(Business in Cameroon) - The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) approved a CFA21.3 billion in financing for the second phase of the Chari-Logone Integrated Rural Development Project.

The project was launched October 4, in the city of Kousséri, the departmental capital of Logone et Chari, in the Far North region of Cameroon, by the Minister of Economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey (photo). It aims to “remove one of the main constraints to the development of the various value chains, while encouraging rural entrepreneurship in the department of Logone et Chari, which still remains among the areas where development indicators are the lowest in the country,” explained the minister.

In details, the project intends, until the end of 2022, to open up the main production areas and connect the main markets, through the rehabilitation or creation of 450 km roadways. It also targets to increase production and productivity in the department of Logone et Chari and upgrade socio-economic infrastructure, diversify sources of income, especially for young people and women, etc.

According to the official, this project is part of a dynamic development process for Cameroon in general and for this department in the Far North region of Cameroon in particular, and complements other projects already underway or planned in this part of the country. These include the 13,000 hectares of hydro-agricultural developments under way as part of the three-year Emergency Plan for Accelerated Growth (Planut).

Let’s note that the Far North region’s economic fabric has been affected by the exactions of Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamist sect that has intensified incursions into Cameroonian territory since 2013.

Brice R. Mbodiam