Cameroon Household Electricity Demand Forecast by a Combined End-Use, Geographic Mapping, and Regression Method

The United Nations were at the forefront for the “Electricity for ALL” initiative and are still gearing for it but all African governments have adopted the concept, independently of their electricity generation potential. Countries with 99% access in Europe and America on their side want this achievement to be sustainable. The advent of crossborder electricity markets all over Africa gives all countries the possibility to make electricity affordable to all their citizen wherever their location. Cameroon stands as a key player in this growing market given (i) its geographic position between West Africa and Central Africa and (ii) its hydroelectric and solar potentials. Unfortunately, the country has not yet turned its electricity potential into current which can flow into homes and businesses whose days are rocked by power outages and more over protracted hours of load shedding. In contrary to other countries, sector planning in Cameroon does not provide targets for household electricity access. Current figures are not available for comparison with other countries with same level of population. This paper aimed at using Cameroon household electrical assets ownership data from 2024 household survey and grassroots level population figures to forecast household demand with 2035 horizon.