(Business in Cameroon) - Today January 18, 2021, Cameroon's Minister of Water and Energy Gaston Eloundou Essomba is presiding over the launch of the construction of the Lom River bridge in Touraké, in the eastern region of the country. This 140-meter long infrastructure will be built by civil engineering group Razel.
According to state-owned company EDC, thanks to the Touraké bridge (which will cost XAF9 billion), people and goods can safely cross the Lom River at any time of the year, even after the Lom Pangar dam is filled.
The Touraké Bridge, which has been awaited for several years, is financed by the French Development Agency (AFD). By facilitating mobility around the Lom Pangar dam, this structure will improve the transport of fishing products whose production was boosted around the dam since it was impounded in 2015.
EDC explains that the Touraké Bridge is part of the Environmental and Social Management Plan of the Lom Pangar hydroelectric project. This project has notably enabled the construction, in the Eastern region, of a dam with a 6 billion m3 water holding capacity to regulate the flows upstream of the Sanaga River, which provides 75% of Cameroon’s hydroelectric potential.
The project also includes the construction of a 30MW plant, which will end the Eastern region’s electric supply problems. As of December 31, 2020, the works were 9% completed.
BRM