Sosucam Names Frenchman Jean-Pierre Champeaux as General Manager

Yaoundé, 18 October 2022. The board of directors of the Société Sucrière du Cameroun (Sosucam) has replaced the company's top management. Jean-Pierre Champeaux, a French executive, becomes General Manager, succeeding the Cameroonian Samuel Second Libock.

Who is the new General Manager?

Before this appointment, Jean-Pierre Champeaux ran Sucrerie Africaine – Côte d'Ivoire (Sucaf CI), the Ivorian subsidiary of the French group Somdiaa, which also owns the majority of Sosucam. Earlier in his career he was a plant manager at Sosucam itself.

At Sucaf CI he posted strong results: during the 2021–2022 season the company produced 112,324 tonnes of sugar from a record harvest of 1,151,000 tonnes of cane, with a target of more than 125,000 tonnes of sugar by 2025. Between 2018 and 2021 the subsidiary had struggled with worsening climatic conditions and agronomic problems.

He will be assisted by Jean-Louis Luscio, who previously worked in Somdiaa's general management in Paris. Deputy General Manager Emmanuel Castells has also been replaced.

A company under pressure

In 2021 Sosucam dismissed 250 employees for "professional inadequacy". The decision disrupted production and led the Governor of the Centre Region, and then the Minister of Labour, to intervene to calm tensions; management nevertheless maintained its position.

Sosucam in figures

• Founded: 1964
• Ownership: 72.7% Somdiaa (France); 27.3% the State of Cameroon, private investors and staff
• Plantations: 18,700 hectares of sugar cane in Mbandjock and Nkoteng (Centre Region)
• Output: about 130,000 tonnes of sugar a year
• Employees: about 8,000; annual payroll about 14 billion CFA francs
• Turnover: about 60 billion CFA francs (2019)

En bref (Français)

Le conseil d'administration de la Sosucam a nommé le 18 octobre 2022 le Français Jean-Pierre Champeaux au poste de directeur général, en remplacement du Camerounais Samuel Second Libock. Ancien directeur général de Sucaf Côte d'Ivoire, filiale du groupe Somdiaa (actionnaire majoritaire de la Sosucam à 72,7 %), il sera épaulé par Jean-Louis Luscio. Fondée en 1964, la Sosucam exploite 18 700 hectares de canne à sucre à Mbandjock et Nkoteng, produit environ 130 000 tonnes de sucre par an et emploie quelque 8 000 personnes.

Archive: first published 20 October 2022; edited for accuracy and clarity on 26 September 2026. · Watch Damian Maabo's documentaries on Cameroon's economy

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