Léonard-Claude Mpouma was a
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
ian political figure. Beginning in the 1960s, he held a succession of high-level posts in the state administration; he was Minister of Industrial and Commercial Development from 1970 to 1972 and was later appointed as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in 1985.
[ Mpouma also acted as the president of the Union of Palm Oil Producers, or UNEXPALM, from 2000 until his death in 2019.][Pius Lukong]
"Cameroon Palm Oil Makers, Government to Create Investment Fund"
Bloomberg, 8 March 2008.
Background and political career
Born in Mbanga, Cameroon
::For an African prince, see Prince Mbanga.
Mbanga is a town in western Cameroon.
Transport
The city is a junction station on the western network of Camrail.
Farming
Mbanga is a small town in the Littoral Region of Cameroon. There are ar ...
,France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
at the ''Institut national agronomique'' (Later ''Institut national agronomique Paris Grignon
The Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (INA P-G) was a French university-level institution of grande école-type. It offered master's degree in agricultural- and life sciences. It was created in 1971 by merging the ''Institut national agr ...
'') from 1960 to 1963, receiving degrees in agronomic engineering and rural economy. He returned to Cameroon in October 1963 and was promptly sent to Garoua
Garoua or Garua (Fula: Garwa 𞤺𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is a port city and the capital of the North Region of Cameroon, lying on the Benue River. A thriving centre of the textiles and cotton industries, the city has approximately 1,285,000 inhabit ...
as Head of Agricultural Inspection for the North. After about four years in that post, he was appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Planning in 1967 and then as Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic on 14 June 1969.[
After a brief stint as Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidency, Mpouma served as President–Director-General of the National Investment Corporation (SNI) for about six months before being appointed to the government as Minister of Industrial and Commercial Development on 12 June 1970. He remained in that post until 1972; later, he was Inspector-General of the Ministry of Agriculture from 1975 to 1980, Technical Adviser at the Presidency of the Republic from 1980 to 1981, and Special Adviser at the Presidency of the Republic from 1981 to 1984.][ Under President Paul Biya, he was again appointed to the government as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications on 24 August 1985.][
]
President of UNEXPALM
As President of the Union of Palm Oil Producers (''Union des exploitants du palmier à huile du Cameroun'', UNEXPALM), Mpouma discussed the problem of palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
scarcity in an interview with ''Cameroon Tribune
The ''Cameroon Tribune'' is a major newspaper in Cameroon. It is also available online. It is owned by the government. It was founded in 1974 by the '' Societé de Presse et d'Editions du Cameroun'' (SOPECAM). The French version became the only dai ...
'' on 22 September 2003. He said that internal demand had exceeded supply for various reasons, including aging plantations, but that his union hoped to solve the shortage by focusing on small-scale production. Later, on 28 January 2004, the government launched a program to expand palm oil production by providing palm groves to small farmers in seven provinces; UNEXPALM was in charge of the program's implementation. Speaking to ''Cameroon Tribune'' again in November 2005, Mpouma addressed concerns that the price of palm oil would increase during the holidays, saying that would not occur.[Rousseau-Joël Foute]
"Léonard Claude Mpouma : "Huile de palme : pas de hausse de prix pendant les fêtes""
''Cameroon Tribune'', 22 November 2005 .
Palm oil production in Cameroon for 2007 surpassed government expectations by 18%, rising to 200,000 metric tons. In hopes of further increasing production, Mpouma announced—in a joint statement with , the Deputy Prime Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development—the creation of an investment fund for the sector on 7 March 2008: "stakeholders in the oil-palm sector have resolved to create a fund to be financed by the state, development organizations and contributions from partners in the sector".[
]
See also
* Politics of Cameroon
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mpouma, Leonard Claude
1938 births
2019 deaths
Industry ministers of Cameroon
Postal services ministers of Cameroon
Palm oil production in Cameroon