(Business in Cameroon) - On July 19, 2018, the World Bank approved an investment package of $794.5 million (about CFA447.17 billion) for Nachtigal hydroelectric project (420 MW) in Cameroon.

According to Elisabeth Huybens, World Bank country director for Cameroon, this investment in the clean energy sector is essential to reduce electricity cost and ensure the competitiveness of Cameroon’s economy.

“The Nachtigal Project is one of the very few public-private partnership (PPP) hydropower projects in Sub-Saharan Africa that will accelerate Cameroon’s realization of its development goals, including poverty reduction”, She said.

Let’s remind that Electricité de France (EDF) along with Cameroon’s government and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is supporting the construction and exploitation of this dam on the Sanaga River, 65 kilometers NE Yaoundé. For Oumar Seydi, the International Finance Corporation director for Africa, “by working for almost five years as co-developer of the project, the Nachtigal HPP is a great example of how IFC is using InfraVentures to help projects become a reality in Africa”. This infrastructure of about CFA656 billion once commissioned (2020-2021), will be the largest energy generating infrastructure in Cameroon.

Sylvain Andzongo