Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Delivers CFA222 Billion in Transit Revenue to Cameroon Over Six Years

Cameroon collected CFA222.2 billion ($380 million) in transit fees from Chad’s crude oil exports between 2020 and 2025, highlighting the growing fiscal importance of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline more than two decades after it entered service.

According to data compiled by the Ministry of Finance in its 2027-2029 Medium-Term Economic and Budgetary Programming Document, the six-year total represents average annual revenue of about CFA37 billion for the Cameroonian Treasury.

As a landlocked country, Chad relies on the Chad-Cameroon pipeline to transport its crude oil to the offshore export terminal near Kribi in Cameroon’s South Region. In return for allowing the crude to cross its territory, Cameroon receives a transit fee calculated on every barrel shipped through the pipeline.

Annual Revenue Has Nearly Quadrupled

The revenue generated between 2020 and 2025 marks a significant increase from the pipeline’s early years of operation. According to the Pipeline Steering and Monitoring Committee (CPSP), Cameroon collected CFA85.5 billion in transit fees during the first eight years after the pipeline entered service on October 3, 2003.

That amounted to an average of roughly CFA10.7 billion per year, compared with CFA37 billion annually over the 2020-2025 period—an increase of nearly 3.5 times. Although the more recent period covers two fewer years, it generated CFA136.7 billion more in transit fees than the pipeline’s first eight years of operation.

That comparison alone, however, does not necessarily indicate exponential growth. Pipeline revenue depends on several factors, including the transit tariff charged per barrel, the volume of crude transported, and the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the CFA franc. Because the Ministry of Finance did not provide an annual breakdown of the CFA222.2 billion collected, it is not possible to determine the contribution of each factor.

Earlier Revenue Figures Covered More Than Transit Fees

Pipeline operator COTCO previously reported that about CFA200 billion had been paid into Cameroon’s Treasury between 2004 and 2013. That figure, however, covered a broader range of payments than transit fees alone. It also included corporate income taxes and various duties and taxes paid by the company.

As a result, it cannot be directly compared with the CFA222.2 billion reported for 2020-2025, which relates exclusively to transit fee revenue. Since COTCO did not specify how much of the earlier CFA200 billion represented transit fees, the most consistent comparison remains the CFA85.5 billion collected during the pipeline’s first eight years.

New Transit Tariff Still Awaiting Revision

The increase in revenue has been supported in part by higher transit tariffs. The fee was initially set at $0.41 per barrel when the pipeline entered service before being revised in 2013 and again in 2018, reaching $1.321 per barrel.

Under the agreement between the parties, another tariff adjustment was scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2023. However, no updated rate has been made public. In the meantime, the pipeline continues to provide a steady source of government revenue. By the end of May 2026, Cameroon had already collected CFA15.1 billion in transit fees, according to the CPSP.

While that figure does not indicate how much revenue the country will earn over the full year, it underscores the continued importance of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline as a source of public income from the transit of Chadian crude oil.

BRM