(Business in Cameroon) - On November 30, 2020, while defending the 2021 budget of his ministry before the parliament, Minister of public works (MINTP) Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi gave an update on the construction works of the "Ring Road" connecting Cameroon to Nigeria through the North-West.
According to the official, the work divided into four lots is "currently on hold due to insecurity." Lot 1 of the works is the 96km Kumbo-Ndu-Nkambe-Misaje (including the Nkambe bypass), Lot 2 is the 50km Misaje-Dumbo-Nigeria Border, Lot 3 is the 80km Bamenda-Bafut-Wum road and Lot 4 is the 72km Bambui-Babessi-Ndop that includes the Dawara bypass.
For the time being, the technical performances recorded on the sections of the Ring Road currently undergoing earth road construction are as follows: on Lot 1, the 82km of earth roads (XAF3.28 billion) is 56% completed. On Lot 2, the 45km of earth road (XAF1.55 billion) is 91% completed while on Lot 3, the 43km (XAF0.819 billion) of earth roads are 99% completed and on Lot 4, the 76.72 km (XAF0.292 billion) of earth roads are 10% completed.
The MINTP indicates that the ring road could be relaunched in the framework of Phase III (280 km) of the Transport Sector Support Program, which requires an investment of XAF167.270 billion. The first tranche of a financing agreement was recently signed with the African Development Bank (ADB). This tranche amounts to XAF11.780 billion, he explained.
"The proposals for the second tranche of 106 billion are being finalized,” the minister added. He proceeded further by disclosing that this year, authorities are planning to complete the financing of the project with the signature of a XAF27.950 billion loan agreement with the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF).
The "Ring Road" is about 365km long. It can be described as a Bamenda-Bambui-Ndop-Babessi-Kumbo-Nkambe-Misaje-Nyos-Wum-Bafut-Bamenda loop. It crosses five of the seven departments of the English-speaking region of northwest Cameroon and connects to several borders to Nigeria, Misaje notably. According to the initial schedule, it will be completed by December 31, 2024
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