Tiger Brands targets mid 2026 for full exit from Cameroon
South Africa’s Tiger Brands advances sale of its majority stake in Chococam as it continues to scale back international operations.
CAMEROON – Tiger Brands has moved a step closer to withdrawing from Cameroon after agreeing to sell its 74.69% holding in Chocolaterie Confiserie Camerounaise to Minkama Capital Ltd for roughly US$76 million.
The deal, which hinges on regulatory clearance and routine closing procedures, is structured through a syndicated loan arranged by BGFIBank Group.
Local financial contacts indicate that the debt facility amounts to about US$76 million, and while the full valuation of Chococam remains undisclosed, the financing points to steady investor interest in African consumer goods producers.
Tiger Brands said in its latest update that it is still reviewing approaches for exiting international units it no longer regards as core, and it expects the Cameroon transaction to be finalised in the first half of its 2026 financial period.
Discussion around the sale has also revived long running talk about potential involvement from Cadyst Invest, associated with Cameroonian businessman Célestin Tawamba, although neither the seller nor the buyer has confirmed his role.
Reports from earlier this year suggested Tawamba’s team had examined a possible bid that valued Chococam at about US$97 million, yet no party has publicly addressed whether those talks progressed.
The planned divestment forms part of a broader repositioning that Tiger Brands has rolled out across its international portfolio over the past four years.
In early 2025, the group disposed of its 24.38 percent interest in Chile based Empresas Carozzi for US$240 million as it exited Latin America.
Later that year, it offloaded the Langeberg and Ashton Foods operation for one rand, and it separately revealed plans to sell off its maize and sorghum cereals, including the Ace and King Korn lines, as part of a shift toward businesses with stronger returns.
Chococam continues to hold a prominent place in Cameroon’s sweets and chocolate market through brands such as Mambo and Bonbon Kola, and local analysts say the company has recorded modest growth in local currency revenue.
Attention now turns to the conditions under which the new owners will operate, especially the cost of the syndicated loan, which will influence the company’s financial room to manoeuvre.
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