By Sendy Forlemu
In a bustling household on the outskirts of Buea, 38-year-old Sarah Mbella resigns herself to another evening in the dark. “We have to plan dinner around the hours ENEO says power will be on,” she says, pointing to the flickering light bulbs above. “When it goes off, the children can’t study.”
For Mbella, the outage is domestic. For policymakers in Europe, Cameroon is something else entirely: a potential energy partner in an increasingly unstable world.
Since the war in Ukraine disrupted Russian gas flows, European governments have accelerated efforts to diversify energy sources. African producers, including Cameroon have gained strategic relevance. Gas exports from Central Africa now feature in Europe’s broader energy security calculus.
Yet across Cameroon, unreliable electricity remains a daily reality, a stark contradiction in a country that has pledged to become a regional power exporter by 2030 under its National Energy Compact. The roadmap, supported by international financial institutions and development partners, aims to expand generation and grid interconnections to sell electricity abroad. But for most Cameroonians, the lights blink out more often than they stay on.
At the center of the system is ENEO, recently returned to majority state ownership after the government acquired 95% of its shares for 78 billion CFA francs. Officials framed the move as a step toward regaining control over a struggling sector weighed down by debt and aging infrastructure.
Installed electricity capacity stands at roughly 1,500 MW, modest for a country of nearly 30 million people and heavily dependent on hydropower vulnerable to climate variability. While policymakers speak of future exports, there is currently no significant cross-border electricity trade, largely because domestic demand is not reliably met.
For small business owners like Emmanuel Tchatchoua in Douala, global energy politics feels distant but consequential. “The hours without power cost me money,” he says. “I use diesel generators. Fuel prices go up when global markets are unstable. Everything is connected.”
His point captures the paradox: Cameroon is drawn into global energy markets, yet domestic resilience remains fragile.
Global Power, Local Trade-Offs
Exporting gas or electricity brings hard currency, crucial in a context of rising debt and fiscal pressure. Stable foreign contracts can appear more attractive than subsidized domestic supply. But critics argue that prioritizing external markets risks reinforcing a familiar pattern: Africa as energy supplier, not industrial powerhouse.
The deeper question is one of self-rule.
Can Cameroon leverage global demand to finance domestic electrification, industrial growth, and renewable expansion? Or will export ambitions outpace investments in local reliability?
Survival Through Sovereignty
Experts suggest three pillars for genuine energy independence:
- Reinvest Export Revenues Transparently: Channel foreign earnings directly into grid modernization and rural electrification.
• Accelerate Decentralized Renewables: Solar mini-grids and off-grid systems reduce vulnerability to centralized grid failures.
• Strengthen Regulatory Accountability: Ensure state institutions pay electricity bills on time and improve utility governance.
Energy, in today’s geopolitical climate, is no longer just infrastructure. It is leverage, bargaining power, and survival.
For Mbella’s family, however, sovereignty is measured more simply. It is the ability to refrigerate food, power a classroom, run a small business. Until those needs are met consistently, Cameroon’s role in global energy politics will remain abstract and independence, incomplete.