ENEO reap huge profit amidst constant power cuts

The new and sole electricity supplier of Cameroon, Energy of Cameroon (ENEO), has announced that it made a colossal profit in 2014 as compared to 2013, even though Cameroonians continue to endure power outages.

In a recently released 2014 business activity report, the company stated that the company made a profit of 2.28 billion FCFA last year as against losses estimated at 406 million FCFA in 2013.

A performance which the successor of AES/SONEL owes part to “the tariff compensation of 17.5 billion FCFA granted by the government, due to the blocking of electricity prices in the country.

“Demand also increased by 7.5% as compared to the previous year,” Joel Nana Kontchou ENEO’s Chief Executive Officer disclosed.

In the report, concerns raised were that the company may be causing severe damage to people, not just through power cuts, but also through the use of a carcinogenic chemical known as Polyvinyl Biphenyl or PCB.

Officials of ENEO admitted that they use Polyvinyl Biphenyl, which a Canadian chemicals management company says is “very persistent in the environment and living tissue.”

However, it is difficult to know exactly what the health consequences are. The company merely indicated that “the majority of knowledge about the health risks of short-term exposure to PCBs is based on observations of people who were briefly exposed to high levels of PCBs after accidents or professional activities. One thing is certain; the PBCs are dangerous to health. The product is also banned in some countries such as France.”

The Journal learnt ENEO makes use of this product as additives coolants for transformer oils.