British power company Actis Energy Buys Shares In Cameroon’s Electricity Company AES-Sonel



YAOUNDE, Cameroon–British power company Actis Energy agreed Friday to buy a 56% share of Cameroon’s National Electricity Corp. Sonel, which has been held for over a decade by U.S. energy giant AES Corp.According to the transaction, Actis Energy is paying $220 million to Cameroon for the 56% share of electricity generating and distributing company, Sonel, while the remaining 44% will be kept by the Cameroon government.

Originally state-run, Sonel was privatized about a decade ago, when it was sold to AES Corp., and automatically became AES-Sonel.
Actic Energy will also take over AES-Sonel’s shares of two other thermal units, the Kribi Power Development Co. and the Dibamba Power Development Co.
The three energy units Actis Energy is taking over produce an estimated 1,033 megawatts of electricity, which is far below Cameroon’s need of at least 3,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020 to lift its industrial and domestic power supply.
Emmanuel Tumanjong | DOW JONES NEWSWIRES