The Cameroonian part-owner of the country’s newest cement producer, Medcem, has spoken of the ambitions behind his partnership with Turkish investors, Business Cameroon reports.

Emmanuel Peughouia is the owner of the Quifeurou group of hardware stores and plans to use this network of outlets to distribute Medcem’s product. Quifeurou has 56 stores in 35 locations in Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic.

“We are very proud to be the first Cameroonian business to invest in this sector, which, for several decades, remained inaccessible to nationals”, Mr Peughouia said, speaking at the opening of the 0.6Mta Medcem plant in December.

Turkey’s Eren Holding is the other major shareholder in Medcem.