Cameroonian tycoon Sylvestre Ngouchinghe's fish importer holds 66% of quotas as shortages loom

Cameroon will take back unused fish import quotas and hand them to bigger importers, after Congelcam SA, the frozen fish company founded and run by tycoon Sylvestre Ngouchinghe, warned that the country could run short of fish over the holidays.

Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana asked the livestock and fisheries ministry to reassign unused quotas to importers with enough money, operating capacity and cold storage, at a meeting with producers and importers in Yaoundé on Nov. 4. Ngouchinghe attended. The government did not say how much of the quota had gone unused or when it would be redistributed.

Cameroon issued import quotas for nearly 200,000 metric tons of fish for 2026. Congelcam received 130,000 tons, or about 66% of the total, and the rest was split among other importers. Of the 52 companies granted quotas, 18 had imported nothing this year and most of the others had brought in only small amounts, the Trade Ministry said.

The minister also asked the fisheries ministry to work with inspection company SGS so that paperwork does not hold up imports that have already been approved.

Congelcam's warning

Congelcam raised the alarm at a news conference in Yaoundé on Oct. 15. The company said its 2026 quota had been cut to 100,000 tons, half of the 200,000 tons it imported in 2025, and that its stocks had run out after seven months. It asked for another 100,000 tons on Sept. 18 and received 30,000.

"We estimate that this volume could be used up in about two months," the company said of the extra allocation, adding that shelves could empty from late November and prices rise over the festive season. It also argued that the roughly 30 other licensed importers lacked the money to fill the gap. "Holding an administrative authorization to import is not the same as having the financial means," it said.

Cameroon produced about 259,000 tons of fish in 2025, roughly 52% of its estimated annual demand of 500,000 tons. Imports of fish and crustaceans rose 29% to 267,601 tons last year, worth 231.3 billion CFA francs ($394.7 million), according to provisional data from the National Institute of Statistics.

Ngouchinghe

Ngouchinghe started out selling fish at a market stall and built Congelcam into Cameroon's largest importer and distributor of frozen fish, with storage capacity of 104,000 tons in the port city of Douala and a 10,000-ton warehouse planned at the port of Kribi. He has also served as a senator for the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement.

Figures were converted at CFA586 to the dollar.