Cameroon Seeks Five Months’ Worth of LPG Imports to Shore Up Supply

Cameroon will launch a tender on September 1 for 60,000 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a volume equivalent to nearly 40% of the liquefied butane it imported throughout 2025 and a sign of the country’s continued reliance on foreign supplies to meet domestic demand.

According to a notice signed by Okie Johnson Ndoh, chairman of the ad hoc Petroleum Products Import Commission (CIPP), the tender will be divided into two lots of 35,000 and 25,000 tons. The imports are intended to “cover consumption needs for the 2026 fiscal year.”

Tender documents are available at the headquarters of the Hydrocarbon Price Stabilization Fund (CSPH) at Warda Junction in Yaoundé. Bids are scheduled to be opened and contracts awarded at the same location on September 8 at noon.

The tender does not yet constitute a purchase order or guarantee that the volumes will be delivered. The notice provides no estimated contract value, supply origin, transportation terms or delivery schedule. Those details will only become known after bids are reviewed and the lots awarded.

Nearly Five Months of Imports

The size of the tender is significant compared with Cameroon’s latest import figures. According to the Ministry of Economy’s Report on the Cameroonian Economy in 2025, based on customs data, the country imported 150,420 tons of liquefied butane in 2025, up 3.6% from 145,163 tons in 2024.

The import bill nevertheless declined 5.4%, from CFA59.38 billion to CFA56.159 billion, reflecting a decrease in the reported average import cost. The 60,000 tons covered by the tender equal 39.9% of Cameroon’s 2025 import volume, or nearly five months of purchases at that year’s average monthly rate. In theory, the volume would also be equivalent to 4.8 million 12.5-kg gas cylinders.

Based purely on the average 2025 customs value of about CFA373,348 per ton, the tendered volume would be worth roughly CFA22.4 billion. That figure is not an estimate of the contract’s actual value, which will depend on bids, LPG specifications and delivery terms.

Bipaga Cannot Meet Domestic Needs

Cameroon produces LPG domestically at the Bipaga gas processing center in the South region. According to the National Hydrocarbons Corporation’s (SNH) 2023 annual report, the facility supplied 34,699 tons that year, up 21% from 28,677 tons in 2022. It was Bipaga’s second-highest output since the facility began operations in 2018. In July 2026, SNH said Bipaga was expected to continue producing around 30,000 tons of LPG annually despite the end of operations by the Hilli Episeyo floating unit.

That capacity remains far below the 150,420 tons of liquefied butane Cameroon imported in 2025. The comparison points to a structural shortfall in domestic supply, although it does not provide an exact market share because the periods and statistical scopes differ.

The tender therefore has two immediate stakes: preventing supply shortages during the final months of 2026 and managing Cameroon’s exposure to external purchases. Its actual cost and impact on domestic inventories, however, will only become clear after the September 8 award and the release of delivery terms.