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Regimes on the utilisation axis: 01 Severe underutilisation; 02 Sub-breakeven ramp; 03 Breakeven threshold; 04 Target maturity zone.

Cameroon textile programme / Section 06 · Financial feasibility

Low wages do not guarantee breakeven.
Utilisation and supervision decide it.

A greenfield factory has no operating history to forecast from, so the financial case is built as an explicit unit-cost structure. Cameroon's XAF 43,969 a month statutory wage floor is roughly a third of mature Asian benchmarks, yet fixed-cost recovery turns on keeping line utilisation and first-pass yield far above the domestic incumbent's 10.8 to 48.9 percent range.

Inspect the cost structureNext: Go-to-market

×2.08

33.7% utilisation · Regime 01 · Severe underutilisation

Overhead per garment against the 70% line (illustrative, R12)

Explore the breakeven surfaceProcedural visualisation. Schematic, not a facility.

01 / Structure over ungrounded forecasting

The financial case is an explicit unit-cost surface, not a speculative multi-year P&L.

Every number is cited to the programme data annex or labelled an estimate or planning assumption. The structure shows where margin is won or lost: labour productivity, utilisation and landed cost. Move the plant and read the overhead it carries.

×1×2×3×4×5×6×70%20%40%60%80%100%~60% (est.)CICAM 2GarouaCICAM 1Target

Regime 01 · Severe underutilisation

10% to 35% line utilisation

Observed at CICAM 2 (10.83 percent) and CICAM Garoua (33.7 percent) in July 2023 . Fixed depreciation, plant overhead and standing payroll overwhelm unit revenue however low the nominal wage sits.

×2.0 to ×6.5 overhead per garment · incumbent loss ~CFAF 2bn in 2020 (R12)

Regime 02 · Sub-breakeven ramp

35% to 55% line utilisation

Observed at CICAM 1 (48.9 percent) . Without trained supervisors and preventive maintenance, bottlenecks and 20 to 30 percent missed manual defects trap the line below cash breakeven.

×1.3 to ×2.0 overhead per garment · fixed cost unrecovered

Regime 03 · Breakeven threshold

55% to 70%, illustrative contour

As supervisor training lands and the manual Performance-Management System tracks hourly output and downtime, accepted volume spreads fixed overhead across enough good units to clear unit breakeven.

×1.0 to ×1.3 overhead per garment · gate: Phase 1 PMS and supervisor cohort

Regime 04 · Target maturity zone

70% and above, with above 90% CV yield

High line availability plus computer-vision inspection (above 90 percent detection ) and Phase 2 ML forecasting (inventory cost down 35 to 40 percent ) turn the wage advantage into durable margin.

×1.0 and below overhead per garment · target 3.0m garments a year (est.)

Utilisation chosen

33.7%

Overhead per garment, against the 70% line

×2.08

Regime 01 Severe underutilisation

Fixed depreciation, overhead and standing payroll are spread over too few garments. A low wage cannot rescue the unit (R12).

The line is trapped just below cash breakeven: bottlenecks and missed manual defects (R29) keep accepted volume down.

Trained supervisors and hourly tracking lift accepted volume past fixed-cost recovery. The ~60% contour is illustrative.

High availability and computer-vision inspection (R29) turn the nominal wage advantage into durable margin.

Utilisation source
33.7

  • XAF 43,969

    Monthly statutory minimum wage (SMIG) from 23 February 2024, about US$76; raised 5% from XAF 41,875 in 2023. The all-sector mean is about US$359.

  • US$204

    Cambodia’s 2024 garment-sector minimum (just-style), the Asian export benchmark: Cameroon’s floor is about a third of it, before efficiency.

  • to 48.9% utilisation across CICAM plants, July 2023 (Garoua 33.7%); underutilisation cost about CFAF 2 billion in 2020.

02 / Nominal wage versus effective labour cost

Cameroon's wage floor is a third of Cambodia's, but supervision decides the unit cost.

