Sonara’s 700 billion bluff: a ploy to mislead president Paul Biya?

Seven years after the fire that devastated the Sonara refinery, its chief executive took the podium and solemnly declared to global media that the company would rise again on Monday, 29 June 2026. The move raises eyebrows: one would have expected at least a memorandum of understanding with a financial partner. Instead, the announcement came after a meeting of four ministers tasked with assessing reconstruction costs and financing models, before even approaching potential partners.

The chosen model is Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM), covering the design, construction, financing and maintenance of the infrastructure. If seven years after the Sonara fire this is as far as things have progressed, how much more time will be needed to find a partner who, through familiar Cameroonian practices, will sign an agreement and then turn to banks to raise the funds? This is already observed with mining partners, unlike what happens elsewhere.

The shadow of the SNH and Nathalie Moudiki

Looking at the timing, this communication comes just days after the Cameroonian business community, through its president Célestin Tawamba, congratulated the SNH on the new Kribi refinery under construction — a project led with skill by Nathalie Moudiki. The Gecam president spoke in an international media outlet.

Nomination stakes are therefore green

In reality, a closer look reveals that what took place yesterday was simply a communication designed to bluff the president of the Republic, precisely as he is in Switzerland reassessing the actions of those he appointed to support him and serve the people. In its statement, Sonara included a phrase to appeal to Cameroonians, mentioning a hydrocracker unit that will refine Cameroonian oil — a project already underway before the fire and already accounted for in the Kribi refinery.

The sabotage of the Kribi refinery

“When you see whistleblowers lurking in the shadows attacking certain personalities involved in projects, think about it. Since yesterday, Boris Bertolt has been posting incendiary comments against the SNH refinery project, with baseless claims aimed at tarnishing Nathalie Moudiki’s image. Why sabotage the Kribi refinery project on the very day Sonara makes its comeback? Yet at the SNH, the historical company’s efforts are welcomed.

Regarding the rehabilitation of Sonara, in 2020 a high-level delegation from the Russian giant Lukoil was received in Yaoundé with a proposal for reconstruction and installation of more modern equipment. The government gave no favourable follow-up. Regime insiders, who favour imports via traders, cite sovereignty reasons to justify rejecting potential partners. Yet Africa’s largest oil refinery, based in the continent’s second-largest oil producer, is privately owned. The Dangote refinery does not belong to the Nigerian state, but it refines over 60% of the oil from the country’s wells.

Why is the SNH gas model not applied to Sonara for oil? The large Lobito refinery in Angola was built by China, the Copperbelt refinery in Zambia by China. Uganda’s first oil refinery is being built by Russians, and another is planned in Congo. Cameroonians, pray to the Lord.

Albin Michel Njilo (Construire ensemble)