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Business in Cameroon | Nearly a month after blackouts began to worsen across Cameroon’s Southern Interconnected Grid, electricity outages continue to affect seven of the country’s ten regions. In Yaoundé, the planned power cuts announced to last four to six hours often extend for several days. Many neighborhoods are without power, and other towns and villages across the country are also affected. Homes and businesses are struggling to cope.
Power utility Eneo has been sending alerts to customers, citing repeated issues on the transmission network managed by Sonatrel, the national electricity transmission company. The alerts mention ongoing maintenance work, fallen poles, broken cables caused by trees falling during heavy rains, and fires at overloaded transformers. In recent days, Eneo has reported almost daily incidents at the Nyom substation, located on the outskirts of Yaoundé. This substation is newly built and plays an important role in transmitting power from the Nachtigal dam.
The Nachtigal hydropower dam has been connected to the national grid since the first half of 2024. The first of its seven turbines, each with a capacity of 60 MW, began generating electricity last year. On March 18, 2025, the dam reached full capacity, with all seven turbines injecting a total of 420 MW into the grid, according to NHPC, the company in charge of the project. The official inauguration of the dam is scheduled for April 3.
Despite the increase in electricity production, the distribution network remains unreliable. Many parts of the country are still experiencing power cuts. Sources close to the project say that some of the new power lines needed to deliver electricity from the Nachtigal project are not yet completed. As a result, it is difficult to use all the power produced by the dam. Industrial demand has also grown, with an estimated additional need of more than 300 MW, according to industry sources.
Under the agreement between the State of Cameroon and NHPC, the government is required to pay CFA10 billion each month as soon as the dam becomes fully operational. This payment is due whether the energy is consumed or not. Since March 18, when the dam began supplying its full 420 MW to the grid, this condition has been in effect.
Although the dam has increased Cameroon’s electricity production capacity by 30%, many consumers are still experiencing daily outages.
The situation is beyond deplorable, to say the least.
In Bamenda, it is preferable to be in a blackout than experience the power on/off sequence that is now our daily norm to the detriment of household equipment and jobs, especially for those unable to afford for alternative sources of energy.