The Director General of the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO), Harouna Bako, has been appointed new Director General of the national oil refinery corporation, SONARA.

News of his appointment was unveiled during the extraordinary Board of Directors meeting of SONARA held this Friday, February 9, in Limbe, South West Region.

His installation was done by the Minister of Water and Energy Resources, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, in the company of South West Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai and other officials.

He replaces Jean-Paul Simo Njonou, who has head SONARA since January 14, 2019.

In his installation speech, the Minister Gaston Eloundou indicated that “the responsibility of this structure is great in the process which must lead our country towards Emergence by 2035.”

The appointment, he continued, “comes in a context where, the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya, has instructed the Government to do everything possible to accelerate the process of reconstruction of this important society, which is the guarantee of our energy independence in terms of supply of petroleum products.”

The new SONARA boss comes in at the time when the institution is operating at its lowest point, after suffering a fire outbreak in 2019, that handicapped its functioning.

The company also suffers a huge external debt and is among the most indebted public companies in Cameroon, others being CAMAIRCO and the Douala Port Authority.