(Business in Cameroon) – More than five years after the May 2019 fire that destroyed part of Cameroon’s National Refining Company (Sonara), about 75% of the damaged equipment can be recovered. The information was released in late November 2025 by Minister of Water and Energy Gaston Eloundou Essomba during a budget presentation before the National Assembly’s finance committee.
The minister recalled that Sonara has launched two key studies to support post-fire rehabilitation. The company commissioned a detailed feasibility study (APS) from Axens, signed on February 27, 2025 for a 42-week schedule, to determine the final refinery configuration and estimate capital expenditure. A preliminary assessment by Ekiun Ltd, carried out from July 16 to 23, 2025, concluded that about 75% of the damaged equipment is recoverable and reusable.
The ability to salvage most of the refinery’s equipment should theoretically reduce rehabilitation costs compared with a full rebuild. Initially estimated at CFA250 billion, the investment needed to restore Sonara has since been revised to CFA300 billion, a 20% increase, according to the Prime Minister. On November 26, 2025, during the government’s 2026 program presentation, Joseph Dion Nguté cited the detailed feasibility study by Axens and confirmed the CFA300 billion cost.
A heavily indebted company
Before the finance committee, the energy minister explained that the updated CFA300 billion figure includes both industrial rehabilitation and corporate restructuring. The proposed plan rests on three pillars: recapitalizing the company and securing a financing partner, restoring production assets to their pre-fire configuration, and implementing an organizational and skills-upgrade plan. The total financing requirement is CFA300 billion.
Known as Parras 24 (Accelerated Plan for Restructuring and Rehabilitation to Resume Refining Within 24 Months), the strategy aims to restart production by 2027. However, implementation comes amid heavy debt. After the state took over Sonara’s tax liabilities—CFA145.5 billion—the refinery still owes CFA261 billion to banks. This banking debt has been rescheduled over ten years at 5.5% since 2021. Similar terms were applied in 2023 to restructure CFA312 billion owed to traders as of April 2021.
To secure repayments to both banks and traders, the government imposed a levy of CFA47.8 on each liter of fuel sold at the pump. Proceeds are held in an escrow account at the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). The mechanism generated CFA479 billion as of October 31, 2025, an increase of CFA126 billion year-on-year. According to Minister Eloundou Essomba, these funds will also serve as a guarantee for Parras 24.
Strong interest from financial institutions
This guarantee framework appears to reassure investors. In recent months, several financial institutions have expressed strong interest in financing Sonara’s rehabilitation and restructuring. On June 17, 2025, representatives from UBAF, the Dutch bank ING, and Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) visited Sonara’s headquarters in Limbe for discussions aimed at “propelling the refinery toward a promising future,” according to official sources.
BEAC has also indicated its willingness to mobilize its “window B,” dedicated to refinancing medium-term loans for productive investment. “This window is designed to finance productive sector projects. For Sonara, we took the initiative to approach authorities ourselves to present this instrument as a potential support for rehabilitation,” BEAC Governor Yvon Sana Bangui said on September 29, 2025, during the closing press conference of the third Monetary Policy Committee session.
Beyond Sonara’s internal situation, the stakes are macroeconomic. Rehabilitation of the refinery is considered strategic for Cameroon and for the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Cemac: Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and CAR). Restoring production would reduce reliance on imported refined petroleum products and limit the erosion of the region’s foreign exchange reserves. Regional authorities say massive imports of refined products are the main driver of this erosion.
The risk of currency pressure
Without an operational refinery, Cameroon imported nearly 1.8 million metric tons of petroleum products between January and October 2025. Of this volume, about 1.6 million metric tons were gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, compared with 208,210 metric tons of domestic gas. These purchases, worth several billion CFA, strain foreign exchange reserves for Cameroon and the wider Cemac region.
Under agreements linking France and Cemac member states, regional foreign exchange reserves are centralized in a single “operations account” and jointly used to pay for imports. Increased pressure on these reserves exposes the region to liquidity constraints for external payments and, if prolonged, could trigger monetary adjustment measures—including a potential devaluation—should reserves fall below a critical threshold.
Brice R. Mbodiam
