The European Investment Bank has drawn up plans to lend €8m (US$7.86m) to France’s Compagnie Fruitière Import, so it can improve its banana production in Cameroon, west Africa.


The money would help expand and reform its affiliated plantations named SPNP, SBM and PHP. It would help them invest in packaging stations, irrigation, supports for trees and cable car systems. The aim would be to enable the plantations to reduce water, fungicide and energy consumption.


The plan also entails the reorganisation of the plantations’ warehouses, to improve the storage of pesticides and fertiliser. The three units last year were awarded ISO accreditation for their management and an EIB note said it wanted to help them boost their efficiency still further.