Gaston Eloundou Essomba was appointed Minister of Water and Energy on March 2, 2018. This economist is responsible for developing and implementing government policy on the production, transportation, and distribution of water and energy.
Born on October 8, 1967 in Akono, Gaston Eloundou Essomba holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) in economics, mathematics and econometrics from the University of Yaoundé II. Gaston Eloundou Essomba held the position of Director of Economic Analysis at the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT) until 2009. In June 2009, he was appointed Director General of the Cameroonian Petroleum Depot Company (SCDP), the only hydrocarbon storage company in the country.
On March 2, 2018, he was appointed Minister of Water and Energy. Upon his arrival in this position, substantial financial resources were made available to enable the new team to successfully implement national energy policy.
Gaston Eloundou Essomba thus updates the projects for the mini hydroelectric dams on the "Mouankeu" river in Bafang (4.6 MW), on the "La Dibombé" river (3.4 MW) in Manjo and the small hydroelectric power plant of Mbakaou-Carrière (1.4 MW) for which financing has been available since 2012. After transferring the Ahala power plant to the far North, the Minister accelerated the solar power plants of Guider, Maroua, thermal power plants of Kousseri and Maroua. He launched work on 511 km of 225,000 volt line to Ngaoundéré for the interconnection of the South network to the North network which has its source at the Nachtigal dam under construction in the Central region. He was elected Minister of the Year 2021.
The energy sector presented its recovery plan in June 2023 based on 7 axes, one of the main ones being the search for financial balance in the sector and the other, the improvement of the energy mix with the objective of reaching approximately 5,000 megawatts by 2030. The commissioning of the first machine at the Nachtigal dam should begin production in December 2023 and the last towards the end of 2024.
The World Bank is providing budgetary support of around 180 billion to begin financing this emergency plan, while emphasizing that the monthly bill for Nachtigal's 420 megawatts is estimated at 10 billion CFA francs. This action plan should make it possible to bring Nachtigal's energy wherever it is needed, particularly in Douala's industrial sector. With this Minister's dynamism and managerial style, Cameroon should achieve its objectives.
Gaston Eloundou Essomba is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kribi Power Development Company (KPDC).