International trade statistics reveal that the sub-regional zone consumes an average annual volume of 1.66 million tons of rice. The financial effort required to honor these deliveries amounts to $910 million American per year. A sectoral analysis shows that a fifth of the nations monopolize almost all of the cargo landed in the ports of the Atlantic facade.

Cameroon ranks first among importers in the community, capturing an average annual volume of 760,000 tons. The Cameroonian market, where rice is the second most consumed cereal after corn, covers more than half of its consumption needs through external purchases, maintaining an absorption level of 25 kg per inhabitant per year. Angola occupies the second position in the regional commercial ecosystem with external acquisitions of 422,000 tons per year. The weakness of agricultural infrastructure forces Luanda to solicit the international market to cover 90% of its internal demand, displaying a particularly high individual consumption of 40 kg per year.

The Democratic Republic of Congo ranks third with estimated merchandise entries of 210,000 tons per year. Although the country depends on foreign suppliers to supply its population and industrial breweries by 65%, the ratio per head remains the lowest in the sub-region, standing at only 7 kg per year. On the other hand, the Republic of Congo records annual purchases of 116,200 tons, a situation dictated by a production deficit that forces it to import 90% of its cereal stocks, the demand from large urban centers being eight times higher than that of rural areas. Gabon closes the ranking with 70,200 tons imported annually. The financial center of Libreville buys almost all of its rice resources externally to supply households whose average consumption peaks at 44 kg per person per year.


Ndjomo Carlos

Tags: cameroun riz importation commerce international ceeac afrique centrale economie agriculture nourriture