Is Cameroon still a country of oil professionals?
I published an op-ed in EcoMatin on 11 November 2026, in its Opinions section. In it I ask what the phrase “oil country”, applied to Cameroon almost by reflex, still means.
EcoMatin
EcoMatin is an economic and financial news outlet covering Cameroon and Central Africa. It reports on business, banking and finance, public policy, mining and energy across the countries of CEMAC, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community. It publishes online, sends out a newsletter every morning and produces a print magazine. Its Opinions section runs op-eds by outside experts. I have already published two pieces there on electricity in Douala, in August and October 2026.
What the op-ed says
Oil carries less and less weight. Cameroon has produced oil since 1977. In 1985, its record year, it pumped 186,000 barrels a day; in 2026, around 50,000, nearly three-quarters less. The 2026 state budget expects 523.7 billion CFA francs from oil and gas, out of 5,613 billion in domestic revenue: just over 9%.
A crude exporter that now imports petrol. In 2025, according to provisional figures from the National Institute of Statistics, the country sold 706 billion CFA francs’ worth of crude oil and bought 788 billion worth of fuels and lubricants. Its refinery in Limbé, Sonara, has been out of action since a fire in 2019. An expensive barrel, as in 2026 with the war in the Middle East, brings the state more revenue (about 180 billion CFA francs more with oil at $100, according to the Ministry of Finance), but it also inflates the fuel subsidy: 0.70% of GDP if pump prices stay frozen, 0.35% with a partial increase, according to the Ministry of the Economy. The net result therefore depends on how much of the price the government lets through at the pump.
What research shows. Luc Désiré Omgba (Oxford Development Studies, 2011) shows that the oil boom supported Cameroon’s economy and that the trouble came when output and prices fell: it is better to reform during the good years. Gildas Dohba Dinga, Ndam Mama and Elvis Dze Achuo (Heliyon, 2024) find that oil rent from 1977 to 2018 helped growth in the short run and held it back in the long run. They recommend investing it in roads and electricity.
What is missing is electricity. Cameroon’s power stations totalled 2,280 megawatts at the end of 2025, against a target of 3,500. A study presented in Lagos in 2022, at the annual conference of the Nigerian section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, shows that oil workers’ skills, above all project management and health, safety and environment, are also needed in solar, wind and hydropower. Cameroon has started down this road: since the departure of the Hilli Episeyo, gas from Sanaga Sud has been reserved for the Kribi power plant and local industry, and SNH, the national oil company, is preparing new fields.
My two proposals
- For the 2027 budget, which Parliament is examining in the session that opened on 10 November: put the non-oil primary balance at the centre of the debate. The Ministry of Finance already calculates this indicator, which compares state revenue and spending without oil money or debt interest. It answers the President’s circular of 12 October, which calls for “optimal mobilisation of non-oil domestic revenue”.
- For people: SNH, Perenco and their subcontractors could second managers, for a few years, to SOCADEL, the public company that distributes electricity, and to Sonatrel, which transmits it.
My conclusion: the Cameroon of 2026 is less and less an oil country, but it remains a country of oil professionals.