(Business in Cameroon) - FCfa 866 million. This is the cost of a market construction project in Garoua Boulaï, town in the East Cameroon region bordering the Central African Republic (CAR). This place of commercial trade will cover 1000 m2, we learned during a recent site visit by the Minister of Economy, Louis Paul Motazé. This member of government expressed dissatisfaction with the state of progress on this recently started worksite, and whose delivery is expected next year. Indeed, we learn, the company undertaking the contract has already used 187% of the expected delay period for the first phase, while physical works are only 40% completed.

Strategic town in the Douala-Bangui corridor, Garoua Boulaï is the main entrance gateway for Central African goods (about FCfa 55 billion yearly according to Cameroon Customs), which transit through the port of Douala, located in the economic capital of Cameroon.

As a reminder, within the framework of this Cameroonian government’s project aiming to increase commercial transactions at the border with neighbouring countries, two other markets will also be built. Namely at Fotokol, an area in the Far North bordering Nigeria, and at Ekok, area in the South West region also bordering Nigeria. In the area of Abang Minko, in the South region, there exists a market where for several years now Cameroonians, Gabonese and Equatorial-Guineans generally meet.

BRM