Globeleq arrears in Cameroon have reached a level that is now shutting down power. The British-backed independent power producer says the country's electricity distributor owed its Kribi and Dibamba plants $251.6 million at the end of 2025, about CFA146.9 billion. That is 37.9% more than a year earlier, according to Globeleq Africa Holdings' 2025 annual report, filed with the UK companies registry on 20 October and reported by Investir au Cameroun on 23 October.
The debtor is Eneo, which became the Société camerounaise d'électricité (Socadel) on 4 May 2026. The report says the accumulated arrears have already led to some generating units at both plants being shut down.
How big the Globeleq arrears are
The figures below come from the annual report as reported by Investir au Cameroun. Conversions to CFA francs are the publication's.
- Total owed at end-2025: $251.6 million (about CFA146.9 billion), up from $182.5 million a year earlier.
- More than 90 days overdue: $181.2 million (about CFA105.8 billion), or 72% of the total. A year earlier the overdue amount was $140.9 million.
- Kribi gas plant: $201.4 million (CFA117.6 billion), up from $145.8 million.
- Dibamba thermal plant: $50.2 million (CFA29.3 billion), up from $36.7 million.
Kribi sells power under a long-term power purchase agreement. Dibamba is paid under a tolling agreement for providing capacity. Kribi carries most of the debt.
The missing liquidity facility
The power contracts include a liquidity facility that the government is supposed to fund so that producers are paid even when the distributor is short of cash. According to Globeleq, that facility had not been funded as of 31 December 2025. The report gives no schedule for paying down the balance and does not show any amounts recovered since year-end.
Profits fall while revenue rises
A second Investir au Cameroun article, also based on the annual report, shows what the arrears are doing to the two plants' accounts. Combined revenue rose 5.9%, from CFA78 billion to CFA82.6 billion. Combined profit fell 24.2%, from CFA19.8 billion to about CFA15 billion.
- Kribi Power Development Corporation (KPDC): revenue up from CFA60.2 billion to CFA64.1 billion, but profit more than halved, from about CFA12.8 billion to CFA6 billion. Current liabilities of CFA163.5 billion exceeded current assets of CFA43.6 billion by CFA119.9 billion.
- Dibamba Power Development Corporation (DPDC): revenue up from CFA17.8 billion to CFA18.5 billion, and profit up from CFA7 billion to nearly CFA9 billion. Current liabilities exceeded current assets by about CFA9 billion.
Dividends to minority shareholders at Kribi fell from $9.6 million to $4.5 million. At Dibamba, a dividend that had been declared but not paid was cancelled. The combined gap between short-term liabilities and assets is close to CFA129 billion, which signals strain but does not by itself prove insolvency.
A seller looking for the exit
Globeleq says it has exercised its contractual right to transfer its stakes in KPDC and DPDC to the Cameroonian state. At 31 December 2025, the stakes were not yet classified as held for sale, so the annual report does not confirm the transfer was complete. Investir au Cameroun reported in August that the state was preparing an offer of about CFA80 billion for Globeleq's 56% holding in the two companies.
That sets up an awkward position for the Treasury. If the state buys the plants, it becomes both the owner of the creditor and, through its role in the sector, responsible for the debtor's ability to pay.
Part of a wider payments problem
Globeleq is not the only producer waiting for money. At a sector review meeting in Douala on 8 October, the Ministry of Water and Energy acknowledged that invoices owed to key operators, including Globeleq, the hydropower company NHPC and grid operator Sonatrel, were still not fully paid. It did not give an updated balance for Globeleq.
The same distributor is now paying CFA52.6 billion to keep 33 thermal plants supplied with fuel, as we reported on the Socadel fuel tender. Every franc that goes to emergency fuel is a franc that does not clear older bills. The government's fiscal room is also tight: Fitch cut Cameroon to B- this month, and talks on a new IMF programme have been slow to start.
What it means for businesses
For firms that depend on grid power in Douala and Kribi, the arrears are not an accounting detail. Shut-down units mean less available capacity at the moments demand peaks, and more pressure on diesel generators. For lenders and investors looking at Cameroon's power sector, the Globeleq numbers are a measure of counterparty risk: an independent producer with a state-backed contract still saw nearly three-quarters of its receivables go more than 90 days overdue.
The fix most often discussed is the one already written into the contracts: fund the liquidity facility and set a repayment plan for the backlog. Until that happens, expect more of the same, with producers carrying the cost of a distributor that cannot pay on time.
