Government and Eneo to usher in new changes

The second concession contract between the State of Cameroon and Eneo Cameroon S.A is expected to usher in new changes.

The government of Cameroon, represented by the Minister of Water and Energy, Basile Atangana Kouna, and the General Manager of Energy of Eneo Cameroon S.A, Joel Nana Kontchou, have reached a second deal in conformity with the December 14, 2011 law on the electricity sector.

Both parties signed the two Concession Contract Framework on August 7, 2015 in a ceremony attended by the Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey, and the British High Commissioner to Cameroon, Brian Olley. The agreement spelt out 14 key elements with the rehabilitation of the Song-Loulou Dam, the transfer of reservoir dams to EDC, the transfer of transmission system operations, the improvement of service quality and the review of the tariff formula as the prominent ones.

Rehabilitating Song-Loulou Dam

The two parties agreed to undertake emergency works worth 11 billion FCfa at the Song-Loulou Dam, located at Edea in the Littoral Region. Both parties agreed on putting in place a Joint Technical Committee to oversee work at the dam that is expected to last three years as well as to approve additional works including proposals on technical and financial arrangements for the project execution. According to Joel Nana Kontchou, engineering works are at 5 per cent and works to secure the evacuation of water systems are at 20 per cent.

Upgrading Service Quality

Everything said and done, what interests Cameroonians is improvement in the quality of services with emphasis on access to electricity by all. Speakers at the August 7 ceremony stressed on the need to review elements related to the quality of services. Both parties agreed to establish new service quality standards, new service quality measuring indicators, and a suitable tool for determining and tracking the link between the level of investment and maintenance as well as service quality standards. It emerged that work to define the new standards, indicators and tools expected to conform to international standards is already underway. The new approach will be submitted to the Electricity Regulatory Agency (ARSEL) for approval.

Transfer of Dams

Government and Eneo Cameroon S.A have agreed to transfer dams to the Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) as was already provided for in the first concession agreement. The Monitoring Committee to this effect is already in place with work ongoing. The concern of Eneo is however, to respect rules of the game with focus on ensuring that the transfer does not play down on consumers.

Coming after the first Concession Agreement Framework I, signed on July 18, 2001, Basile Atangana Kouna promised government’s commitment to continue to invest in energy infrastructure to lessen the burden of Eneo. He however challenged the company to get down to serious work. National demand for power produce, authorities say, has moved from an average 6 per cent in 2001 to 7.5 per cent since 2010.