(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon’s power company, Eneo, has made 64,000 new electricity connections during the first half of 2024, according to its latest quarterly bulletin. Of those, 60,000 were done under the Rural Electrification and Energy Access Project (Perace), which targets underserved areas in the country.
Perace, a government initiative funded by the World Bank, allows new connections to the national grid with an option to pay a portion upfront and spread the remaining cost over several months. Thanks to this program, Eneo has achieved 163,000 connections over the past 20 months, reaching the initial project goals. Now, the target is set at 240,000 connections by the end of June 2025.
Perace also encourages the use of prepaid meters. These meters help customers manage their electricity usage better and reduce Eneo’s operational costs, such as monthly meter readings. The system also helps avoid billing errors, which have been a frequent source of complaints. As of June 2024, 739,000 Eneo customers, about 35% of the over 2 million active accounts, are using prepaid meters.
The project was approved by the World Bank in 2018 and began implementation in 2022. The project aims to electrify 687 localities across six regions: Far North, North, Adamawa, East, Southwest, and Northwest. It focuses on building and rehabilitating medium- and low-voltage power lines. So far, approximately CFA85 billion has been allocated to electrify 417 localities, resulting in about 120,000 connections across five regions.
With Eneo already surpassing the 2025 goal of 160,000 connections, the new target is 240,000. However, to achieve this, the government must finalize additional funding negotiations with the European Investment Bank (EIB). Cameroon is seeking CFA39 billion more to complete rural electrification in Adamawa and the North, and add another 100,000 connections. The European Union has already contributed CFA10.6 billion to support this effort.
Perace’s impact is significant. Officials estimate the project will improve the daily lives of nearly 2 million people in the affected regions by providing access to reliable electricity.
