Cameroon’s National Oil Refinery Company SONARA will soon benefit from a financial infusion intended for the importation of petroleum products into the country. A decision by President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya.
The Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh has announced the opening of negotiations with the African Export-Import Bank AFREXIMBANK for the obtainment of a loan of 300 million Euros (about 197 billion FCFA) to buy petroleum products.
Since the May 31, 2019 fire incident which destroyed six of the company’s 13 production units, SONARA has gone from an oil refiner to a fuel importer. In the 2020 State budget, it is planned that the refinery be mutated from the industrial sector to a purely commercial sector. In the same vein, the Presidency of the Republic says, SONARA now has a minimum margin of 47.88 FCFA / liter, without affecting the current level of prices at the pump.
The overall volume of imports of finished petroleum products, in order to guarantee the country’s supply after the SONARA fire, is 1.540 million m3. These imports, according to the Ministry of Water and Energy, are divided between SONARA (480,000 m3) and other marketers (1,060 million m 3) operating on Cameroonian territory.
The need for this loan has been further compounded by the coronavirus that has clawed the economy to a stand-still, with a drastic drop in oil prices globally. With a barrel currently less than 30 US dollars, Cameroon could see this oil revenue for 2020 halved.
This implies that, the country will not reap the earmarked 443 billion FCFA expected from the sale of petroleum production in the 2020 State budget. Initial projections were made when the price was around 60 US Dollars for a barrel.
