In Cameroon, working as a freelancer or entrepreneur often feels like a battle on two fronts: electricity outages and unreliable interne...
In Cameroon, working as a freelancer or entrepreneur often feels like a battle on two fronts: electricity outages and unreliable internet. These two obstacles can cripple productivity, derail projects, and make it nearly impossible to keep a consistent presence online. For anyone running a digital business, it’s more than frustrating—it’s a threat to survival.
I learned this the hard way. Weeks of internet blackouts and daily power cuts pushed me to the edge. At some point, I realized that if I didn’t take control of these problems myself, my work—and my dreams—would stall indefinitely.
Here’s how I found my way out.
The Struggle: Living with Outages
I was living in Bafoussam during the rainy season when the electricity situation became unbearable. Power cuts were constant, often lasting for hours, making it nearly impossible to work or teach.
Internet wasn’t any better. I had subscribed to Camtel’s fiber optic package at 25,000 CFA per month, expecting reliable service. Instead, I endured two full weeks without connection—no warnings, no updates, no compensation. Just silence.
Imagine paying for a fiber plan and going half a month completely offline. For someone like me, whose work depends entirely on being connected, that was catastrophic.
Step One: Beating Power Cuts with Solar
The first solution was tackling electricity. I invested in a solar power system, something I had long dismissed as too weak or unreliable.
To my surprise, it worked better than I expected:
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When teaching in-person classes with 9 students, the panel could keep us all powered for about 3 hours—enough for most sessions.
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When working alone, I could stretch that autonomy to 8–10 hours on a single machine.
The total investment was around 320,000 CFA (about 287,000 CFA for the panel itself, plus installation). It wasn’t cheap, but the independence it gave me was worth every franc.
Of course, there are limits. During the rainy season, the battery doesn’t recharge as quickly, which reduces autonomy. But in the dry season, performance is much better.
For the first time, I felt like I wasn’t fully at the mercy of the national grid.
Step Two: Fixing Internet with Starlink
Electricity was just half the battle. The bigger nightmare was internet.
Camtel was unreliable. Orange and MTN, my mobile backup options, also failed me—especially when Camtel’s network issues rippled across providers. I reached a point where even downloading a single image meant starting the task, leaving for lunch, and coming back only to see if it had finished.
I needed something more radical.
That’s when I turned to Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service.
At first, I had resisted. Starlink had been banned in Cameroon, the payment process was complicated, and online forums were full of horror stories from early users. But after wasting weeks chasing unstable connections, I decided to take the risk.
With the help of one of my students, I managed to get a kit for 350,000 CFA, plus 50,000 CFA for installation—a total of 400,000 CFA. The subscription itself turned out to be 60,000 CFA per month, much higher than the 35,000 CFA I had initially expected.
It was painful to pay, but the results were undeniable.
The Transformation
Once installed, Starlink completely changed my workflow.
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Download speeds reached 286 Mbps.
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Upload speeds averaged 13–54 Mbps, depending on weather and placement.
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Uploading YouTube videos, which used to take me 6 hours, could now be done in minutes.
Even when it rained, the connection remained mostly stable. For the first time, I could plan online training sessions without worrying about sudden blackouts or buffering disasters.
Yes, the monthly cost stings. But the peace of mind and productivity it brought me were priceless.
Lessons Learned
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Independence comes at a price. Solar panels and Starlink aren’t cheap, but they give control back to entrepreneurs who would otherwise be crippled by poor infrastructure.
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Seasonal challenges matter. Solar works best in the dry season; internet speeds fluctuate with weather. Still, both are miles ahead of relying solely on state providers.
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Resilience is everything. In Cameroon—and across Africa—entrepreneurs who succeed often do so not because conditions are favorable, but because they find ways to survive despite them.
Final Thoughts
Today, I finally feel in control of my work. Power cuts? My solar panel covers me. Internet outages? Starlink keeps me online. These two investments may have drained my savings, but they gave me the ability to train students worldwide, collaborate with brands, and deliver projects without excuses.
For freelancers and entrepreneurs in Africa, the road is never easy. But with determination—and sometimes unconventional solutions—it’s possible to create stability even in the most unstable environments.
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