10 May 1974 - 10 May 2014

The magnificent CSPH head office in Y'de

CSPH clocks 40! 
-Management says it is time for innovation and modernization
Even though the GM, Elung Paul Che, has underscored the enormous challenges that the petroleum company must address notably performance and effectiveness, he is at once upbeat and confident that, with better monitoring of fuel prices and stringent regulation of the petroleum sector, coupled with greater innovation in managing cash flow and reserves, CSPH will transform its stumbling blocks into stepping stones.
By Ayukogem Steven Ojong in Yaounde
A fool at 40 is a fool for ever, so says the English adage. The Hydrocarbons Prices Stabilization Fund CSPH turned 40 on 10 May 2014. Even though no big event was organized to mark this ruby anniversary, authorities of the petroleum company are leaving nothing to chance in their bid to transform the state-owned company into a more modern, better managed and highly effective institution.

    Faced with an ever skyrocketing rise in its operating expenses, due to rising prices of petroleum and petroleum products on the world market, the management of CSPH says it has become increasingly imperative for the company to review its business policies and modernize the overall functioning of the enterprise.
    “In 2014, we will be addressing two challenging issues: performance and effectiveness,” said the General Manager of CSPH, Elung Paul Che, in his editorial of the recent edition of the CSPH Newsletter, Hydrocarbons (No 02 of March 2014).
    To do this, the GM has with the approval of the Board of Directors of the company, put in place a strategic plan aimed at increasing revenue and, at the same time, cutting down expenditure. The plan also seeks to ensure greater innovation in managing cash flow and reserves, modernize business processes and promote transparency and good governance.
    Elung Paul has also urged his collaborators to adopt the best attitudes to their individual and collective tasks, saying that it is only by so doing that they can attain the objectives outlined in the new strategic plan.
    “With regard to efficiency, in order to deliver expected results, the staff will have to be efficient both individually and collectively,” Mr. Elung underscored.
    One of the measures taken to improve performance and effectiveness is the upgrading of the former Douala office of CSPH into a full department. Commentators say this is a good move especially because Douala hosts over 90% of CSPH’s most strategic partners, and the Douala office will now serve both for liaison and as the focal point for these partners.     
    Also, the new management of CSPH puts emphasis on regular control and assessment of workers’ performance. It was for this reason that the Internal Audit department was expanded to become the Department of Control and Internal Audit.
    But the GM of CSPH was also not oblivious of the fact that staff of the company cannot perform optimally if they are not adequately motivated. In this regard The Median learnt that the GM has succeeded in convincing the authorities to raise salaries of workers of CSPH to the same level like workers of other state-owned petroleum companies in the country. Then he has made sure that the best possible environment prevails within and around the company, to enable for optimum output. Even the company’s canteen is now fully operational, and this helps to keep workers within the precincts of the head office even at break time.
    For their part, workers of CSPH have not concealed their satisfaction with their General Manager.
    “I must admit that it is a completely different working environment that we now have at CSPH. Before the coming of the new GM I could not figure out that there was still a lot to be improved at the company. The new GM’s management style is quite different and unique. Everything is so transparent; all the conditions for optimum performance are there; so you have no excuses to give if you fail to do your work well,” said a worker at the company, who preferred to remain anonymous.
    Another worker noted that “our new GM is a very strict person. He is well aware that the Head of State did not put him there by chance. Mr. Elung Paul had proven his worth at the ministry of finance where he served as the General Manager of the treasury department, besides other strategic portfolios he has handled before. Also, you should not forget that our GM passed through the renowned Harvard Management School in Boston USA.”
    Created by presidential decree No 74/4/458 of 10th May 1974, in the wake of the petroleum crisis that hit the world in 1973, the CSPH only became a legal personality with financial autonomy in 1998, following a corporate re-organization that year.
    Apart from its core missions and objectives of regulating the supply and fixing the prices petroleum products across the country, CSPH has in the recent past years also invested and continues to invest enormous resources in infrastructural development schemes. The magnificent head-office building in down town Yaounde, the Maroua gas plant and the Bertoua gas facility (about 95% complete) are only some of the conspicuous projects that the company has realized.
    That apart, CSPH is also very active in creating service petrol stations in even the most remote parts of the country. The company counts at least 10 fully functioning petrol stations in hinterland areas.             Meanwhile, other projects are ongoing in Akono in the Centre region and Yabassi in the Littoral, while another project is in the pipeline for the construction of the first ever service petrol station in Kupe-Muanenguba division of the SW region, to be situated in Tombel.