(Business in Cameroon) - The German cooperative entity (KfW) has just announced that it will be granting 10 billion FCfa in financing to 16 Cameroonian provinces as a part of the “Feicom-towns Decentralisation Programme”. Conducted by the Special Inter-Provincial Equipment and Intervention Fund (FEICOM), the Cameroonian Provincial Bank assists eligible local communities with aid for business and non-profit entities.
For eligible provinces, this programme, which will end in 2018, includes provisions for areas inhabited by fewer than 50,000, which will receive between 200 and 650 million FCfa in financing. Provinces with more than 50,000 inhabitant will have their financing capped at 1.3 billion FCfa. Feicom’s Managing Director, Phillipe Camille Akoa, explains that, at the end of the process, new towns will be able to join the programme during the second phase.
Germany is one of Cameroon’s most important bilateral partners in decentralisation. German Ambassador to Cameroon, Klaus-Ludwig Keferstein, explains this involvement by noting that “it is important to have provinces and regional entities assume this responsibility as they are closest to the affected populations.”