Cameroon Is Strategic In The Oil Business!

The 46th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) is a major event for Africa. The decisions taken at the end of this meeting will have a significant impact on the future of the oil industry on the continent. Cameroon, as an oil-producing country, has a key role to play in this energy transition and in strengthening regional cooperation. For example, APPO advanced discussions on developing energy infrastructure to create market for Africa’s oil and gas. One of such infrastructure is the Central African Pipeline System. The eleven Central African States, starting from Chad through Cameroon and all the way to Equatorial Guinea to the two Congos will constitute the Central African Pipeline System. “What we are going to do is to do a pipeline for oil, a pipeline for gas and a pipeline for products to link all of these places. We have depots and terminals across these places so that we can use it to also industrialise our economies, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers' Organisation, explained. 
The strategic nature of Cameroon is first in its huge reserves of oil and gas. Besides the country’s vast oil and gas potential, the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) has put on promotion nine free blocks for exploitation, namely; Ndian River, Bolongo Exploration and Bakassi in the Cameroon’s hydrocarbons rich Rio del Rey Basin, and Etinde Exploration, Ntem, Elombo, Bomono, Tilapia and Kombe-N’sepe in the highly propective Douala/Kribi-Campo Basin. With these abundant oil and gas resources but insufficient financial and technological resources as well as a sustainable market, the Africa Energy Bank, which goes operational in 2025, represents a significant opportunity for Cameroon to attract fresh investment for its oil industry. If these factors were met, the country could accelerate economic growth and make it sustainable. All this could generate new jobs for the country’s youth. 
Second, Cameroon is already hosting an important energy infrastructure, the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline, which will be extended to all other countries of Central Africa. That in itself is expanding the energy market. Third, Cameroon’s geographical position makes it a major gateway into countries of the Gulf of Guinea. Finally, s...