- Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba unveiled Cameroon’s $12 billion energy compact at the Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town.
- The compact targets full electricity access, 3,000MW capacity, and 40% clean cooking coverage by 2030.
Cameroon requires $12 billion (CFA7,200 billion) to overhaul its power sector, Minister of Water and Energy Gaston Eloundou Essomba announced during the Africa Energy Forum held in Cape Town from June 17 to 20, 2025.
On June 20, Essomba presented Cameroon’s “energy compact” to stakeholders, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, and international investors. The strategic roadmap outlines six key objectives for achieving universal electricity access by 2030.
Cameroon plans to connect an additional 8 million people to the grid, increase clean cooking access to 40 per cent, and reduce national energy intensity by 16.9 per cent by the end of the decade. The compact also aims to boost installed generation capacity to 3,000 megawatts, with at least 10 per cent sourced from renewables. In addition, the government intends to expand regional interconnections to deliver 1,000 megawatts of cross-border capacity.
The plan outlines major financial and structural reforms to support these goals. These include improving the sector’s revenue collection rate to 90 per cent, overhauling the legislative framework, introducing a mini-grid code, and launching fiscal and customs incentives. The strategy also calls for restructuring the national utility Eneo and creating a payment stabilisation fund.
Initially introduced in April 2025, the plan was presented during the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., from April 21 to 26. The Cape Town presentation marked a key milestone in Cameroon’s bid to attract sustainable financing and assert itself as a leader in Africa’s energy transition.
“With energy demand rising rapidly across households and industries, Cameroon must act decisively,” the Ministry of Water and Energy stated. “This compact is a turning point for our energy diplomacy and investment drive.”
Current figures show the country’s installed power capacity remains at 1,982.4 megawatts, with hydropower contributing 1,379.6 megawatts and solar just 30.83 megawatts, making up over 63 per cent of the total energy mix.
Cameroon is pushing ahead with key infrastructure projects to close the capacity gap, including the 500 MW Kikot hydroelectric dam and the 75 MW Bini à Warak dam. These developments aim to meet soaring demand and deliver on the national goal of universal energy access.