By Daniel Gwarbarah & Edith Wirdze
The Minister of External Relations, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, and the French Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E. Georges Serre, have both expressed the need for concerted efforts in the development of the energy sector in the world and Cameroon in particular.
Both personalities expressed their concerns at the 6th edition of the Cameroon-Europe friendship days that was commemorated in Yaounde recently under the theme: "Cameroon's Energy Policy and Cooperation with Europe."
Henri Eyebe in his address, noted that like other countries in the world, Cameroon is also faced with the problem of energy insufficiency notably electricity, which has for the past years, hampered the re-launch of its economic growth.
He said despite the fact that Cameroon is ranked second in Africa in terms of hydro-electric energy potentials, exploitable natural gas deposits and biomass resources, some of the country's economic ambitions have witnessed a negative trend due to national energy crisis.
Quoting the Head of State, he said the pre-occupying situation is of particular concern to him and said the stakes and future solutions warrants diversification for clean energy sources such as the wind and solar for example.He hoped that the new sources would help Cameroon attain its strategic objective of supplying electricity to all, by 2015.
He said Cameroon is already benefiting from technical and financial assistance from several European bilateral and multilateral partners in projects, such as the electrification of some 28 villages in the Far North Region; electricity supply for rural development in the Rumpi area in the Southwest Region; the rehabilitation of the Songloulou Hydroelectric Dam as well as the electrical infrastructural development by AES-SONEL with support from financial institutions of the European Union.
According to the French Ambassador, the Cameroon-Europe Friendship days enabled both parties to have a retrospective view of areas covered in terms of development as well as cultural cooperation with respect to the diversity of the various countries.
He revisited the theme of the commemoration and stated that the problem of energy cannot be dissociated from issues of development.He mentioned the numerous sources of energy in Cameroon that could be harnessed with support from European partners in order to back up the hydroelectric power supply.
Other highlights of the celebrations included a colloquium bordering on energy issues at the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, IRIC, drama and choral singing.
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