An agreement to carry out feasibility studies on the would-be project was penned yesterday. The government of Cameroon yesterday January 25 in Yaoundé reached an agreement with the Cameroon affiliate of an American energy company, Forbes Energy Cameroon for the latter to carry out feasibility studies with view of generating electricity from agricultural products, notably cassava. Bio fuels from the products, could produce methane gas, a form of green energy which is pollution-free, so as to diversify the country’s energy sources which in most cases is largely dependent on hydroelectricity.
An agreement to this effect was signed at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel between government, represented by the Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Michael Ngako Tomdio, and Forbes Energy Cameroon, represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Jean Narcisse Eyete Ela. According to the project’s technical sheet, at fruition, the project is expected to produce 19.2 megawatts of bio-energy, 600,000 metric tonnes of cassava and 150,000 metric tonnes of starch per year. This is in line with the company’s road map which consists in investing in agriculture by producing cassava and some other agricultural products from which bio fuel is derived.
Through this project, Forbes Energy Cameroon’s financial partners, “Groupe Financing Consulting Ltd,” is proposing to develop an agro-industrial pool in Dja and Lobo Division in the South Region in which it could set up a 20,000 hectare cassava farm and four industrial complexes to produce starch, bio-ethanol and electricity. Over 3,500 direct jobs are expected to be created; all, at the cost of FCFA 59 billion.
Speaking at yesterday’s ceremony, Mr Ngako Tomdio said the project could offer the country the opportunity to diversify its energy sources. “Today in Cameroon, we produce energy from water and we will soon be producing energy from gas. We are having experiments with solar and wind energy and this time, we are going to have practical experience with bio fuel.”
Like Jean Narcisse Eyete Ela, Forbes’ Chief Investment Officer, Afa’a Nkama, sounded upbeat that with the project, so much could change in the country’s energy sector, pledging to leave nothing to chance to deliver the goods.