A low monthly minimum wage is not automatically a low labour cost per garment. Effective labour cost is the wage divided by the productive standard minutes that end up as accepted garments.

Wage view

US dollars a month of full-efficiency, defect-free output

Cameroon wage floor (SMIG) Nominal US$76 · R14US$434
Cambodia garment minimum Benchmark US$204 · R17US$272
Cameroon all-sector mean (context, not a garment wage) Context US$359 · R15not a garment wage
Active bar read-out · hover or click a bar

Cameroon wage floor (SMIG): XAF 43,969 a month (about US$76, R14) reprices to US$434 a month of accepted output at 25% efficiency and 30% rework, or US¢4.18 per productive minute.

  1. 01 · The nominal floor

    A third of the Asian benchmark, on paper.

    The statutory minimum rose 5 percent to XAF 43,969 a month from 23 February 2024, about US$76 . Cambodia’s 2024 garment minimum of US$204 is the mature Asian benchmark ; Cameroon’s cross-sector mean is about US$359 . The floor is roughly 37 percent of the benchmark.

  2. 02 · Efficiency reprices it

    An untrained line can cost more per accepted shirt.

    At 25 percent efficiency with 30 percent rework, a US$76 wage costs US$434 a month of accepted output, against US$272 for a US$204 Asian line at 75 percent. Effective labour cost is the wage divided by the productive minutes that end up as accepted garments.

  3. 03 · Where the crossover sits

    Why the budget funds supervisor training upfront.

    Informal work is about 90 percent of the labour market, so experienced supervisors are scarce; the standard week is 40 hours, 48 at most, overtime at 1.2 times . Training and productivity-linked bands are mandatory operating investments. Try the labour-cost comparator.

Cameroon matches Cambodia at 39.9% efficiency (illustrative)

At 25 percent efficiency and 30 percent rework, Cameroon costs US$434 against US$272 for Cambodia at 75 percent: 60 percent dearer than Cambodia. Per productive minute that is US¢4.18 against US¢2.62 (10,400 paid minutes a month).

Efficiency and rework values are illustrative planning inputs, not measurements; the 40-hour week (R16) gives 10,400 paid minutes a month.

$100$200$300$400$500$600$70010%25%40%55%70%85%100%Cambodia, effective
Same curve, new axis: overhead per garment is also a fixed amount divided by a rate, so the next scene reads it against utilisation.

03 / Capacity utilisation decides fixed-cost absorption

The incumbent's plants ran at 10.83 to 48.9 percent of capacity; the venture exists to escape that trap.

Depreciation, management salaries, security and core utilities are largely fixed over the year. Whether each garment carries a light or a crushing overhead depends on how many accepted units cross the line.

Select a plant to read its overhead burden
×1×2×3×4×5×6×70%20%40%60%80%100%~60% contour (est.)70% target lineCICAM 2 ×6.46Garoua ×2.08CICAM 1 ×1.43CICAM restructuring CFAF 30.7 to 48.2bnone relaunch plan 70.2bn (R13)Nameplate 3.0m a year (est.) · 2.1m at 70% · about 900 people (est.)

×1.00

GFT target line, 70% · overhead per garment against the 70% line

10 points above the illustrative ~60% contour

Step 01 · CICAM 2

The weakest incumbent plant ran at 10.83 percent.

A July 2023 report on the incumbent CICAM documented the cost of low utilisation: CICAM 2 operated at 10.83 percent of capacity, and underutilisation cost roughly CFAF 2 billion in 2020 .

Step 02 · Garoua

Garoua ran at a third of capacity.

Garoua operated at 33.7 percent . Depreciation, management salaries, security and core utilities are largely fixed over the year, so each garment carries a heavy overhead burden.

Step 03 · CICAM 1

The best plant still fell short of the contour.

CICAM 1 ran at 48.9 percent . Restructuring estimates ranged from CFAF 30.7 billion to 48.2 billion, with one relaunch plan cited at CFAF 70.2 billion .

Step 04 · The venture

The venture’s systems exist to hold the 70 percent line.

