(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon plans to add 50,000 new electricity connections by the third quarter of 2026 under its results-based program (PforR), financed with CFA180 billion from the World Bank. The effort is part of the CFA400 billion Electricity Sector Recovery Plan (PRSEC) for 2024–2026, designed both to consolidate a national access rate now at 74 % and to improve service quality for households and industry.
The target was announced in November by the Minister of Water and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, during the presentation of the 2026 draft budget. He said that the program’s coordination unit and the national transmission company Sonatrel have already signed a series of contracts. These include 11 of 18 contracts for upgrading Sonatrel substations and 24 of 34 contracts for distribution and service-quality projects led by Eneo, the country’s sole electricity distributor, which was recently taken over by the state.
According to the minister, these contracts enabled 103,002 new connections in 2025 and the electrification of nearly 133 localities, bringing the national access rate to 74 %. In 2026, the focus will shift to improving service quality through the reinforcement and rehabilitation of high-voltage lines and the replacement of more than 11,600 wooden poles with concrete ones across the country.
A CFA400 Billion Recovery Plan for 2024–2026
The PforR is part of Cameroon’s Electricity Sector Recovery Plan (PRSEC), developed and adopted in 2023 for implementation from 2024 to 2026. Valued at CFA400 billion, the plan is backed by CFA228 billion from multilateral lenders: CFA180 billion from the World Bank and CFA48 billion from the African Development Bank.
This financing package supports major investments across the sector, from transmission to distribution, including infrastructure modernization and improved metering and consumption controls.
The priority action plan aims to meet an industrial demand estimated at 450 MW. It includes increasing the capacity of medium-voltage/low-voltage substations, migrating 1.5 million postpaid meters to prepaid units, replacing more than 50,000 wooden poles with concrete ones, installing 16,930 metering points in government buildings, and adding 7,431 metering points for public lighting networks.
In the first half of 2024, Eneo reported connecting 75,000 new customers, bringing total households served to more than 2.1 million. The figures show steady progress in investment at a time when the state is now the sole shareholder of the national distributor.
Frédéric Nonos
