Cameroon secures $206mn for Kribi refinery as fuel import reduction drive accelerates

Cameroon’s National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) has secured XAF120bn ($206mn) in financing arranged by BGFI Bank to support its participation in the CSTAR refinery project in Kribi, advancing one of the country’s largest downstream petroleum investments.

The financing agreement was signed on May 5 at SNH headquarters in Yaoundé, six months after SNH mandated BGFIBANK Cameroon to raise about $210mn for the project, Ecofin Agency reported.

The modular refinery, developed with Ariana Energy, is designed to reach 30,000 barrels per day (bpd), with an initial 10,000 bpd phase expected to cover about 22% of Cameroon’s diesel and gasoline demand.

SNH says the project could cut Cameroon’s fuel import bill by about $750mn annually and support marine fuel exports of more than $250mn a year. Those projections remain dependent on refinery utilisation rates, product prices and demand around Kribi’s deepwater port.

The project comes as Cameroon continues to rely heavily on imported refined products after the 2019 fire that left the SONARA refinery in Limbe idle. SONARA’s rehabilitation has been estimated at XAF300bn ($533mn), with a restart targeted later in the decade.

Nathalie Moudiki, chairperson of CSTAR’s board, is quoted by Ecofin Agency as saying the financing marked the transition from planning to implementation on the Cameroonian side of the project. The financing package also involved Afriland First Bank, SCB Cameroun and BICEC.

SNH said the project’s storage infrastructure, known as the Tank Farm, is being financed through its own resources, while the banking package represents its equity contribution to refinery construction.

The refinery will produce gasoline, LPG and low-sulphur marine fuels, according to CSTAR. The Kribi project also fits a wider regional shift in fuel supply, with Nigeria’s 650,000 bpd Dangote refinery already exporting petrol to Cameroon and other African markets.