Cameroon Launches Electricity Sector Development Fund 

–Agence Ecofin

In Cameroon, a presidential decree has just created an Electricity Sector Development Fund (FDSE). Responsible for leading the development strategies of the sector, the FDSE will be supplied, among other things, by state subsidies and a contribution of 1% of operators’ turnover.

The Cameroonian Head of State, Paul Biya, signed on August 19, 2020 a decree establishing, organizing and operating the Electricity Sector Development Fund (FDSE). The presidential text specifies that it is a “  special account intended for the financing of the electricity sector  ”.

This fund, we learned, will conduct all “  activities relating to the development and implementation of public policies and strategies in the electricity sector; operations relating to the preparation and organization of calls for tenders for the selection of power plant operators, as well as operators of transmission network management activities; the State’s contribution in real expenditure within the framework of jointly funded projects, etc.  ”

In addition, the FDSE is responsible for “  monitoring and control operations of water storage activities for the production of electricity, production, transmission, distribution, import, export and sale. electricity ; administrative, technical, financial and accounting audits of the activities of the electricity sector; Cameroon’s financial contributions to international organizations in the electricity sector; emergency interventions.

In order to replenish the new fund, we learn, operators holding concessions, licenses or other authorizations will now pay 1% of their annual turnover excluding taxes. According to the decree which creates it, the resources of the FDSE also consist of a share of the water royalty or water rights; resources from the State budget in respect of its participation in or contribution to legal and financial structuring operations for projects in the electricity sector; a share of the State dividends in respect of its equity investments in companies in the electricity sector; state subsidies; a share of the entry fee or renewal of operator titles;

Recovered by the Electricity Sector Regulatory Agency (Arsel), underlines the decree, the fund’s resources are placed in a special allocation account outside the budget opened in the books of the Central Bank by the ministry in charge of Electricity, which is the authorizing officer.

With the creation of FDSE, the electricity sector in Cameroon is enriched by its 5 th public operator. After EDC, the heritage company, Sonatrel, (specializing in transport), Arsel (the regulator) and the AER which deals with rural electrification in the country.