Cameroon businessowners eye solar solutions as power crisis deepens

Añadido: 2026-05-12

[00:00:01]Life has not been the same for the past few months for Yabusani, a tailor and dressmaker at the Yelwa Market in Garoua.

[00:00:09]He is no longer able to work or satisfy his customers due to the recurring power cuts.

[00:00:15]I have a tailor workshop, but it's not up and running at the moment. Why isn't it working? Because we need electricity, but we don't have any. We only get electricity for maybe 3 or 4 hours a day. So, it's really difficult to work under these conditions.

[00:00:34]This is the tough reality shared by all the businesses at the market and the surrounding areas. The customer What what the customer needs is very difficult. Very difficult why? Because you cannot do everything. You cannot wash the hair. You cannot use the hair dryer because there's no light. And we are We don't know how to do again because this situation is going now around 3 months. With what is going on now, I cannot even work again.

[00:01:00]My My My business is stopped.

[00:01:02]And I have to take and look another way to to to try to satisfy my customers.

[00:01:12]All our products are damaged. Just look at the state of the fish. They are no longer presentable. Under these circumstances, we are losing a great deal. Some products simply become unsellable. There are goods that we are forced to set aside, a situation that has been going on for nearly 3 months.

[00:01:29]We are really disappointed.

[00:01:31]The Lagdo Dam, built between 1978 and 1984, supplies three northern regions with a capacity of 82 megawatts. Its purpose was hydroelectric power generation, flood control, and irrigation. Standing 40 m high and 297 m long, the dam has for some years now been unable to meet 80% of goals.

[00:01:57]And uh the 2021 and 22 we faced the the most critical deficit from this side.

[00:02:09]So, actually, what we are seeing facing as load shedding it is just because uh the Lagdo uh due to water cannot generate a high level.

[00:02:24]And actually, the level of water is too low and we are managing uh to avoid a crack within this month of May.

[00:02:35]According to experts, the dam is no longer able to Admittedly, the power station is over 40 years old.

[00:02:42]But I would like to reassure you that all four turbines are operational and capable of generating power at their rated capacity.

[00:02:49]Maintenance work is carried out on a regular basis. However, what is currently limiting production is the low water level.

[00:02:57]The water shortage means we are unable to bring all four turbines online.

[00:03:01]As a contingency plan, Eneo has built a diesel-fired power station in Garoua to supply electricity to the northern regions for the next few months.

[00:03:12]Unfortunately, these plans are not enough. Experts recommend solar power for a region that enjoys sunshine for 9 months out of the year.

[00:03:24]Getting around town hasn't been easy for some time now. When there's no electricity, we are sometimes forced to use generators, but these machines run on fuel, which has become very expensive. We don't know which way to turn.

[00:03:35]Given that the region has the Lagdo Dam, we would like to have a stable electricity supply. There's [snorts] often talk of silting at Lagdo, but we should also consider other sources of energy. Here in northern Cameroon, we have plenty of sunshine.

[00:03:50]For now, Cameroonian authorities have moved to take control of the main electricity provider as the communities continue to call for diversified power supply that would end the extended outages. Beryl Oro, CGTN.