Alcan

Alors que plus que la moitié de la population du Cameroon s'attend l'accès à l'électricité, le gouvernement intensifie ses efforts pour la construction du barrage de Lom Pangar, lequel permettrait l’expansion de l’usine de fonte d’aluminium Alucam, aux dépens des abonnés ainsi que des activités locales.

An Assessment of the Cameroonian Electricity Sector Reform

In 2001, AES Corporation was the sole bidder in the sale of the Cameroonian electricity company. In accordance with the World Bank’s third structural adjustment credit project, the state–owned company was sold. Since then, consumers face regular blackouts and tariff increases and some investments have been made in new generation capacity. A new regulatory body has been set up, but it is not fully operative. With many sub–Saharan countries under similar pressure to sell their public utilities, this paper contributes to the understanding, assessment, and analysis of privatisation reforms.

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The government of Cameroon is currently considering building the Lom Pangar Dam, a project that would displace rural villagers, flood protected forests, and increase the vulnerability of Cameroon’s economy to climate change. Increased hydropower generation downstream of Lom Pangar would mostly go to a large, foreign–owned aluminum smelter, which is expected to continue receiving below–cost electricity rates subsidized by residential ratepayers. The dam has been discussed for over a decade, but with a growing national energy crisis, the Cameroonian government has recently intensified efforts to obtain financing for the project.

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This joint report reveals how the aluminum industry in Cameroon is being prioritized over the energy needs of the country’s majority population, at great social and environmental risk, and without a participatory planning process for energy development.

While more than half of Cameroon's population waits for access to electricity, the government is intensifying efforts to build the Lom Pangar Dam, which would allow a major expansion of the Alucam aluminum smelter at the expense of residential consumers and local businesses. In 2011, the World Bank decided to support Lom Pangar Dam with a $100 million loan.