(Business in Cameroon) - The Cameroonian government has just awarded to the Chinese First Highway Engineering Co. Ltd. (CFHEC), the contract for the construction of the headquarters of the General Tax Office (Direction générale des Impôts - DGI) of the Ministry of Finance, we learned through an official communiqué. The works which will last 36 months will cost FCfa 20.2 billion.
This Chinese company is well known in Cameroon, since it is also the recipient of the contract for the construction of the first stretch (80 km out of 215 km) of the Yaoundé-Douala motorway, which will link the two main cities of the country. This first phase was financed by Exim Bank of China, with FCfa 241.4 billion.
In September 2014, this Chinese company was given a sanction by the African Development Bank group (AfDB), for "fraudulent practices and collusive maneuvers" as part of the call for tender for the Batshamba-Tshikapa road project, in Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Chinese company received a 3-year exclusion from all projects financed by AfDB and a fine of USD 18 million, approximately FCfa 9.9 billion. These funds, AfDB specified, will be used to "finance projects on the prevention and fight against practices liable to sanctions in the AfDB regional member countries".