On an illustrative nameplate of 3.0 million garments a year and about 900 people at full ramp (both planning estimates), payroll is added line by line so wage cost never outruns capacity. The Performance-Management System exists to keep OEE and first-pass yield above the contour.

03b / The planning inputs

Nine inputs carry the case, and each one says where it came from.

Sourced figures cite the programme annex; estimates and assumptions say so. Filter by status, select a row and the read-out shows its figure, its source and the arithmetic built on it.

Filter planning inputs by status

9 of 9 inputs shown

Planning inputs behind the feasibility economics, with status and source. Select a row to read it.
Figure or basisEconomic role
Nameplate capacity3.0 million garments a yearEstimateDenominates fixed-cost absorption, PMS throughput and digital volumes.
Direct labour wage floorXAF 43,969 a month a worker (~US$76)SourcedR14Statutory SMIG from 23 Feb 2024 (+5% over 2023 XAF 41,875).
Asian labour benchmarkUS$204 a month (Cambodia, 2024)SourcedR17Reference floor showing a ~3x nominal gap before productivity adjustment.
Cross-sector salary meanabout US$359 a month in CameroonSourcedR15Context for supervisory, technical and administrative salary bands.
Workforce at full rampabout 900 peopleEstimateRamped phase by phase with sewing lines so payroll tracks output.
Incumbent utilisation range10.83% to 48.9% (CFAF 2bn loss in 2020)SourcedR12Demonstrates why utilisation is the primary breakeven swing variable.
Cotton raw-material sourceSODECOTON, traceable (>220k growers)AssumptionR03Supports the local-processing tailwind (5% to 50% target, R06, R07).
Primary revenue marketsDomestic Cameroon and regional CEMACAssumptionR24, R26Anchors sales where access is open; US AGOA excluded from base case (R18).
Currency and FX peg655.957 XAF per EUR (563 to 610 XAF/USD est.)SourcedR32Governs imported machinery, spare parts and USD/EUR cost conversions.

Interlude · the divisor

The wage is the numerator. Utilisation is the divisor.

Spread a fixed plant over too few good garments and no wage, however low, can rescue the unit.

Numerator · statutory floor
XAF 43,969 a month
  1. CICAM 2 10.83%
  2. Garoua 33.7%
  3. CICAM 1 48.9%
  4. Target 70%
Divisor · capacity absorption
utilisation CICAM plants, July 2023

Overhead per garment, against the 70% line

×1.00

Target line · 70%

First-pass yield manual inspection 60 to 70 percent, computer vision above 90 percent . Yield is the next divisor: it decides how many of the garments made are good.

04 / Quality yield, inventory discipline and FX exposure

Defects, forecasting and the CFA franc peg govern unit margin after launch.

Beyond wages and utilisation, three operational variables shift unit cost and working capital: escaped quality defects, inventory buffer cost and foreign-exchange exposure on imported inputs. Read each lever, then drag it.

Inspection gate · 65% of defects caught

35% escape to the buyer or the next operation

Each falling mark is a defect; the gate catches the detection share (R29 ranges), illustrative.
020406080100
Holding-cost index, baseline 100, illustrative; the arc marks the cited 35 to 40% reduction (R27).
540560580600620640660680EUR rail 655.957, fixedUSD 563 to 610 (est.)
XAF per unit of currency. The ribbon is drawn within the cited range, not a live rate (R32).

+3.5points of unit cost recovered against the reference (illustrative)

Lever 01 · Quality and rework

Every rejected garment destroys fabric, labour and line time.

Manual inspection achieves 60 to 70 percent accuracy and misses 20 to 30 percent of defects, whereas computer-vision systems exceed 90 percent across 40+ defect types . Catching a defect before cutting and sewing lowers unit cost directly.

35%of defects escape inspection

At 65% detection, 35% of defects reach the buyer or the next operation. Escapes = 100% minus detection.

Open the inspection economics tool

Lever 02 · Working capital

Forecast accuracy cuts dead stock and lost sales.

