The Cameroon Electricity Company has put its emergency plan for 2026 and 2027 at FCFA 107 billion, presented on Thursday 8 October in Douala during a review of its first hundred days under its new management.
The state-owned company intends to devote the programme to financial rebalancing, strengthening production and distribution, and improving service. The Ministry of Water and Energy and the regulator ARSEL took part in the meeting, without publishing a detailed disbursement timetable for the plan.
SOCADEL has given General Bank of Cameroon a mandate to raise FCFA 60 billion for priority investments. A second mandate, awarded to that bank together with Afriland First Bank and BGFI Bank, covers a target facility of FCFA 200 billion, including FCFA 50 billion in revolving credit and FCFA 150 billion in medium-term credit.
These mandates do not amount to funds already available. The company specifies that financing remains subject to credit approvals, the finalisation of contracts and the banks' usual conditions. It also says it has saved FCFA 3 billion on operating costs and 3.5 billion on technical assistance and consultants.
The financial imbalance remains significant. According to SOCADEL, the average cost of service reaches FCFA 118.24 per kilowatt-hour, against an average billed price of FCFA 85.42. The company attributes the gap to the freezing of low-voltage tariffs since 2012 and to the irregular payment of the compensation borne by the state budget.
On the network, SOCADEL says the monthly number of new connections rose from 9,632 in April to 11,019 in July. At the end of September, it had 2.43 million households and businesses connected, of which 44.85% were equipped with a prepaid meter.
The company also says alerts for power outages received through its digital channels fell by 70% in August compared with April. It nonetheless acknowledges that some areas remain vulnerable, notably in the East, in Bonabéri Nord, Dibombari and certain sectors of Douala.