by 2028.
Congolese diplomacy and industrial policy
The transaction received rapid clearance from CEMAC’s Competition Commission, an outcome that diplomats in the sub-region interpret as evidence of President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s push to streamline cross-border investment approvals as part of wider efforts to improve the republic’s Ease of Doing Business ranking.
By letting a Cameroonian champion enter the market, Brazzaville avoided the optics of full foreign control while still welcoming fresh technology, a balance praised by economist Clément Oba, who described the deal as “regionalist rather than nationalist,” during a roundtable at Marien-Ngouabi University.
AfCFTA corridors unlock scale
Cadyst now operates seven industrial sites, giving it scale to supply flour into Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic through AfCFTA’s zero-tariff corridors that became operational for several agricultural goods in January, according to the African Trade Observatory.
Logistics consultants at Bolloré Africa Logistics estimate the Douala–Brazzaville rail-road chain can deliver grain at least twelve days faster than shipments routed via Europe, trimming landed costs by up to eight per cent and enhancing Cadyst’s competitiveness against Asian flour that still enters Atlantic ports.
Diversification roadmap takes shape
Management intends to channel part of the new cash flow into a feed mill and a poultry line, replicating a vertically integrated model Cadyst pioneered in western Cameroon; feasibility studies are already under way with Austrian equipment supplier Bühler and local veterinary services.
Analysts at NKC African Economics argue that such downstream moves can cushion Cadyst against commodity price swings and position the company as a supplier to humanitarian agencies that routinely procure fortified cereal blends for the Sahel.
Expert voices endorse cautious optimism
Jean-Pierre Ongolo, former director of Cameroon’s Agricultural Research Institute, cautions that milling margins across Central Africa average barely five per cent, making operational efficiency paramount; he nonetheless sees Cadyst’s experience in fast-moving consumer goods as “a differentiator that could lift yields above the regional mean.”
From a diplomatic standpoint, French embassy officials privately note that Castel’s exit does not signal a retreat from the sub-region but rather a refocusing on beverages, adding that Paris welcomes African-to-African deals that reinforce industrial ecosystems without undermining historical partnerships.
Measured outlook
Cadyst forecasts that combined Cameroon-Congo production will reach 600,000 tonnes annually by 2027, a target considered achievable by Rabobank’s food and agribusiness unit, provided planned dredging of the Congo River reduces freight bottlenecks during the second half of the rainy season.
With capital committed, regulatory assent secured and diplomatic signals favourable, Cadyst’s bet on grain transformation illustrates how regional champions can emerge under AfCFTA rules while complementing Congo-Brazzaville’s development agenda, a synthesis lauded by both trade economists and cabinet officials observing the venture’s first operational months.
Yet challenges persist. The United Nations Food Systems Dashboard notes that per-capita bread consumption in Congo lags behind regional peers, meaning Cadyst must invest in consumer education and baker training programmes to stimulate demand and absorb the forthcoming capacity, initiatives already piloted in Yaoundé and Douala bakeries.
In parallel, labour unions in Douala have requested consultations to ensure the integration process safeguards existing wage agreements; Cadyst says negotiations will begin in September and emphasises its policy of maintaining headcount during the first twenty-four months following any acquisition as experienced after the MBO.
