Contradictory information indicates the willingness of the UK Investment Fund Actis to terminate – unilaterally – the concession contract of the electricity sector that binds it to the State of Cameroon.
By Achille Mbog Pibasso.
Does the electricity sector in Cameroon expect the upheavals other than daily difficulties faced by administrations and households in rationing electricity with intermittent power cuts? The answer to this question does not seem as simple as we think. And for some reason, for some time, information contradictions – but persistent – suggest that Actisqui ensures the production of electricity in the country through its local subsidiary Energy of Cameroon (ENEO) would be looking for a buyer to whom he would sell his shares.
In the corridors of power, between the right of reserve and the unknown that constitutes the following day, we do not seem to bring any credibility to this information, to the point of thinking that the departure of Actis under the present conditions would be only “View of the mind”. “Insurance” has been given in this sense by the Chairman of the Board of ENEO Magloire Séraphin Fouda, also Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Services. At a recent board meeting of the company held in Yaoundé, the capital, the latter defeated the departure mentioned Actis, stating tersely that “fortunately, it is only a question of rumor … ”
According to reliable information, there is every reason to believe that Actis started its activities in Cameroon in 2014 after having reached an agreement on 7 November 2013 with the American group for the sale of all AES assets in its Cameroonian subsidiaries AES-Sonel. (Eneo’s predecessor), Kribi Power Development Corporation (KPDC) and DibambaPower Development Corporation (DPDC) for a transaction amount of $ 220 million, or about CFAF 110 billion can not decide on their own to leave Cameroon without having found an agreement with the government.
Not only because he has two years left to complete the AES-Sonel concession contract that runs until 2021, but also because the government and Actis have signed the extension of the concession contract on production and distribution electricity for a period of ten years from July 18, 2021 until 2031. “It seems to us that even if Actis would like to leave Cameroon, it would still take a few years because the government is looking at concession agreement that binds both parties, “said a source close to the Prime Minister.
