The President of the Republic signed a decree on 17 August 2022, creating the National Office for Infrastructure and Sports Equipment ONIES.

Decree N°2022/384 of 17 August 2022 goes down in  history. The 17-page presidential act contains 52 articles divided into six chapters. The text creates the  ONIES and sets the rules of organization and functioning of the structure whose headquarters is in Yaounde. If need be, branches of the ONIES can be created throughout the Cameroonian territory.

Placed under the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education, which ensures its monitoring, the Office has a precise mission. It is to ensure, through its expertise, the upkeep, maintenance, exploitation, security, development and sustainability of sports infrastructures and equipment as well as specific related facilities built or developed by the State.

To accomplish this mission, the Office has a steering committee, an administration and specialized structures. The Committee is composed of a chairman and seven members appointed by the Head of State. The administration is headed by an administrator and a deputy, appointed by presidential decree. Their task is to manage the Office under the supervision of the Committee.

The specialized structures of the Office are the contracts and partnerships unit, the operations and marketing unit, the intervention brigade, the stewards of the complexes or stadiums and the general affairs department.

The Office’s financial resources come first and foremost from its own resources. These are derived from the development and promotion of sports infrastructures and facilities as well as their ancillary and related installations. They also come from partnerships and international cooperation, and from the annual allocation in the State budget. Donations, legacies, gifts and financing from the Fund for the Development of Physical and Sports Activities.

The Office was created in a context where Cameroon had just built and renovated several sports infrastructures. The latter were used for the organization of the African Cup of Nations AFCON Total Energies 2021 which took place from 9 January to 6 February 2022.