How Nigeria's Fuel Subsidy Shock Jolted Cameroon's Economy.
In Cameroon, the unintended consequences of Nigeria's fuel subsidy withdrawal ripple across the beleaguered Anglophone region. WHAT HAPPENED TO CAMEROON'S REFINERY? On the night of 29 May, 2019, the lone petroleum refinery in Cameroon was struck by a massive explosion that damaged four of its 13 production units. The incident at the 42,000 barrel-per-day SONARA refinery in Limbe, southwest Cameroon, abruptly stopped petroleum refining in Cameroon. To mitigate the effects of the damage, the government immediately accorded the National Oil Refining Company, SONARA, and other licensed agents, the right to import and market refined petroleum products across the country. Wary of inflation, the government subsidised the prices of the various imported fuel products. The price of a litre of petrol was thus fixed at FCFA 630 (approx. $ 1.4) On 1 February, 2023, with the refinery still not restored almost four years after the explosion, the government increased fuel prices. Petrol and di