Jakarta. Indonesia will build a cassava processing factory in Cameroon following a multi-million-dollar worth of business deal, according to a senior diplomat.

At the 2025 Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI), starch-processing contractor Asindo Tech inked a $15 million deal with Cameroonian beverage distribution firm Nego Titans. The former agreed to provide cassava processing technologies and set up a facility in Cameroon, a country that is hungry for greater production.

Fast forward to about a year later, Agung Cahaya Sumirat, the Indonesian Ambassador to Cameroon, said a pilot project remained underway. He admitted to having spoken with the Cameroonian government to get the plan in motion.

“[The government] told me that 4,000 hectares of vacant land was available. [Cameroon] has given me its word that it will back [the investment] and offers help if any problem arises,” Agung told Jakarta-based reporters on Tuesday evening.

Cassava’s status as a staple food to African households has prompted Yaoundé’s interest in Indonesian knowledge and technology transfers. 

“This way, Cameroon can have the capacity to process cassava into tapioca, starch, or flour — basically ingredients for bread and all. This is a win-win solution, especially given Cameroon’s large cassava production; this should help the country export [the output] to other foreign markets.”

Agung expects the cassava processing facility to go live within the next two or three years. The Cameroonian partners have also visited Indonesia to hone their business plans, said the envoy. 

Despite being the region’s major cassava grower, Cameroon remains dependent on imports for its derivatives, including starch and flour. Reports show that the country has grappled with severe post-harvest losses as farmers would often lose the short shelf-life crop during transport and mishandling.

African Agribusiness wrote that the government sought to build up to 200 cassava processing units by 2030. They also set the production target at 25 tons of cassava per hectare. This marks quite a sharp increase compared to the current 10 to 15 tons per hectare on smallholder farms.

Government data show that Indonesia’s annual trade with Cameroon reached $137.5 million as of August, down by about 1% year-on-year.

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