The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a specialized arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, has granted a loan of 44,6 billion CFA francs for oil imports.
According to the statement in the Official Journal (OJ), the IDB Group and Cameroon have agreed to a so-called “Murabaha” loan agreement for the financing of crude oil imports from the National Refinery Company ( SONARA).
A decision to allow Cameroon to avoid a shortage of petroleum products, not only because SONARA, the only refinery in the country comes out of a period of technical shutdown, but also because locally produced oil deemed heavier, is intended primarily for export.
According to sources close to the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Spatial Planning (MINEPAT) which signed the agreement with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, Cameroon should not know a shortage of oil as some “false” information circulated.
With a refining capacity of 2,1 million tons of barrels of oil per year, SONARA which is in the process of upgrading its facilities should bring this capacity to 3,5 million tons of barrels of oil per year, significantly limiting imports of oil.
