(Business in Cameroon) - Officials of the CEMAC commission raised XAF2,492 billion during the investors' roundtable organized from November 16 to 17, 2020 in Paris, credible sources reveal.

The roundtable was organized to raise funds for the 11 integrating projects ongoing in the CEMAC region. The 11 projects, which require about XAF2,500 billion, fall within the framework of the regional economic program aimed at initiating deeper changes in the sub-regional economies to increase the member countries’ added-value, thus reducing unemployment and poverty.

Authorized sources indicate that even before the roundtable, XAF400 billion had been raised for the projects. This means that the XAF2,492 billion raised during the roundtable exceeds the amount needed to complete the projects.

Even though the identity of the investors that agreed to invest in the 11 projects was not revealed, we know that the Development Bank of the Central African States (BDEAC) will invest XAF308 billion in six of the 11 projects. We also know that Afreximbank is part of the investors.

Cameroon: the main beneficiary of the announced projects  

Cameroon appears to be the main beneficiary of the 11 projects because it is involved in seven of them. The seven projects include the construction of a bridge over the Ntem river, transport facilitation and road security along the Kribi-Campo-Bata trans-national road (40 km) linking Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, Chollet hydroelectricity dam and power lines (Cameroon-Congo-Gabon-Central African republic), electricity interconnection between Cameroon and Chad, the Central Africa Fibre-Optic Backbone (CSB) Project and the Cameroon-Congo Interstate university.

The remaining projects include the construction of the remaining 179 kilometers of the Ndendé-Dolisie road on the Libreville-Brazzaville corridor, the construction of the Kogo-Akurenam (230 km) road to link the Southwestern part of Equatorial Guinea to Gabon, the Brazzaville-Ouesso-Bangui-Ndjamena (Congo-Central African Republic-Chad) corridor, and the construction of the Dolisie dry port (Corridor Gabon-Congo).

“These projects are in perfect synergy with the national development plans elaborated by CEMAC countries to effectively address the main sustainable development challenges. Their implementation by 2025 should sustainably accelerate the physical and commercial integration of the sub-region,” the BDEAC indicates.

Brice R. Mbodiam