The Renewables' Development Constraints in Cameroon: Challenges and Future Prospects

Sub-Saharan Africa is in the midst of an energy crisis. The region’s power generation capacity is lower than that any other world region, and capacity growth has stagnated compared with other developing regions. The Cameroon’s case is even more problematic since the sector suffers from many other evils and shortcomings justifying the current and future energy deficit if nothing is done. Although the country enjoys huge renewables’ resources, actual exploitation is threatened by a range of institutional, financial, technical and/or technological problems. Our study analyzes these constraints and proposes some development prospects. We found that overall energy sector is characterized by a plethora of administrations without coordination’s structure and clear responsibilities, which leads to mixed outcomes. In addition, there is no institutional framework for renewables and no promotion program. Cameroon equally faces inadequate number of renewables experts which considerably stands as barrier. Unreliable infrastructures, insufficient distribution networks, corruption, administrative bottlenecks as well as financial insecurity are the most significant risks and barriers. As it has done for fossil fuels and large hydropower, Cameroon must clearly define its policy on other abundant renewables resources. It must also improve the overall business environment in order to reassure and attract more interested investors.