2024-02-16 09:14:01
Dramatic twist in the Cameroonian oil sector. Six short days after being unceremoniously removed from the general management of the National Refining Company (Sonara), Jean-Paul Simo Njonou has just been appointed general director of COTCO. Explanations.
A comeback on purpose. When no one expected it, Jean-Paul Simo Njonou will regain his stripes at the head of the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO).
On February 15, the extraordinary board of directors of this public company, in charge of the Cameroonian part of the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, in fact set its sights on this experienced profile to manage the company. And thus succeed Harouna Bako.
Unceremoniously defenestrated from Sonara 6 days ago!
However, the same Jean-Paul Simo Njonou was unceremoniously ejected from the chair of general director of Sonara only 6 days ago!
On February 9, to everyone’s surprise, this pillar of the national refinery since 2016 was brutally dismissed by a presidential decree which placed magistrate Harouna Bako in his place.
Obviously, this expeditious dismissal was nothing more than a lightning-fast crossing of the desert for Jean-Paul Simo Njonou. Sufficiently esteemed in the hydrocarbon world to bounce back in record time at the helm of COTCO.
Heavy files to manage for the new CEO
The question now arises of the mixed record left by the new strong man of COTCO during his 7 years of reign at the head of Sonara. But above all, the thorny issues that await him in his new role, starting with the shareholder disputes between Chad and the oil junior Savannah Energy…
His experienced profile will in any case be eagerly awaited to defend Cameroonian interests within COTCO, including Yaoundé has just increased its capital to 25% after the transfer of Chadian shares. Proof of the growing strategic importance of this pipeline for Cameroon.