(Business in Cameroon) - Gilles Thibault, new French ambassador in Cameroon is quite certain. At the end of a closed meeting with the Cameroonian Minister of Energy and Water, Basile Atangana Kouna, the French diplomat confided to the press that “more than before, France intends to be more present that it has been in the implementation of energy and hydraulic infrastructure” in Cameroon.

This declaration from the French diplomat comes after the notification (on 3 August) to the consortium gathering the Moroccan companies Onep, MedZ, Delta Holding and the civil engineering consultancy Ingema, of the non-renewal of its drinking water public concession contract in Cameroon, which will expire in 2018.

At the same time, EDF, France’s secular arm in the electricity sector, is gradually getting a foothold in Cameroon. The French company indeed owns 40% of the capital of Nachtigal Hydro Power Company (NHPC), a Cameroonian limited liability company which will operate for 35 years a 420 MW hydroelectric dam under construction on the Nachtigal River, in the Central region of Cameroon.

In addition to purchasing shares in what will be the largest electricity production infrastructure in the country, France is also present in the power grid sector in Cameroon through RTE International, who will support the operationalisation of Société nationale de transport de l’électricité (Sonatrel – National Power Grid Company).

BRM