McKinsey’s State of Fashion 2025 reports that AI at scale reduces inventory cost by 35 to 40 percent, cuts forecast errors by 20 to 50 percent and lowers lost sales by up to 65 percent . Phase 2 ML forecasting targets this drag.

65inventory holding-cost index

Baseline 100, illustrative. Removing 35% of inventory cost leaves an index of 65. That is inside the cited 35 to 40% benchmark (R27).

Open the safety-stock tool

Lever 03 · Currency peg

The euro peg steadies EUR capex while USD inputs float.

The CFA franc is fixed to the euro at 655.957 , placing USD conversions near 590 to 610 XAF across the 2023 study window and 563 to 577 XAF more recently. Imported machines and spare parts are carried as explicit FX variables.

XAF 590,000buys US$1,000 of imported spares

At 563 the same US$1,000 costs XAF 563,000 and at 610 it costs XAF 610,000, a spread of XAF 47,000. EUR 1,000 is XAF 655,957 at the peg, whatever the dollar does.

Open the XAF exposure tool

Waterfall: an illustrative index of unit-cost points lost per 100 of cost. Each lever is weighted 10 points at its reference state (35% of defects escaping, no inventory saving, XAF 590 a dollar). Equal weights are a GFT planning assumption, not a measurement.

05 / Capital discipline in sector context

A staged venture avoids both an 11-year payback and a legacy debt overhang.

Set against public Cameroonian textile benchmarks, the focused capital model shows why Phase 1 is scoped to garment manufacturing and brand. Draw your own budget line across the benchmarks.

Focus a benchmark
XAF 50bn

Focused CMT venture, Phase 1 capex not yet quoted: no figure is shown

Parametric scope · awaiting sponsor quotes

01 · Focused private entrant

Partnering for spinning and knitting keeps Phase 1 capital on cutting, sewing, vision inspection (above 90 percent accuracy ), finishing and brand. Headcount (about 900, estimate) scales only as lines fill. The study awaits the sponsor’s capital quotes, so no capex figure is shown.

Camtext SA integrated pole XAF 180bn (US$300m) · 12,000 tonnes a year

payback about 11 years · optimal capacity around 2033

02 · The integrated pole

Camtext SA’s cotton-to-textile complex requires US$300 million (180 billion XAF) to process 12,000 tonnes a year, with a return on investment near 11 years and optimal capacity around 2033 .

CICAM restructuring plans XAF 30.7 to 48.2bn, one relaunch plan 70.2bn

03 · The legacy overhang

Restructuring the incumbent CICAM is estimated at CFAF 30.7 to 48.2 billion, or 70.2 billion in one relaunch plan , to fund plants that ran at 10.83 to 48.9 percent of capacity .
  1. 01Setup
  2. 02Launch
  3. 03Scale
  4. 04Optimise

04 · Four gates

Setup, launch, scale and optimise: each gate opens only when the one before has held. Phase 1 is scoped to garment manufacturing and brand for exactly this reason.

06 / Gated deployment

Release capital at four gates, each opened only when the one before has held.

The financial case is a staged sequence rather than a single draw. The bead climbs one tread per gate.

Gate 4 of 4 · Optimise

No utilisation test yet: the gate settles siting, power and cotton terms.

Hold the sub-breakeven ramp, 35 to 55 percent, while the tracking spine proves itself.

Clear the illustrative breakeven contour, about 60 percent, before the next line is added.

Hold the 70 percent target line and above, then switch on forecasting.

  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03
  4. 04

Gate 01 · Setup

Lock location, power budget and SODECOTON cotton terms before capex.

Resolve the Douala-Dibamba versus Garoua siting trade-off, budget on-site power conditioning, and secure traceable cotton and yarn supply terms before ordering sewing lines.
Utilisation at gatePre-capex
Overhead multiple (est.)Setup gate
Tranche 01 of 04 · Siting, power & cotton lock25%

Gate 02 · Launch

Fund the supervisor cohort and launch the manual PMS cost spine.

