(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon plans to raise its clean cooking access rate to 40% by 2030, up from 23.4% in 2022, according to the National Energy Compact. The roadmap, developed with international partners, outlines actions to expand sustainable energy infrastructure nationwide.
To meet this target—an increase of 16.6% over eight years—the government aims to enable 1.7 million additional people each year to switch to cleaner energy options such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biogas, electricity, and eco-charcoal. The goal is to reduce reliance on wood fuels, including firewood and traditional charcoal.
The Ministry of Forests and Wildlife estimates Cameroon’s charcoal market at about CFA17 billion per year. However, the sector contributes little to state revenue, while parafiscal networks reportedly collect as much as CFA1 billion annually from industry players. Despite its profitability for operators, the wood energy sector remains environmentally destructive—a concern frequently raised by environmental groups.
The government’s push to transition households toward cleaner alternatives such as LPG, biogas, and eco-charcoal is part of broader efforts to curb deforestation and environmental degradation.
Reaching the 2030 goal will require about $114 million (CFA64 billion) in infrastructure investment. The National Energy Compact projects that most of the funding—over CFA37 billion—will come from concessional loans and grants, while around CFA17 billion and just over CFA10 billion are expected from private operators and the Cameroonian state, respectively.
