Is A Just Energy Transition Possible For Cameroon?

The various crises facing humanity—climate, energy, food, environment, health—as well as the
enormous inequalities that cause, and are deepened by them, can be overcome if we manage to rethink
the systems in which we live. Renewable energy is undoubtedly the most needed system to overcome
some of the most pressing crises of our era. In 2021, the energy sector contributed 73.2 per cent of total
global greenhouse gas emissions.
Cameroon has an abundant reserve of renewable energy resources. However, these resources are still weakly valorized. The
country relies mainly on hydropower energy for electricity generation (73%) with persistent power
outages throughout the country especially in the dry seasons when water levels are low. Electricity
access is about 65–88% in urban areas and around 14% for rural populations. Cameroon has
experienced strong economic growth (a growth rate of 5.9% in 2015), accompanied by a rapid increase
in electricity demand (1455 MW in 2014). Electricity needs are expected to rise over the next
decade to reach 6000 MW by 2030.
At ACSEA, we seek to address energy issues (reliability, accessibility and security). The current energy
system, based on fossil fuels, is unequal and inequitably distributed. It benefits mostly large private or
state-owned companies. It is particularly conflictive in terms of access to resources and is closed to
social participation in decision-making. For these reasons, progress on the energy transition is urgent.
There is no significant view of energy transition in Cameroon; it is a concept in dispute. Towards what?
For whom? How? Conservative views consider the transition of a process as a technological substitution
toward a change in the energy matrix focused on renewable resources and the search for energy
efficiency.
On the other hand, complete proposals warn that a change in the energy matrix is necessary,
but not enough. They see the transition as a process of integral transformation and territorially situated
which implies the creation of new socio-political conditions that restructure the organization, ownership
and distribution of the current production and consumption systems. The goal is advancing the right to
energy.
If we consider the transition as a systems change, it is essential to build another type of relationship
between human beings, nature and means of production.
Undeniably, the energy sector of Cameroon holds promising possibilities for development and diversification
given the country’s energy potential. With adequate policy, standards, regulations, awareness, capacity
building and off-grid renewable energy investments measures, it is possible for Cameroon to meet
future energy targets and ensure meaningful development throughout the country