Train the first supervisor cohort and deploy the Excel tracking pack from Shift 1, so labour hours (at the XAF 43,969 a month floor) and OEE are reconciled daily against good garments.
Utilisation at gate45% ramp
Overhead multiple (est.)×1.56 burden
Tranche 02 of 04 · Supervisor cohort & manual PMS50%

Gate 03 · Scale

Add sewing lines only as utilisation and quality clear the contour.

Expand toward the illustrative 3.0m-garment capacity and about 900 workforce only after the first lines prove right-first-time quality and domestic and regional order absorption.
Utilisation at gate60% contour
Overhead multiple (est.)×1.17 burden
Tranche 03 of 04 · Line expansion toward 3.0m (est.)75%

Gate 04 · Optimise

Switch on ML demand forecasting to compress working capital.

Once Phase 1 sales history accumulates, activate machine-learning demand forecasting and inventory optimisation to capture the 35 to 40 percent inventory-cost benchmark.
Utilisation at gate75% target
Overhead multiple (est.)×0.93 burden
Tranche 04 of 04 · ML forecasting (35 to 40% inv. cut)100%

Gate sequence from the programme plan. The tread labels map each gate to the utilisation regimes above and are planning labels, not measured results. No capital amount is shown: the study is a parametric structure awaiting the sponsor’s quotes.

Before the verdict · financial, currency and legal qualification

Every figure in this financial feasibility account is either cited to the programme data annex or explicitly labelled an estimate (3.0m garments a year nameplate, about 900 workers) or planning assumption. The CFA franc is pegged to the euro at 655.957 ; US dollar conversions (590 to 610 XAF in 2023; 563 to 577 XAF more recently) are estimates.

Overhead multiples, effective-cost figures, indices and budget-line readings on this page are GFT arithmetic on the cited inputs with all other cost held constant, and are illustrative. Nothing here is audited by GFT or constitutes investment, legal or tax advice.

07 / Financial feasibility verdict

Train supervisors to capture the wage gap, and hold utilisation past breakeven.

The wage advantage reaches the bottom line only when Performance Management and the Digital Strategy hold utilisation and quality high. Set the utilisation: the thread lights the doors that regime needs.

01020304CICAM 2GarouaCICAM 10%20%40%60%80%100%UTILISATION AND FIRST-PASS YIELD · VERTICAL AXIS ILLUSTRATIVE

A low monthly wage becomes a low unit cost only when the line runs full and right the first time.

  1. 1Unit-economics simulatorthe breakeven contour across utilisation, wages, yield and priceLater
  2. 2Labour-cost comparatorCameroon against Cambodia across operator efficiencyLater
  3. 3Performance-management systemsix KPI families and the shop-floor tracking spineLater
  4. 4OEE and sewing-line simulatoravailability, performance and quality on a shiftLater
  5. 5XAF peg and import-cost exposureimported inputs against the 655.957 XAF/EUR peg (R32)In play
  6. 6Operating modelfocused cut, make, trim and finishing, 3.0m garments a year (est.)In play
  7. 7Go-to-marketfive segments, early cash flow before institutional volumeIn play

Utilisation the line holds

70% ×1.00

Regime 04 Target maturity zone

Hold the line count. At this utilisation fixed cost swamps any wage advantage (R12): fix supervision and availability first.

Fund the supervisor cohort and the tracking spine. The plant stays trapped below cash breakeven until accepted output rises.

Add lines only while quality and utilisation hold above the contour, and keep the FX variables on the sheet.

Protect the margin: keep computer-vision inspection and forecasting running, then open the commercial plan.

×1.27 overhead per garment against the 70% line, illustrative. Wages around XAF 43,969 (R14). Open the simulator

US$271 Cameroon against US$272 Cambodia at 75% (30% rework, illustrative; R14, R17). Open the comparator

72.7% OEE = availability × performance × quality (illustrative). Utilisation (R12) is a different measure. Open the OEE simulator

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