The Cameroonian government today concluded a definitive agreement with the British investment fund Actis for the purchase of its shares in the company Energy of Cameroon (Eneo).

This operation, carried out on the instructions of the President of the Republic, marks the effective nationalization of the concessionaire of the electricity distribution company, which thus becomes once again 100% owned by the State of Cameroon .

🤝 Terms of the transaction

Enéo, whose capital was majority-owned by Actis (51% stake), is now entirely under state control. The purchase price was set at €119 million , equivalent to approximately 77.942 billion CFA francs , according to information reported by our colleagues at Africa Intelligence. Before this transaction, the Cameroonian state held 44% of the shares, with the remaining 5% belonging to employees.

🗓️ Timeline and process

The takeover process was formally launched at the beginning of 2023. It took a decisive turn following presidential instructions transmitted on September 5, 2023.

These directives, delivered by the Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, to the Secretary General of the Prime Minister's Services, Séraphin Magloire Fouda, prescribed the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee dedicated to this operation.

This committee was led by the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze , and also included:

1. The Minister of Water and Energy;
2. The Minister of the Economy;
3. Representatives from the Presidency of the Republic and the Prime Minister's Office;
4. The National Social Security Fund (CNPS) is designated as the buyback entity.

During this preparatory phase, Financia Capital was mandated to evaluate the value of Enéo's share.

⚡ Objective: Energy sovereignty and responding to complaints

The main objective of this nationalization is to strengthen Cameroon's energy sovereignty . The operation comes amidst widespread consumer dissatisfaction, marked by recurring power outages .

The government had regularly pointed to the complexity of shared management with the British majority shareholder as one of the causes of these problems. Full control of Eneo is now seen as an essential lever for more efficient management and a significant improvement in the quality of the public electricity distribution service.