Cameroon: Sonara refinery still far from compensation?

On 31 May last year, the Sonara refinery in Cameroon was devastated by a fire, and to date there is still no solution to compensation from insurance companies.

" Sonara's CEO [Jean Paul Njonou] and one of his staff in the working session on Wednesday 24 July 2019 with Swiss-RE's claims department and Sonara experts as part of Sonara's compensation following the 31 May 2019 accident'reveals a credible source.

[su_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX8QW0RbFrw"]

We know for a fact that the file is in mao at the Swiss Reinsurance Company, an insurance and reinsurance company founded in Zurich (Switzerland) in 1863, which is in charge of the accident.

For the time being, nothing certain is known about the compensation for Sonara's accident. Especially since the local press reported that Sonara had not yet paid its insurance premium at the time of the fire. Worse still, some claimed that this insurance was closed after the fire completely damaged four of the 13 production units of the

refinery. Three units were partially destroyed in the accident. The damage also includes 10 million litres of crude oil gone up in smoke.

Sonara's management never wanted to talk about the issue. Even less so, another official. But the subject was the focus of an exchange on 2 July between Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute and the Association of Cameroon Insurance Companies, led by its president Théophile Gérard Moulong.

At the end of this hearing, Mr. Moulong stated that the Sonara incident was also greatly magnified in view of

" the fact of the absence of foreign currency, because insurers are unable to pay reinsurers. This means that a disaster like this can be difficult to repair ".