The institutional evolution of the Cameroonian electricity sector can be illustrated by the figure below.
Institutional evolution of Cameroon's electricity sector
The Cameroonian electricity sector has undergone many changes. It has gone from a regional monopoly exercised by three operators (POWERCAM, ENELCAM, and Electricité Du Cameroun (EDC) to a national monopoly with vertical integration.
At the end of the 1990s, the electricity sector in Cameroon was one of the privileged targets of the all-out restructuring of entire sections of the national economy, suggested and decided by international donors and implemented locally. . It had been advised to transform the state-owned electricity companies into legally separate entities. The aim was to reduce the number of problems faced by utilities in developing countries [4] and orient them towards cost recovery in pricing and improvements in metering, billing and collection. At the same time, the adoption of the required energy legislation was to provide a legal mandate for restructuring, as well as the legal framework for private participation in the sector. Arrangements have also been made for an independent regulatory body to put in place efficiency, cost thinking, transparency and fairness in the management of the sector, encourage appropriate investments and protect consumers.
The reform that took place in 1998 (Law N ° 98/022 of December 24, 1998) made it possible to open up the production segment to competition. Overall, it had the following objectives:
- to disengage the State from the commercial service of electricity;
- reduce the financial weight of the sector on the state budget;
- to improve the contribution of the electricity sector in the economy and in the social development of the country.
More specifically, it should allow:
- increase investments in the electricity sector;
- improve the quality of service and service;
- improve efficiency in the production, transmission and distribution of electrical energy;
- to supply energy at competitive prices to industry and households;
- confirm the opening of the sector to competition;
- to encourage the private sector to participate in the development of the electricity sector.
Through this law of 1998, an electricity sector regulator was created, in particular the Electricity Sector Regulatory Agency (ARSEL) to ensure the regulation, control and monitoring of the activities of operators and operators. electricity sector operators. Before this reform, electricity tariffs were published by the Ministry of Finance and the Economy under the proposal of the National Electricity Company (SONEL).
From the public monopoly held by the defunct SONEL, the State has conceded all activities related to this sector to a single private operator, the American group AES Corporation. Thus, through four concession contracts signed on July 18, 2001, the production, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity were entrusted to the operator AES-SONEL.
The publication of law n ° 2011/022 of 14 December 2011 governing the electricity sector allowed the creation of a transmission system operator withdrawing this segment from the public service concessionaire who managed in an integrated manner (production, transport , distribution and supply). The aim is to attract more private investors into the production segment. The two laws (1998 and 2011) enabled the Cameroonian electricity sector to register the arrival of two Independent Electricity Producers (PIE). These are Dibamba Power Development Company (DPDC) in 2009 and Kribi Power Development Company (KPDC) in 2013.