(Business in Cameroon) - On January 13, 2020, the Cameroonian Minister of Economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey and the Deputy Director-General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (FKDEA), Nedhal Alolayan, signed a loan agreement of US$17 million (about XAF8.5 billion) in Yaounde.

The money is earmarked for the partial financing of the Olama-Kribi road construction project, specifically the Bingambo-Grand Zambi section (106 km). The overall cost of the road is $83.5 million (XAF46 billion), comprising $75 million of external financing (XAF41.75 billion) and $8.5 million (XAF4.25 billion) provided by the government.

Other financiers of the project are the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) offering 14.37%, about XAF6 billion ; the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) with 16.77%, about XAF7 billion ; the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) giving 20.36%, XAF8.5 billion, and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) with 17.96%, XAF7.5 billion.

The Minister of Economy indicated that the conclusion of the agreement with the FKDEA thus completes the phase of effective mobilization of the financing for this project, which is part of the mechanism that should enable the optimal exploitation of the deep seaport of Kribi whose operations started a few years ago in the south of the country.

The upstream and downstream sections of this road (Olama-Bingambo and Grand Zambi-Kribi) are already funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) respectively. “Once the formalities for the enforcement are completed, works can proceed normally,” Alamine Ousmane Mey said.

This important project aims at promoting the socio-economic development of the Central and Southern regions. In practical terms, the aim will be to open up these regions in order to ensure links between the production basins and consumption areas. It will also facilitate transit road traffic to certain countries in the sub-region, namely Chad and Equatorial Guinea.

SA