Cameroon:IsDB Provides Financial Resources To Sustain Oil Sector

Cameroon, 

The loan agreement was concluded between the bank and the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, AlamineOusmaneMey, through the exchange of notes.

Thesefinacial resources, which have been made available under the tutelage of this agreement will be directed towards importing oil products for the National Oil Refinery, SONARA. SONARA, it would be recalled is the country’s lone oil plant which came under a fire incident in 2019. Some sections of the plant were consumed by the flames, leaving the corporation to resort to importation in a bid to meet current needs. As a result, the government, each quarter, launches a call for tenders to choose those who would be entrusted with the responsibility of importing the valuable resources that period.

Water and Energy Minister, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, has confirmed that the importation has ended up being valuable to the state. He says the supply mechanisms have proven beneficial, with the government making some savings from the importation deals. Between 2019 and 2020, the Ministry records that some FCFA 150 billion has been saved. This has been broken down to mean that an average of FCFA 37.5 billion is saved every quarter.

Cameroon is among the countries that largely depend on the exportation of oil for survival. A drop in oil prices in the world market in 2016, was further compounded by the advent of the Corona virus pandemic. The health pandemic caused lockdowns here and there, resulting to a sharp drop in the demand of oil, by industrialised countries. The impact was far reaching, and that the country can now make some savings from the importation of finished oil products, like cooking gas, islike a great stride.