Concerns the pre-selection of companies to participate in the restricted national call for tenders relating to the development of internal audit tools

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST N°026.26/CEI/SONARA/2026 OF THE 11^th/09/2026

FOR THE PRESELECTION OF COMPANIES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE RESTRICTED NATIONAL CALL FOR TENDER relating to the development of internal audit tools.

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1. PURPOSE OF THE CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

This call for expressions of interest (CEI)) concerns the pre-selection of companies to participate in the restricted national call for tenders relating to the development of internal audit tools.

2. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SONARA

The National Refining Company (SONARA) was created by Decree nº73/135 of the 24^th/03/1973, incorporated on 7^th/12/1976 and endowed by the Cameroonian government with an establishment agreement on 11^th/01/1978.  It was inaugurated on 16^th/03/1981; it is a Limited Company with a Board of Directors governed by the provisions of the OHADA Uniform Act relating to the law of Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Grouping, and by Law nº2017/011 of 12^th/07/2017 relating to the General Status of Public Companies.

The primary objective of SONARA is to operate a crude oil refinery to primarily meet the needs of the Cameroonian market for finished petroleum products such as butane, premium fuel, diesel, distillate, fuel oil, kerosene and jet fuel; its processing capacity as of the 31^st/05/2019 was 2.100.000 tonnes/year.

SONARA is ISO 9001v2015 certified and has reached level 8 of the International Safety Assessment System (SIES).

3. PROJECT CONTEXT

The Internal Audit Department (DAI), an organizational unit of SONARA, is tasked with ensuring compliance with established procedures and processes to provide management with assurance regarding the reliability of financial information, while also anticipating potential risks that could be detrimental to the company.

The department’s role is to provide objective, reasonable assurance regarding the effectiveness of governance, risk management, and control processes, thereby helping the organization achieve its strategic, operational, financial, and compliance objectives. It is against this backdrop that the present call for expressions of interest is being launched to pre-select qualified consultants capable of assisting the DAI in developing the tools required to carry out its mandate, in accordance with professional internal audit standards and practices.

4. PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The objective of this Call for Expressions of Interest (CEI) is to pre-select companies specializing and experienced in the fields of auditing, internal control, and related disciplines particularly finance and accounting, so that they may subsequently participate in a Restricted National Call for Tenders (AONR). The assignments under the said tender will include, among others (and without the following list being exhaustive):

• implementing an effective system for managing and monitoring audit engagements and for updating the risk map,
• enabling the DAI to obtain reliable reporting in a timely manner, thereby minimizing the time required for SONARA management to make decisions,
• enabling the DAI to align with best professional practices regarding risk management, control, and auditing.

5. SUBMISSION OF FILES FOR PRE-QUALIFICATION

Companies wishing to carry out this service are invited to submit and/or send their physical expressions of interest files no later than 30^th/09/2026 at 12:00 p.m. local time at the following address:

THE NATIONAL REFINING COMPANY (SONARA)

P.O. Box 365 Limbe

Republic of Cameroon

(Secretariat of the General Management)

Phone : (+237)233.42.38.15 / 233.33.22.38 – Fax : (+237)233.42.41.99 / 233.33.22.35

The files will be written in one of the two official languages ​​in force in the Republic of Cameroon, namely English or French, and will be drawn up in five (05) copies including one (01) original and four (04) copies respectively marked as such; they must bear the following information:

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST N°026.26/CEI/SONARA/2026 OF THE 11^th/09/2026

PRESELECTION OF COMPANIES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE RESTRICTED NATIONAL CALL FOR TENDER

RELATING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNAL AUDIT TOOLS

‘’To be opened during the tender session only”

6. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTENT OF THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

The bidder must, on an administrative level, present himself in the most clear and detailed manner possible; at a minimum the following elements must be communicated and will be subject to verification by SONARA:

– The postal address and company name of the bidder,

– A letter specifying that the candidate intends to bid for the restricted national call for tenders if preselected,

– A certificate of non-bankruptcy established by the Court of First Instance or any other document established by the competent institution of the country of residence of the foreign bidder dating from less than three (03) months preceding the date of submission of his expression of interest, and demonstrating that he is not in a situation of bankruptcy or cessation of payments.

N.B :  Any declaration or support found to be erroneous or falsified will result in the immediate disqualification of the offer of the bidder involved.

7. PARTICIPATION IN THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Participation in this call for expressions of interest is open to all companies incorporated under Cameroonian law or resident in Cameroon that can demonstrate expertise in this field of activity.

8. DURATION OF VALIDITY OF FILES FOR PRE-QUALIFICATION

The files received by SONARA are considered valid for six (06) months, from the deadline set for their submission.     

9. SELECTION CRITERIA FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS

Upon receipt of the offers, SONARA will analyze them based on the following criteria:

• Presentation of the Expression of Interest dossier [05 points],
• References provided by the bidder attesting to their expertise and capacity to carry out this assignment; these include, inter alia:

√  Copies of contracts, agreements, and/or purchase orders including final and/or provisional acceptance reports and/or corresponding engagement letters relating to the supply and/or installation of an automated CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool within an organization or company in the downstream petroleum sector, whether undertaken individually or as part of a partnership [10 points],

√  Copies of contracts, agreements, and/or purchase orders including final and/or provisional acceptance reports and/or corresponding engagement letters relating to projects involving the implementation of internal audit tools (e.g., Audit Charter, Internal Audit Procedures Manual, templates for data collection and processing, etc.) [30 points],

√  Copies of contracts, agreements, and/or purchase orders including final and/or provisional acceptance reports regarding internal audit or statutory audit assignments for a company operating in the downstream petroleum sector in Cameroon, thereby demonstrating sector-specific expertise and mastery of internal audit tools over the past three years [30 points],

√  Authenticated lease agreements or any other documents proving the bidder’s place of business or location where daily activities are conducted [10 points],

√  A preliminary methodological note outlining the process for conducting the assignment through to completion within a non-negotiable timeframe of sixty (60) working days [15 points].

N.B.: It is specified that only bidders having presented a file complying with §6 above in addition to having, after evaluation of the criteria referred to in §9 herein, totaled a technical score of at least seventy (70) points out of one hundred (100) possible, will be pre-qualified for the rest of the procedure.

10. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS

After analysis of the files, the results will be brought to the attention of all bidders during the month of October 2026, by all possible means of communication and in particular through the press.

Pre-qualified companies will be consulted by Restricted National Call for Tenders in accordance with the public procurement procedures in force in Cameroon.

Done in Limbe, on the 11^th/09/2026

The Project owner

El Hadj BAKO HAROUNA